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Ivy, Angelica, Bay
When Hurston Hill is threatened by a suspiciously powerful urban development firm, Miss l'Abielle steps up to protect her community with the help of a mysterious orphaned girl in this charming follow up to "St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid," featured on LeVar Burton Reads.
51 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 8, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
February 27, 2024
Very, very nice; very interesting characters and a tight little story without a lot of extra. Much more enjoyable for me than Witchmark, but if you liked that, you should love this. An urban setting with a modern feel, a witch woman realizes her neighborhood is under attack at the same time she is still grieving the death of her mother.
"How must it feel to find your gift, the thing you love that loves you back, and so you give your life to it without thinking?"
My biggest problem is that it does an interesting job of evoking a world, but then at couple of points, I found myself recalibrating. Wait, is this 1940s? 1970? Is this our world? Where are we at? These questions quite possibly could have been answered in the first story set in this world, https://reactormag.com/st-valentine-s... but I had not read it yet. Anyway, I found the ambiguity ended up being a little bit distracting, mostly because then I don't know the grounding rules of the story.
Many thanks to Hirondelle who pointed me the way.
Four and a half bees.
https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
Also, I'm still not a robot, despite routinely failing captcha and failing to properly identify motorcycles.
"How must it feel to find your gift, the thing you love that loves you back, and so you give your life to it without thinking?"
My biggest problem is that it does an interesting job of evoking a world, but then at couple of points, I found myself recalibrating. Wait, is this 1940s? 1970? Is this our world? Where are we at? These questions quite possibly could have been answered in the first story set in this world, https://reactormag.com/st-valentine-s... but I had not read it yet. Anyway, I found the ambiguity ended up being a little bit distracting, mostly because then I don't know the grounding rules of the story.
Many thanks to Hirondelle who pointed me the way.
Four and a half bees.
https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
Also, I'm still not a robot, despite routinely failing captcha and failing to properly identify motorcycles.
February 17, 2024
Read from here, novelette length, 2023 published. A sequel to this, a shorter work also available online but which I had not read(because I got confused and thought that was an anthology or podcast and only realized later it was an available short story. I will get to it...)
And it was lovely, a cozy 1970s american urban fantasy, witches, a grown woman and her would be apprentice, against gentrification kind of. I had read C.L. Polk before (one novel and one novella) and this was my favorite of what I have read of hers, the story feels paced just right, all clear cut, and moving in the small details (and dialogue). My one criticism with it is with its cozyness . Really very lovely.
Incidentally I am surprised at the cover after reading it, the way I read it I think they are all meant to be African-Americans in some urban neighbourhood in a big american city (Chicago?)...
And it was lovely, a cozy 1970s american urban fantasy, witches, a grown woman and her would be apprentice, against gentrification kind of. I had read C.L. Polk before (one novel and one novella) and this was my favorite of what I have read of hers, the story feels paced just right, all clear cut, and moving in the small details (and dialogue). My one criticism with it is with its cozyness . Really very lovely.
Incidentally I am surprised at the cover after reading it, the way I read it I think they are all meant to be African-Americans in some urban neighbourhood in a big american city (Chicago?)...
March 1, 2024
While the previous story within this universe, this city, this house is one of loneliness and wanting to belong, this one is about belonging and fighting for that feeling, that sense of community and safety.
A marvelous little story where every word counts and no one is there for nothing.
This is a story about finding our place in the world and the deep joy--but also fear--that event brings to our souls.
In a place where magic mixes with everyday life and all it encompasses, like seeing unwanted changes in your community, or fearing it may all be taken away from you, a woman in grief and a little girl will have to be honest about who they are and what they most want for themselves.
All in all, a delightful read. Full of melancholy, and hope and even a couple of thrills.
Beautifully rendered and very much word reading.
Thank you Carol for helping me find it.
A marvelous little story where every word counts and no one is there for nothing.
