Book Review - Cari Thomas's Threadneedle
Threadneedle by Cari Thomas
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: May 27th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 559 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)
The Dark Times are long gone. Or so most witches believe. Not the Binders. They believe magic is the first sin and the Hunters will rise again. They bind their powers to avoid temptation and exert control. Anna Everdell's parents where killed by magic and love. It might have been her father's hands that killed her mother but they were controlled by magic. Raised by her Aunt under the tenants of the Binders Anna hasn't been allowed to practice magic. She's not even allowed to dream. Which makes Selene's visits so enticing. Selene was her mother's best friend and she has floated in and out of Anna's life bringing with her presents and stories of a world where magic isn't repressed. I life Anna might have had had her parents not died. Needless to say her Aunt doesn't approve. Especially this year. It's Anna's sixteenth birthday and the date of her binding is fast approaching. Selene is expected for a birthday lunch, so of course she shows up for dinner with two teenagers in tow. Selene has never mentioned her daughter Effie before, an odd omission as she is the same age as Anna. And wherever Effie goes Attis follows. Effie, Attis, and particularly Selene are the type of witches Anna's Aunt has warned her about, those who flaunt their magic. It is dangerous to do so. Or so Anna has been taught. Her Aunt warns her that she is to avoid Effie and Attis at all costs, but when Effie Fawkes's name is read at morning assembly at St. Olave's avoiding Effie has just become a lot harder. Especially as Anna doesn't have any friends at school. The mean girls; Darcey, Olivia, and Corinne, have held the reigns of power at St. Olave's for as long as Anna can remember and they set their sights on Effie. But Effie isn't one to shy away from a fight. She looks around her and sees the outcasts, the students who have been ground under Darcey's heel, and she draws them to her; Rowan, Miranda, and of course, Anna. They have been chosen by Effie to form a coven. Something Anna's Aunt would heartily disapprove of. But in the bowels of St. Olave's in room 13B they come together to experiment with magic. At first it's just little things. Things you learn as a child. Then wonders unveiled of a magical London Anna never knew existed. Though teenage girls have desires, teenage girls have enemies, and soon things start to sour. And what magic Anna does is off. Something is wrong. But it's not just her magic, six faceless women have been hanged in Big Ben. Could her Aunt have been right? Is magic a sin and are the Hunters rising? Effie would laugh at her for thinking such thoughts, but her Aunt might be more right than Anna ever knew.
If you were a teen of a certain bent in the nineties The Craft is seminal. Yes, you probably also watched Charmed, but that was more of a guilty pleasure you didn't talk about. With The Craft it was something entirely different. If you heard someone hadn't seen the movie you would just sit them down and make them watch it. Immediately. It didn't matter if you were in the middle of something else or even at a party, it was time for The Craft. You even have strong opinions about Robin Tunney's wig. I mean, we all know it's horrible, but here shaving her head for another equally influential film, Empire Records, means that we are stuck with The Craft not being completely perfect. But maybe that makes it all the more beloved. I honestly didn't know what I was getting into with Threadneedle. I bought the book under a misapprehension. I thought it was going to be like the second book in Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy, Shadow of Night. In other words historical witches doing magic with needle and thread. I don't know where I got this idea from but about five minutes into reading I didn't care because this was a British version of The Craft! And being an acolyte of The Craft, I instantly started harassing all my bookish friends with this knowledge I had just learned. They HAD to read Threadneedle. Immediately. I mean, Anna is Sarah, Effie is Nancy, Rowan is Bonnie, and Miranda is Rochelle. Though saying this is just a British version of The Craft takes away from the amazingly dark and complicated world that Cari Thomas has built. Yes, there's Anna's introduction to the "wonders" of magic, stores that sell memories, astonishing snow globes, libraries for the lost, but that is what every kid who checked the back of a wardrobe would expect of a story with teen witches. The added layer of menace and the Binders is just horrific and riveting. I find it a little ironic that what so many people found off-putting is what I embraced. Sometimes a story needs to be dark to do justice to the characters. The world we live in right now isn't exactly rainbows and sunshine and to show these kids growing up in fear and rage shines a mirror on us. We need to do better, we need to destroy the Hunters among us. We need to offer protection and love, because look at what can happen. Look how easy it is to just accept that this is your lot in life. Anna was willing to bind her true self because it's all she knew. She still has an uphill battle, but at least she is no longer ignorant. Ignorance is the real danger. And of course the Hunters. Because they are real.
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