The Sourdough Universe is rough on its witches. The god-hounds pursue them. Their neighbors suspect them. The only people they can really trust are other witches. This is definitely the case in A.G. Slatter’s amazing new novel, A Forest, Darkly. Mehrab has certainly been put through life’s wringer. She lives alone in the Great Forest. The only times she interacts with people in the local village are when she is summoned to deal with illnesses and injuries. Being alone—though Mehrab will swear up and down that this is what she prefers—gives her far too much time to reflect on her past.
We drop in on Mehrab along with another witch and a young woman, Rhea, in need of refuge. Rhea has recently come into her powers (spectacularly and criminally) and needs a place to hind from the law and the god-hounds. Mehrab barely has time to get Rhea settled before a couple from the local village arrives to ask for help finding their missing daughter. Mehrab is more than willing to help the couple, though she’s irritated that it took them a few days to get up the gumption to ask her. She’s irritated a lot in this book, because it’s grating to be the person everyone eyes askance while they ask for miracles. I sympathize very much.
The plot knits together over the course of a summer and an autumn before building to an utterly gripping conclusion. Mehrab slowly learns that there is something very wrong in her patch of the Great Forest. Something is hunting children and sending sinister changelings back to the village in their place. Meanwhile, she teaches Rhea how to be a self-sufficient witch (a lot more sweaty, filthy work than the fairy tales would lead you to expect). The only bright spot is the possibility of rekindling her relationship with a lover she had to give up decades ago because he wanted children and marriage and to tie her down with commitments.
Because I got to spend so much time with Mehrab, Slatter reveals how fiercely she loves. This deep love makes Mehrab vulnerable to heartbreak. It’s no wonder she’s prickly and brusque. But once you get past that outer layer, it was hard not to love this character. I dearly want to give her a long hug (even if she threatens to turn me into a frog). This love also means that I would rather have no one other than Mehrab helping to put things to rights. In spite of all the slights and the real dangers from others (especially the god-hounds), Mehrab will never give up once she’s set herself a task.
This book—and especially Mehrab—are absolutely incredible. I highly recommend it to readers who love books about witches, especially Terry Pratchett’s Granny Weatherwax.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.