This is a story about finding our place in the world and the deep joy--but also fear--that event brings to our souls.
In a place where magic mixes with everyday life and all it encompasses, like seeing unwanted changes in your community, or fearing it may all be taken away from you, a woman in grief and a little girl will have to be honest about who they are and what they most want for themselves.
All in all, a delightful read. Full of melancholy, and hope and even a couple of thrills.
Beautifully rendered and very much word reading.
Thank you Carol for helping me find it.
May 12, 2024
A sweet, heartwarming story about witches. I liked the way the author described the (natural) magic.
May 24, 2024
Urban Fantasy battle
I picked up C.L. Polk's Ivy, Angelica, Bay because it is a finalist for the 2024 Best Novelette Hugo. For my money, the greatest service provided by awards like the Hugo and the Newbery is to point me at good stories I would otherwise have missed. This was such a case. It would not get my vote for the Best Novelette — that honor goes to Nghi Vo’s On the Fox Roads, but it wins the silver.
As the story begins our first-person narrator, Miss l’Abielle, whose mother has recently died, arrives home to find a waif on her doorstep. The story takes place in a world very like ours. Indeed, there is a reference to a new movie that is pretty obviously /The Empire Strikes Back/, which would place us in 1980. (However, Miss l’Abielle has a rotary dial phone at home — those were pretty much gone by 1980.) Miss l'Abielle, we quickly learn, is the magical protector of a neighborhood called Hurston Hill. And the appearance of this waif is the first sign of an assault on Hurston Hill. So we get a rousing battle, mostly conducted through magic, politics and money, and subterfuge. I throughly enjoyed it, especially the subterfuge. I like folks who fight sneaky (in stories, at least)!
There was one false note for me — this sneer:
This was a good, exciting story. It was well executed — the action begins immediately and draws you in. Lots of cool, unpredictable stuff happens.
Blog review.
I picked up C.L. Polk's Ivy, Angelica, Bay because it is a finalist for the 2024 Best Novelette Hugo. For my money, the greatest service provided by awards like the Hugo and the Newbery is to point me at good stories I would otherwise have missed. This was such a case. It would not get my vote for the Best Novelette — that honor goes to Nghi Vo’s On the Fox Roads, but it wins the silver.
As the story begins our first-person narrator, Miss l’Abielle, whose mother has recently died, arrives home to find a waif on her doorstep. The story takes place in a world very like ours. Indeed, there is a reference to a new movie that is pretty obviously /The Empire Strikes Back/, which would place us in 1980. (However, Miss l’Abielle has a rotary dial phone at home — those were pretty much gone by 1980.) Miss l'Abielle, we quickly learn, is the magical protector of a neighborhood called Hurston Hill. And the appearance of this waif is the first sign of an assault on Hurston Hill. So we get a rousing battle, mostly conducted through magic, politics and money, and subterfuge. I throughly enjoyed it, especially the subterfuge. I like folks who fight sneaky (in stories, at least)!
There was one false note for me — this sneer:
She could pull the whole thing down and rebuild it to suit her, the way some people will take a grand old house built by artisans and craftsmen and discard everything that makes it beautiful to put up vinyl siding they don’t have to paint.If you like old stuff, that’s fine. If you think liking old stuff makes you better than people who don’t share your kink, that’s not fine at all. (Sorry. It sometimes feels to me as if I’ve been sneered at by reactionaries all my life, and I’m out of patience with it.)
This was a good, exciting story. It was well executed — the action begins immediately and draws you in. Lots of cool, unpredictable stuff happens.
Blog review.
October 11, 2024
I finally got to read this sequel to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid and did it live up to the expectations! I adore C.L. Polk's writing and this short wasn't an exception from that. Definitely would recommend reading the first story first. It's not necessary, but it makes the story way more satisfying.
Read for free here: https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
Read for free here: https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
January 26, 2024
I really hope there are more of these stories coming.
