Bright Ruined Things
Mae Wilson is an eighteen-year-old orphan on a magical island surrounded by miles of ocean. The Prosper family, headed by Lord Alphonsus Prosper, leads a glittering lifestyle there. It is funded by the magical power source “aether,” which Lord Prosper discovered and used to make a fortune. The faerie-like spirits who inhabit the island toil in the aether wells and serve the Prosper family.
Mae is unhappy because she has no magical abilities and no real claim to a place on the island. She is the daughter of the deceased steward. The wealthy, glamorous Prospers tend to overlook and discount her. She is manipulated into an uncomfortable engagement with the magician Ivo, heir to his grandfather Lord Prosper. Mae prefers another grandson, Miles, despite his lack of interest in her. Some of the family can do magic and some cannot, but Ivo is designated as the one who will continue the lucrative aether business.
As the “immortal” spirits start to die, the gilded beauty of the island seems to fade. Mae learns that magic was used to harm her, and she suspects something sinister must be lurking.
This story enchants and entertains. Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, it shares a similar dreamy island setting. I had a little trouble sorting through all the Prosper relatives, but there is a useful family tree in the book. There are a handful of passing references to 1920s life, barely giving this fantasy a historical slant.
