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THE SAPLING CAGE by Margaret Killjoy

THE SAPLING CAGE

by Margaret Killjoy

Pub Date: Sept. 24th, 2024
ISBN: 9781558613317
Publisher: Feminist Press

A girl discovering who she is joins a coven of witches as the land around her stands on the brink of change.

Sixteen-year-old Lorel has always known she's a girl and not a boy, but of the people in her town only her mother and her best friend, Lane, know. Lane was promised to the witches, but she has no interest in joining them and so the two decide to switch places: Lorel will join the witches, living as a girl for the first time, and Lane will become a knight. Though Lorel worries that her secret will be discovered through the witches’ magic, she is accepted into the Order of the Vine and slowly begins to find camaraderie—and rivalry—among the other trainees, or whelps, of the Order. As the coven journeys across the land, they find that a blight is spreading, turning trees cold, fueled by an uncanny magic. To find and stop whoever is responsible for the blight, the witches must form an uneasy alliance with the knights, many of whom have never trusted the witches. As Lorel and the other whelps face battle, death, and more, they must learn whether they can rely on each other and where their place is in the world. Told in a fairy tale–like style, the narrative does not focus on Lorel’s transgender identity, but instead weaves her coming-of-age story into a larger narrative of factions vying for power and a world changing. Quiet, despite the looming threat of war, this is an exploration of relationships of all kinds and the belonging one can find in sisterhood.

An almost whimsical tale of witches and knights, infused with queer representation.