January 18, 2024
Oh my god, so I LOVED this. It's short, so I won't go into detail and give too much away. I adored the magic, the setting, the MCs, individualistic capitalism v. community. Just -chef kiss-
May 7, 2024
How must it feel to find your gift, the thing you love that loves you back, and so you give your life to it without thinking?
A charming little novelette set in the 1970s featuring a Black witch engaging in everyday spellcraft to protect her African-American neighbourhood from gentrification, from big business and capitalism, while also taking in an abandoned young girl. As is often my struggle with novelettes though: it's just too short for my taste. I would have appreciated knowing more about the antagonist and the people constituting the fabric of this setting, since the neighbourhood -- Hurston Hill -- is supposed to be the whole beating heart of the protagonist's life.
It's cute, though. You can read it here.
Sequel to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, which I haven't read.
June 27, 2024
This was intended to be my review of Ivy, Angelica, Bay as the next in my series of Hugo nominee reviews. And it will be.
Howsomever, when I looked at the author’s website I discovered something marvelous. That this novelette is the follow-up to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, a short story that was published in February 2020 at Reactor Magazine, formerly known as Tor.com. Even better, the short story was read, in full, by Levar Burton on his podcast, Levar Burton Reads. (Which I highly recommend, not just this story but the whole beautiful thing!)
I loved Ivy, Angelica, Bay. I needed something short to listen to at the end of a long week. And thereby hangs the proverbial tale, so this review ended up being a bit of both.
Both of these stories are about the price of magic, which is really about that combination of being careful what you wish for because you might get it, the way that the magic ring always comes with a curse, and that having a thing may not be so pleasurable as wanting it – referring back to last Friday’s book just a bit.
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid is the setup for Ivy, Angelica, Bay. The young, unnamed, first-person narrator of St. Valentine may be the adult in Ivy, or may be one of her many predecessors as the magical – and magically adopted – Miss l’Abielle. That we don’t know – although we don’t really need to – in Ivy does make me curious about how the magic at the end of that first story worked out – but that’s just my curiosity bump itching.
The story in St. Valentine is a coming of age and into power story. It’s also a bit of a story about selfishness – as coming of age stories are wont to be. But it also foreshadows both the narrator’s desire to keep what is hers – no matter the cost and no matter how benevolent she might be in that keeping – and the way that the magical power in these stories is maintained and passed on.
You don’t have to read or listen to St. Valentine in order to get stuck right into Ivy, but I’m glad I found it because listening to it was marvelous and it made the story I’d just finished that much deeper.
In Ivy, Angelica, Bay we get a story that reminds me a LOT of two of Leslye Penelope’s recent books, The Monsters We Defy and Daughter of the Merciful Deep, in that both are centered around protecting black communities from, let’s call it economic encroachment although that’s not all of what’s happening. The Monsters We Defy hits more of the same notes as Ivy, as both stories feature young black women as magical practitioners who protect their communities but also assist individuals who are willing to pay both a magical and a mundane price for that assistance. And that all too often the magical price is much too high.
But there’s also more than a bit of T. Kingfisher’s forthcoming A Sorceress Comes to Call in Ivy – as that turns out to be exactly what happens in both cases. The surprise is that in Ivy, there’s more than a bit of, of all surprising stories, The Velveteen Rabbit.
Escape Rating A+: Consider that rating for the overall experience as well as for all the parts that are combined into this whole. At this point I’ve read four of the six nominees for this year’s Best Novelette and I’m at the “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” point for selection and I still have two to go.
What makes these stories work, but particular for Ivy, Angelica, Bay because it has a bit more time and heft to it – also that St. Valentine has done a bit of its setup for it – is the way that it combines its elements and then tells its story through its protagonist, the current Miss l’Abielle, so that even though we don’t know her name we still feel the horns – and thorns – of all of her dilemmas.
She is charged with protecting her community – but that charge has just fallen on her shoulders fully at the death of her mother. She’s spent too much of her magical energy in recent weeks and months keeping her mother on this side of death’s door – and now the price of that keeping has come due. Maybe even past due.
