Review by Robert McCool
In Sanctuary the tension builds toward the breaking point.
In V. V. James's (The Gilded Cage) latest offering, Sanctuary (Sourcebooks LCCN 2020005118) magic is a well established and regulated trade and Sarah is the head of a coven of three other non-witch women, Abigail, Bridget, and Julia. Her shop specializes in charms and wards, potions and sympathy. She and her daughter Harper then stand accused in the questionable death of Abigail's son, the local golden boy and her life's sole focus, Dan. Things devolve slowly and somewhat predictably from there.
At a party Dan and his friend project a sex tape of himself and Harper, and he falls over a stair rail to his death. Harper is justifiably enraged by the betrayal, but did she use magic to make Dan fall? Dan's best friend, who is the Sheriff's son, says yes, she did. The only problem is that Harper has no magic. So what happened?
Abigail is driven insane at the death of her darling boy, and takes out her anger at Harper, and then her mother Sarah, stating that Harper was the killer, and when the sex tape is discovered to be of the rape of Harper by Dan, she sets out to destroy Sarah and Harper by any means possible.
Abigail is insane with overwhelming grief. She is out to kill her former coven leader, and steers the whole town to hate Sarah, ending in a scene straight out of Salem, Massachusetts in an earlier century.
This book is a perfect example of tension building within a desperate plot. The story keeps one highly engaged in the action and motivations of the principle players. The literature is presented in alternating narratives, the differing viewpoints filling up with ever-growing tensions towards an inevitable end that is as satisfying as any book I have read. One feels great relief that Abigail's crazy intentions are thwarted and both Harper and Sarah escape the nooses built just for them.
Then Harper's last narrative is a giant revelation. I breathed a sigh of relief, and fully understood the statement the book set out to make- that witchcraft is a mixed gift to be protected and used with caution.
I really liked this book, but because it is a selection off of the new book shelf it may not be readily available. It's worth the effort to track down and possibly wait for, especially during this Halloween season. Happy reading.
