A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather 

160 Pages

Fiction/Fantasy/Historical

Release Date: October 31, 2023

3/5*

Formats available: Book  

“In 17th-century London, unnatural babies are being born: some with eyes made for the dark, others with webbed fingers and toes better suited to the sea.

Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness—she herself was born marked by uncanniness. Having hidden her nature all her life and fled to London under suspicious circumstances, Sarah starts over as a midwife’s apprentice, hoping to carve out for herself an independent life. As a member of the illegal Worshipful Company of Midwives, Sarah learns to reach across the thinning boundary between her world and another, drawing on its power to heal and protect the women she serves.

When the wealthy Lady Wren hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Lord Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who would use the magic of the Other World to gain power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.”

This is a story of gothic horror and dark historical fiction. I would compare the atmosphere of this novella to T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead (insert hyper link here). These two books also share similar themes and main character experiences. I started this novella with the assumption that I would be reading something that expanded specifically on the births of what the author refers to as “uncanny” babies. These babies are born with weird adaptions on their bodies such as gills, feathers, wings, and talons due to a crossover between our realm and another magical or celestial realm. Reading deeper into the novella I realized that I was experiencing the uncanny life of the main character Sarah. More and more I understood that the author was giving me a character study; Sarah’s life at this point in the story was more important than the external conflict of monstrous children being born around her. Lina Rather does a great job drawing you into this intriguing tale then refocusing your attention. As you read you learn that the center of this tale asks the question, “How does one fit in when they exist between two worlds and thus belong to neither?” My only suggestion would be to shorten the synopsis and not give so much away because the draw and shock value is more important here than a summary. Definitely give this book a shot if you’re looking for a quick, disturbing, and interesting read.  

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Bethann