And she’s a bit desperate and a lot heartsore and easily gulled by a likely story – to the point where she nearly brings about the downfall of all she holds dear. A catastrophe that is made all that much clearer to the reader as she dives into what has gone wrong and we see who will pay that price – and is already paying – if she falls. Because the community will fall with her.
Her salvation – and theirs – comes in the most unlikely form. Which is where that Velveteen Rabbit hops into the story in a way that is surprising, delightful and perfect. And still requires a price to be paid – but one that the Misses l’Abielle and their community can bear more than well enough to continue the fight for another day.
Originally published at Reading Reality
Howsomever, when I looked at the author’s website I discovered something marvelous. That this novelette is the follow-up to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, a short story that was published in February 2020 at Reactor Magazine, formerly known as Tor.com. Even better, the short story was read, in full, by Levar Burton on his podcast, Levar Burton Reads. (Which I highly recommend, not just this story but the whole beautiful thing!)
I loved Ivy, Angelica, Bay. I needed something short to listen to at the end of a long week. And thereby hangs the proverbial tale, so this review ended up being a bit of both.
Both of these stories are about the price of magic, which is really about that combination of being careful what you wish for because you might get it, the way that the magic ring always comes with a curse, and that having a thing may not be so pleasurable as wanting it – referring back to last Friday’s book just a bit.
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid is the setup for Ivy, Angelica, Bay. The young, unnamed, first-person narrator of St. Valentine may be the adult in Ivy, or may be one of her many predecessors as the magical – and magically adopted – Miss l’Abielle. That we don’t know – although we don’t really need to – in Ivy does make me curious about how the magic at the end of that first story worked out – but that’s just my curiosity bump itching.
The story in St. Valentine is a coming of age and into power story. It’s also a bit of a story about selfishness – as coming of age stories are wont to be. But it also foreshadows both the narrator’s desire to keep what is hers – no matter the cost and no matter how benevolent she might be in that keeping – and the way that the magical power in these stories is maintained and passed on.
You don’t have to read or listen to St. Valentine in order to get stuck right into Ivy, but I’m glad I found it because listening to it was marvelous and it made the story I’d just finished that much deeper.
In Ivy, Angelica, Bay we get a story that reminds me a LOT of two of Leslye Penelope’s recent books, The Monsters We Defy and Daughter of the Merciful Deep, in that both are centered around protecting black communities from, let’s call it economic encroachment although that’s not all of what’s happening. The Monsters We Defy hits more of the same notes as Ivy, as both stories feature young black women as magical practitioners who protect their communities but also assist individuals who are willing to pay both a magical and a mundane price for that assistance. And that all too often the magical price is much too high.
But there’s also more than a bit of T. Kingfisher’s forthcoming A Sorceress Comes to Call in Ivy – as that turns out to be exactly what happens in both cases. The surprise is that in Ivy, there’s more than a bit of, of all surprising stories, The Velveteen Rabbit.
Escape Rating A+: Consider that rating for the overall experience as well as for all the parts that are combined into this whole. At this point I’ve read four of the six nominees for this year’s Best Novelette and I’m at the “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” point for selection and I still have two to go.
What makes these stories work, but particular for Ivy, Angelica, Bay because it has a bit more time and heft to it – also that St. Valentine has done a bit of its setup for it – is the way that it combines its elements and then tells its story through its protagonist, the current Miss l’Abielle, so that even though we don’t know her name we still feel the horns – and thorns – of all of her dilemmas.
She is charged with protecting her community – but that charge has just fallen on her shoulders fully at the death of her mother. She’s spent too much of her magical energy in recent weeks and months keeping her mother on this side of death’s door – and now the price of that keeping has come due. Maybe even past due.
