Enchanted Chocolate Pot Blog Fest: The Revised Letter (And It’s Reply!)

Last week I talked about my love for Sorcery and Cecelia and shared Patricia C. Wrede’s original version of Cecy’s first letter to Kate.

Today I have the revised version to share as well as Kate’s response (as written by Caroline Stevermer) to celebrate the release of ebook editions from the publisher

Here’s a snippet of Cecy’s revised letter:

You can also download this pdf of the full letter: Cecy’s Revised Letter

What I like is how the basic structure of the letter remains the same in both. It’s the subtle changes and additions that help flesh out Cecy and Kate’s unique version of England along with some subtle reordering. The two versions really show how far editing can take a piece of writing.

And, for further entertainment, here is a snippet of Kate’s reply:

As well as a downloadable pdf of the full letter: Kate’s First Reply

*Thanks to Sarah Murphy at Open Road Media for telling me about this.

Enchanted Chocolate Pot Blog Fest: The First Letter

When I was growing up I didn’t read a lot of YA. I focused on books found in the Children’s Room of my library and classics with the odd mystery from my mom’s reading pile thrown in to keep things interesting. That changed when I got my first library job and started shelving in the YA section. I discovered so many good books that had previously never crossed my path.

One such book was Sorcery and Cecelia. First published in 1988, I found this book upon one of its subsequent reprints. Cecy and Kate soon became two of my favorite characters. Happily, the entire series (Sorcery and Cecelia, The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician) are all being re-released as ebooks soon which I hope will introduce even more readers to this amazing series.

The cool thing about this series is that Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer exchanged the letters in their free time. Patricia C. Wrede wrote as Cecelia while Caroline Stevermer responded with Kate’s letters. They did not plan the plot before they began writing. Eventually those letters turned into a book. And then that became a series.

To celebrate the release of ebook editions, the publisher distributed the original version of Cecy’s first letter (which begins Sorcery and Cecelia) to show the changes the letter underwent between its first writing and the book’s publication.

Here’s a snippet of the letter:

You can also download this pdf of the full letter: Cecy’s original letter

*Thanks to Sarah Murphy at Open Road Media for telling me about this.

The Grand Tour: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

The Grand Tour or The Purloined Coronation Regalia (1988) by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (Find it on Bookshop)

Originally published in 1988, I first read Sorcery and Cecelia after its re-release in 2004. Happily, that meant I didn’t have quite as long a wait for a sequel as Kate and Cecy’s original fans. Released in 2006, The Grand Tour or The Purloined Coronation Regalia picks up shortly after the end of Sorcery and Cecelia with both cousins newly married and beginning their honeymoons with an English tradition known aptly as the grand tour during which they plan to travel through the great cities of Europe. Like its prequel, this novel also has an extended title to offer further enlightenment as to what the story will actually relate. That title is: Being a Revelation of Matters of High Confidentiality and Greatest Importance, Including Extracts from the Intimate Diary of a Noblewoman and the Sworn Testimony of a Lady of Quality.

While the plot of this novel does stand alone, I don’t recommend reading this book before the first in the series because it just isn’t as fun that way. Part of the great thing about these books is watching the girls grow and tracing the relationships between the characters–things that are harder to do without reading the books in order.

(That said, a quick recap: The happily married couples are Kate and Thomas Schofield, Cecy and James Tarleton. My favorite couple is Cecelia and James. Thomas is a wizard, and Cecy is just realizing that she also has a magical aptitude. These novels are written with a variation of the Letter Game. Patricia C. Wrede is Cecelia and Caroline Stevermer is Kate.)

Instead of being written in alternating letters, this volume alternates between excerpts from Cecelia’s deposition to the Joint Representatives of the British Ministry of Magic, the War Office, and the Foreign office; and excerpts from Kate’s . Joining the couples on part of their wedding(s) journey is Lady Sylvia, another wizard of note in England (and Thomas’ mother).

