Magic causes a lot more problems than it fixes in Oliver Darkshire’s delightful fantasy novel, Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil. When a forgetful wizard retires, Isabella Nagg—a humble but resentful farmwife—steps into the role. Unfortunately, she has no idea what she’s doing. All Isabella has is a fascinating collection of books called Household Gramayre and a grimalkin, the former wizard’s familiar, for a tutor. Just learning how to do magic would be enough for anyone but Isabella also has to contend with goblins, passive aggression, a talking donkey, an ultra-capitalist/con-woman, and a husband she feels duty-bound to rescue even if she’d be better off without him.
Isabella Nagg’s husband, Henric, is the hapless catalyst for Isabella’s transformation into a wizard. The only thing that grows on the Nagg farm is mandrakes. The local wizard is the only person who purchases these but, when Henric arrives at the wizard’s cottage with the latest harvest, he is nowhere to be found. Henric snatches a volume of Household Gramayre by way of payment. This, of course, is a very stupid thing to do—especially since the wizard has a reputation for turning people who annoy him into weevils. Henric wanders off to accidentally cause more mayhem, leaving Isabella to figure out what to do.
Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is the kind of book that sprouts plots and subplots like an unruly houseplant. Readers need to pay attention to every detail because everything will be relevant by the end of the book, even the excerpts from Household Gramayre about goblin ball and crossroad hounds. I assure you, however, that as silly as this book sounds (and it is silly in places), Darkshire pulls all of this off with surprising emotional depth. Isabella and Henric have incredible backstories. Above all, the way that Isabella grows as a person is absolutely stunning.
Darkshire has a comically erudite way of writing that reminded me strongly of Terry Pratchett. Darkshire even peppers his tale with footnotes and excerpts from the Gramayre to build up the lore of his off-kilter world and make us laugh. Readers who miss Pratchett’s Discworld will find a lot to love in Isabella Nagg. I certainly did. This book was a balm for my bookish soul.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Was already excited for this, and now am even more so! Thanks especially for the head’s up that every detail is important, I will do my best to keep track of them all as I read!
Was already excited for this one, now even more so!
Thank you especially for mentioning that every detail is important – now I know to keep close track of them all while reading!