And she’s a bit desperate and a lot heartsore and easily gulled by a likely story – to the point where she nearly brings about the downfall of all she holds dear. A catastrophe that is made all that much clearer to the reader as she dives into what has gone wrong and we see who will pay that price – and is already paying – if she falls. Because the community will fall with her.
Her salvation – and theirs – comes in the most unlikely form. Which is where that Velveteen Rabbit hops into the story in a way that is surprising, delightful and perfect. And still requires a price to be paid – but one that the Misses l’Abielle and their community can bear more than well enough to continue the fight for another day.
Originally published at Reading Reality
July 26, 2024
So much in such a short book! Excellently written, with fascinating characters, an intriguing magic system, a great climax and a touching resolution. I read the last half while in a hospital waiting room, trying unsuccessfully not to tear up. I look forward to reading more from this author!
August 11, 2024
Ivy, Angelica, Bay - enjoyable, well-written, gripping. I loved the bees, the imagery, the plotting. A really good novelette.
(2024 Hugo finalists read-through.)
(2024 Hugo finalists read-through.)
October 29, 2024
Again: I just love Polk’s writing. This was kind of perfect and heartbreaking and bittersweetly magical. Loved it.
February 11, 2024
An enjoyable follow up to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, this one takes the story a bit further. A great bit of characterization and I really enjoyed the deft way that social justice is worked into this story. I felt the author has gotten a lot better at it than some of their previous work.
June 15, 2024
A story of a witch that protects her community with spells that bring luck and fortune. But something evil has come, that wants to redevelop the community, breaking her spells and turning them to use for personal profit. And it may be related to an orphan child that the witch takes in earlier, teaching her the ways of magic and also kindness, that may be repaid when the witch finally confronts the evil that has entered her home.
May 27, 2024
Miss l'Abielle--Theresa Anne l'Abelle, but only for people outside the community is she anything but Miss l'Abielle--has just buried her mother, who was the witch protecting their whole community. She's got to take over now, but she's flattened by grief, and doesn't really believe she's up to the task. It seems a little worse, a little harder, when a visit from a desperate young woman results in her becoming the guardian of a mysterious orphan girl.
The girl's name is Jael Brown, and she's an innocent, frightened child abandoned on Miss l'Abielle's doorstep with a battered suitcase with her only possessions. But something else makes itself felt; an insinuating, threatening magic touched them both before being dispersed. Something is wrong, and it's just the first of many signs that something threatens her community.
She takes Jael with her as she goes around the neighborhood, and a bee leads them to a house that three days ago had a family in it. This leads to further question, which reveal that an outside, aggressive developer is after their community, and especially the park and the area around it, for a freeway.
But there's something more than the freeway behind this--a powerful, landless magician who wants Miss l'Abielle's community for their own property. Miss l'Abielle doesn't yet fully inhabit her mother's powers, and isn't sure how to fight this, but she has to do it.
Jael herself proves to have witching talent, and is eager to help--and something other than what she seems. Something very other from what she seems. Is she a friend and added strength, or an enemy inside Miss l'Abielle's defenses? And can Miss l'Abielle overcome the main enemy, with or without Jael?
Despite what's going on, it's a surprisingly gentle, positive story, despite some of what's going on. Very different from "Even Though I Knew the End," To me, that's a very good thing.
This is a 2024 Hugo Awards Best Novelette Finalist
The girl's name is Jael Brown, and she's an innocent, frightened child abandoned on Miss l'Abielle's doorstep with a battered suitcase with her only possessions. But something else makes itself felt; an insinuating, threatening magic touched them both before being dispersed. Something is wrong, and it's just the first of many signs that something threatens her community.
She takes Jael with her as she goes around the neighborhood, and a bee leads them to a house that three days ago had a family in it. This leads to further question, which reveal that an outside, aggressive developer is after their community, and especially the park and the area around it, for a freeway.
But there's something more than the freeway behind this--a powerful, landless magician who wants Miss l'Abielle's community for their own property. Miss l'Abielle doesn't yet fully inhabit her mother's powers, and isn't sure how to fight this, but she has to do it.