Expecting a leisurely honeymoon, and the chance to purchase proper bride clothes and secure the services of maids, both Cecelia and Kate are dismayed when their quiet grand tour turns into nothing less than a race to prevent an international conspiracy of Napoleanic proportions. As the couples tour Europe’s great antiquities–and meet their fair share of unique tourists–the young women, and their husbands, begin to piece together a plot the likes of which no one could have previously imagined.

Like Sorcery and Cecelia this novel once again serves as a lovely homage to Jane Austen. The pacing and tone of The Grand Tour is again reminiscent of Austen’s work (or George Eliot’s for that matter). Nonetheless, some of the plot did seem more difficult to follow than, say, the first book in this series though the problem was remedied with back-reading. I love these characters unconditionally, in a way I rarely love book characters. Artless, charming, and profoundly entertaining, both Cecelia and Kate are first-rate characters in a first-rate fantasy series.

Possible Pairings: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger, A Room With a View by E. M. Forster, The Clockwork Scar by Colleen Gleason, My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows; The Invention of Sophie Carter by Samantha Hastings, Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber, The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Beauty by Robin McKinley, The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier, Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix, The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope, Iron Cast by Destiny Soria, Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood, A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde

Sorcery and Cecelia: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer first published Sorcery and Cecelia under that title in 1988. In recent years, thanks to reprints with shiny new cover art by Scott M. Fischer in the case of the edition I read as well as two new sequels, this book has regained popularity and visibility. Aside from that, one of the most important things to know about this book is its alternate title: The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country.

Wrede and Stevermer wrote this book as a writing exercise of sorts called the Letter Game. Patricia C. Wrede wrote as Cecelia while Caroline Stevermer responded with Kate’s letters. They did not plan the plot before they began writing.

Almost every review I have found online describes Sorcery and Cecelia as a cross between the books of Jane Austen and those of J. K. Rowling. The comparison does make sense, but I might venture to say I liked this book better than any of the Harry Potter series.

The year is 1817 in an England where magic is as much a part of life as letter writing. The latter is of particular importance to Kate and Cecelia as the cousins spend the novel in separate parts of England. While Kate and her more glamorous sister Georgina are in London enjoying a proper Season, Cecelia, much to her consternation, is left to languish in the country with her brother Oliver for company (at least until he’s turned into a tree).

Problems begin for both cousins when Kate accidentally intercepts a rather nasty pot of chocolate in a London garden that was, apparently, meant for the eccentric Marquis of Schofield. If only he would explain exactly why.

Meanwhile, in the country, Cecelia finds herself following a shady figure spying on Cecy’s new (and surprisingly popular!) friend Dorothea. When Cecelia repeatedly catches him in the act of spying, James Tarleton repeatedly refuses to offer any information.

As the girls learn more about these mysterious men, and the mysterious events, it becomes clear that something big is happening–big enough that evidence of the plan can be seen in both London and the country. The only question is what, exactly, is going on and if Kate and Cecelia can stop it in time.

Being an homage to Jane Austen, this novel has not one but two romances. Which couple is better has been a hot topic since the book came out. The librarian who recommended the book to me feels very strongly that the Mysterious Marquis and Kate are a more enjoyable match to observe. For my part, I preferred Cecelia and James.

This novel avoids all of the traps that can make an epistolary novel awful. There is no repetition, there is dialogue, the narrative reads like a, for lack of a better word, normal book in that the narrative flows in a fairly traditional way. There is neither too much information nor too little. And, most importantly, the novel is filled with suspense, action, humor and romance that shines through both Cecelia’s and Kate’s letters.

But then from two talented and well-known fantasy writers, what else can a reader expect but perfection?

Sorcery and Cecelia is the first in a series of books featuring Kate and Cecelia. Their stories continue in The Grand Tour (2004) and The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After (2006).

Possible Pairings: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger, A Room With a View by E. M. Forster, The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason, My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows; A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey, The Invention of Sophie Carter by Samantha Hastings, Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber, The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Beauty by Robin McKinley, The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier, Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix, The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope, Iron Cast by Destiny Soria, Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood, A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde, Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White