Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House)
This historical fantasy is both a magic-filled thriller with a delightfully creepy villain and a romance with hesitant Victorian “lovers.” Holmberg builds a richly immersive historical setting in 1846 Boston and an isolated island.
At the start, Holmberg presents “doctrines of magic” identifying existing spells and their negative side effects. This magic system feels entirely organic to her otherwise real Victorian world. The prized magic is dying out, including within enchanted buildings. So, Hulda, the keeper of the title, strives to preserve each enchanted house her job sends her to, including Whimbrel House, which has been inherited by a novelist named Merritt.
The house acts in alarming ways toward Merritt—melting the furniture, turning the stairs into a slide, and worst of all, entrapping him. Hulda attempts to settle the belligerent building and save Merritt, but the hostile house is only the beginning of their troubles. Their complicated personal histories include hateful, even murderous persons who raise the stakes.
The novel genuinely invests readers in these characters but also pokes fun at and with them. One target is Hulda’s prudish restraint. Another is Merritt’s view of his own writerly filter. For example, in Chapter 1, Merritt observes of his family’s lawyer: “He seemed to loom over Merritt and the well-worn chair he sat in, like a vulture sniffing out a fresh carcass, which was a somewhat harsh metaphor given that, thus far, Mr. Allen had been nothing but polite and professional.” Holmberg also has a deft hand portraying internal emotional responses: “When the doors opened, [Merritt’s] nerves coalesced into a ball, rushing up his torso before dissipating like feral dogs throughout his chest and arms.” Keeper of Enchanted Rooms combines lighthearted entertainment and nail-biting excitement.