Jael herself proves to have witching talent, and is eager to help--and something other than what she seems. Something very other from what she seems. Is she a friend and added strength, or an enemy inside Miss l'Abielle's defenses? And can Miss l'Abielle overcome the main enemy, with or without Jael?
Despite what's going on, it's a surprisingly gentle, positive story, despite some of what's going on. Very different from "Even Though I Knew the End," To me, that's a very good thing.
This is a 2024 Hugo Awards Best Novelette Finalist
December 28, 2023
The Angelica Group is in a building that used to house people. It sits back from the sidewalk, double-wide and shorter than the shining glass-faced buildings pressing against it. A low stone wall bristling with spikes pushes people away from the front doors. Pedestrians veer into the middle of the sidewalk, giving it arm’s length. The old windows are bricked into narrow clerestory slits, and the old glass-fronted door is long, long gone. But that’s not all I see. Wards and repulsion spells five layers deep cover every single brick. Menace drips from every iron spike.
I am safe inside Mama’s Cadillac, safe from that web of spellwork, and I am not stepping on that sidewalk for anything. I can’t touch those wards. But I attempt to follow their dizzying geometry and catch a thread, here and there, of spells written to attract more: more wealth. More power. They stretch their tendrils across the air, spokes of a spider’s web, and it’s worse than I thought.
I really need to work my way around to some of C.L. Polk's novels, because this was great, and there's a couple of other shorts they've written that have been just as good. Urban witchcraft meets gentrification here, and it's written beautifully. The author's also got a real touch for pulling me into the story and connecting me with the characters (all the better to devastate me with, my dear).
Free from Tor here: https://www.tor.com/2023/12/08/ivy-an...
I am safe inside Mama’s Cadillac, safe from that web of spellwork, and I am not stepping on that sidewalk for anything. I can’t touch those wards. But I attempt to follow their dizzying geometry and catch a thread, here and there, of spells written to attract more: more wealth. More power. They stretch their tendrils across the air, spokes of a spider’s web, and it’s worse than I thought.
I really need to work my way around to some of C.L. Polk's novels, because this was great, and there's a couple of other shorts they've written that have been just as good. Urban witchcraft meets gentrification here, and it's written beautifully. The author's also got a real touch for pulling me into the story and connecting me with the characters (all the better to devastate me with, my dear).
Free from Tor here: https://www.tor.com/2023/12/08/ivy-an...
July 11, 2024
The older I get, the more I'm coming to appreciate a more homegrown style of magic in my fantasy. Balrog-stopping enchantments are impressive, but there's something so tangible about charms to bless a household or find a missing item.
This short story from CL Polk perfectly epitomises the kind of magic I'm talking about. Miss l'Abielle has inherited her mother's part of town, and it turns out her mother was a witch whose role was to keep her streets safe. The paragraphs are packed with small magics, from marks on doorposts to moonlight-infused water to the magical properties of bay leaves. There's a cosy familiarity to it, the feeling of a half-memory or old wives' tale, which lends a believability to the unbelievable.
Polk's writing is firm and competent, navigating the most difficult of human emotions in concise, powerful sentences. It was only after reading the story that I learnt it was a sequel; it works equally strongly as a standalone and welcomes readers who have not read its predecessor. Most critically for a short story, the content is perfectly matched to the length: the right level of depth and complexity; characters you astonishingly quickly come to care about; a perfect balance of set-up and tension; and - vitally - a satisfying conclusion.
Polk's name has existed at the edge of my awareness for a while now. This story makes me wish I had read their work sooner.
This short story from CL Polk perfectly epitomises the kind of magic I'm talking about. Miss l'Abielle has inherited her mother's part of town, and it turns out her mother was a witch whose role was to keep her streets safe. The paragraphs are packed with small magics, from marks on doorposts to moonlight-infused water to the magical properties of bay leaves. There's a cosy familiarity to it, the feeling of a half-memory or old wives' tale, which lends a believability to the unbelievable.
