Thistlemarsh, Moorea Corrigan (Review by Abigail Blake)
Rating: 4.0/5 Stars
Whimsical, snarky, and at times outright frightening, Moorea Corrigan’s Thistlemarsh is a delightful journey through a magical manor house and grounds. Well-balanced with humor and wonder, the novel does not shy away from the trauma that comes with war and ingrained classicism. It also plays with a fabled precaution: one must always be wary of deals made with faeries.
In this version of our world shortly following the devastation of World War I, faeries once existed and thrived alongside humanity. Mouse Dunne, a gardener’s daughter, is surprised to inherit her uncle’s historic Faerie-blessed manor house after serving as a nurse in the war, all the while grappling with the death of her cousin and her brother suffering severe shell shock. However, her inheritance comes with an impossible time crunch. Mouse soon finds herself stumbling into a deal with a mysteriously arrived faerie to ensure she can keep the manor upright and away from her belittling, distant, and more refined relative.
The mysteriously appeared faerie, Thornwood, and Mouse strike a deal to repair her crumbling manor home within a month and by all means necessary.
The faeries in Thistlemarsh are much darker in their demands than most popular novels. Thornwood and Mouse’s relationship strikingly highlights the differences in their ways of thinking, expectations, and ultimately cultures. How are they both to navigate a world (and each other) where every act done for another is expected to come with a price attached? Their slow-burn relationship challenges innate trust, flirts with betrayal, and dares to love, resolutely, against all odds.
Interspersed with faerie tales throughout, Thistlemarsh brings to life a vibrantly magical world through imagery bursting with color and detail. It has a mix of the classic heroes journey with multiple trials combined with bewildering fantasy that is almost too complex to comprehend. Overall, with its foundations resting not on its namesake manor but on genuine kindness, the story stands on its own with love at the center. Prepare for a lot of twists and turns as complicated as remodeling your own home and enjoy the vivid wit throughout.