MAGICAL MIDLIFE MADNESS

A fantasy explores the magic of midlife fresh starts.

When Jessie Evans’ husband tells her that he wants a divorce, she’s thrilled (to his surprise). With her son starting college, Jessie is tired of being a housewife and ready to start a new chapter. But when Jessie winds up back at her childhood home north of Los Angeles, she realizes that staying with her parents while she gets back on her feet is not a viable option. Jessie’s childhood friend Diana suggests that she become the caretaker of Ivy House, a family property that the two of them visited on a childhood vacation. Jessie jumps at the chance. While Diana was scared of the “dark and foreboding” mansion, Jessie hadn’t wanted to leave its secret passageways, trap doors, and air of mystery. Soon, Jessie is in the small mountain town of O’Briens, where wineries’ tasting rooms dot “the itty-bitty downtown strip like chicken pox.” She settles into Ivy House with the help of its longtime butler and gardener as well as Niamh, the talkative Irish neighbor, who dishes about everything from the area’s tourist trade to Austin Steele, the town’s hunky bartender and unofficial mayor. When Jessie goes wine tasting with Austin, she learns that the locals of O’Briens are all living magical double lives and that powerful forces are vested in preventing her from understanding her new home. Will Jessie and her new friends be able to preserve the peace in O’Briens and allow her to truly master the powers of Ivy House? Readers looking for a less-scholarly companion to Deborah Harkness’ novel A Discovery of Witches will enjoy Jessie’s magical reawakening. Her slow exploration of Ivy House’s secrets is absorbing and entertaining. Indeed, Breene’s story would have been more captivating with additional scenes focused on Jessie learning about the house and its powers and fewer long, expository conversations with supporting characters. But the ultimate clash between Jessie’s motley group of friends and the forces of evil is exciting and hilarious, and if there are a few too many references to Jessie’s post-childbirth bladder, her witty comebacks more than compensate. There are also hints of a sequel to come.

Chatty, lively worldbuilding in a rollicking fantasy.