Polk's writing is firm and competent, navigating the most difficult of human emotions in concise, powerful sentences. It was only after reading the story that I learnt it was a sequel; it works equally strongly as a standalone and welcomes readers who have not read its predecessor. Most critically for a short story, the content is perfectly matched to the length: the right level of depth and complexity; characters you astonishingly quickly come to care about; a perfect balance of set-up and tension; and - vitally - a satisfying conclusion.
Polk's name has existed at the edge of my awareness for a while now. This story makes me wish I had read their work sooner.
August 26, 2024
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” is an incredible novelette that weaves a full, emotionally resonant story that I couldn’t put down. We follow Miss l’Abielle, a magician who has to take over her mother’s domain after she passes. While mourning her mother, she must also now contend with a young girl abandoned by her mother for a deal she never should have taken and another magician invading her territory with dark ambitions.
The twists and turns this story took were awesome and really caught me off guard a couple of times. It all beautifully wraps around the main emotional thread of l’Abielle mourning her mother and looking for a way to move on and continue to protect the people around her. There’s also some political themes involving gentrification that come in with her fight against the wicked magician too that are handled excellently. The magic is fascinating too, and I really enjoyed learning more as Polk drip fed info about it throughout the tale.
Overall, this is a richly told story. Polk’s prose is on point here, and she’s able to put depth into this story despite its length. Maybe I need to stop saying “despite its length” for novelettes as this has really shown me what the form can do. It’s not just a longer short story or a teeny tiny book, it is its own form. I’m really excited to read more novelettes as well as more from this author as this is the second 5-star read I’ve gotten from her.
The twists and turns this story took were awesome and really caught me off guard a couple of times. It all beautifully wraps around the main emotional thread of l’Abielle mourning her mother and looking for a way to move on and continue to protect the people around her. There’s also some political themes involving gentrification that come in with her fight against the wicked magician too that are handled excellently. The magic is fascinating too, and I really enjoyed learning more as Polk drip fed info about it throughout the tale.
Overall, this is a richly told story. Polk’s prose is on point here, and she’s able to put depth into this story despite its length. Maybe I need to stop saying “despite its length” for novelettes as this has really shown me what the form can do. It’s not just a longer short story or a teeny tiny book, it is its own form. I’m really excited to read more novelettes as well as more from this author as this is the second 5-star read I’ve gotten from her.
April 7, 2024
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I have previously read and enjoyed work by this author, hence I was quite eager to read this one. This turned out to be the sequel to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, that I had enjoyed quite a lot.
This is set ten or twenty year after the previous instalment: the young girl we met in St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid is now grown up and has taken the role that used to be the one of her mother. This time she is the one presented with a mysterious orphaned and powerful girl girl to raise into witchcraft. And the time could not be better, since Hurston Hill is threatened by a suspiciously powerful urban development firm. Miss l'Abielle steps up to protect her community with the help of the new girl.
This is a great story and worthy finalist for the Hugo awards.
This is set ten or twenty year after the previous instalment: the young girl we met in St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid is now grown up and has taken the role that used to be the one of her mother. This time she is the one presented with a mysterious orphaned and powerful girl girl to raise into witchcraft. And the time could not be better, since Hurston Hill is threatened by a suspiciously powerful urban development firm. Miss l'Abielle steps up to protect her community with the help of the new girl.
This is a great story and worthy finalist for the Hugo awards.
April 9, 2024
A witch who safeguards a neighborhood is under threat. Another warlock is threatening to take over her territory right at the same time as her mother (the former witch of the neighborhood) has died and an ill fated pact has left her in charge of a woman’s firstborn child.
This novellette does a great job of inhabiting a very specific space and time. While we never get specific years or city names, the hints woven throughout give us enough of a picture for the environment: roller skate parties on sidewalks, houses under threat for the construction of freeways, the era of the diner. And in this world lies a woman who seeks to hold a neighborhood together on goodwill and community building. It is a picture of what might have been (and what surely still is somewhere in the country) of how a community bands together in support of each other. And while the looming threat of malignant magic hangs over the neighborhood, the threat from the government is what truly haunts the edges of this community.
This novellette does a great job of inhabiting a very specific space and time. While we never get specific years or city names, the hints woven throughout give us enough of a picture for the environment: roller skate parties on sidewalks, houses under threat for the construction of freeways, the era of the diner. And in this world lies a woman who seeks to hold a neighborhood together on goodwill and community building. It is a picture of what might have been (and what surely still is somewhere in the country) of how a community bands together in support of each other. And while the looming threat of malignant magic hangs over the neighborhood, the threat from the government is what truly haunts the edges of this community.
August 26, 2024
This sequel to Polk's "St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid" reunites readers with Theresa as she becomes the witch of Hurston Hill following her mother's death. When a young girl is left on her doorstep, and gentrification threatens her community, Theresa is forced to step into her mother's shoes much more quickly than she anticipated.
I enjoyed this follow-up, I'll always have a soft spot for stories of witches taking in unwanted children, but, much like the previous story in this world, this wrapped up a little too quickly for me. I love short ficton and I don't think this story needed to be stretched to be novella length, but I wish we'd learned a bit more about the antagonist, in particular, to really feel the menace at the heart of their magic. Still an entertaining read, though, and I would definitely read more of Polk's short fiction!
I enjoyed this follow-up, I'll always have a soft spot for stories of witches taking in unwanted children, but, much like the previous story in this world, this wrapped up a little too quickly for me. I love short ficton and I don't think this story needed to be stretched to be novella length, but I wish we'd learned a bit more about the antagonist, in particular, to really feel the menace at the heart of their magic. Still an entertaining read, though, and I would definitely read more of Polk's short fiction!
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May 18, 20242024 Hugo Award finalist - Best Novelette
This urban fantasy takes place in 1981 (dated by a sly reference near the end of the story) in a neighborhood called Hurston Hill in an unnamed city, possibly New Orleans. Miss Theresa Anne l’Abielle is a witch who is just coming from her mother's funeral when a mysterious orphaned girl named Jael Brown comes into her life. They become entangled in some shady urban development that threatens their community. The blurb states that this story is a follow up to another story, but having not read that one, I can say that it is not at all necessary to understand this one—it stands by itself. However, it is clear that this is but a fragment of a larger story. The ending seemed rushed, and there are some loose ends. The emotional relationship between Miss l’Abielle and Jael is the focus of this story, and it is done very well.
This urban fantasy takes place in 1981 (dated by a sly reference near the end of the story) in a neighborhood called Hurston Hill in an unnamed city, possibly New Orleans. Miss Theresa Anne l’Abielle is a witch who is just coming from her mother's funeral when a mysterious orphaned girl named Jael Brown comes into her life. They become entangled in some shady urban development that threatens their community. The blurb states that this story is a follow up to another story, but having not read that one, I can say that it is not at all necessary to understand this one—it stands by itself. However, it is clear that this is but a fragment of a larger story. The ending seemed rushed, and there are some loose ends. The emotional relationship between Miss l’Abielle and Jael is the focus of this story, and it is done very well.
July 20, 2024
A lovely story. I only vaguely remembered the one it's a "sequel" to but this makes me want to go back and reread it. Lovely writing, a wonderful relationship between our narrator and her new ward, and a twist that surprised me but made perfect sense. I was less enthused about the "big bad" ("evil developer" is so overdone, and I didn't feel like ) and kind of weirdly disappointed by .
Will probably end up somewhere in the middle of my novelette ballot, depending on how the others shake out.
Will probably end up somewhere in the middle of my novelette ballot, depending on how the others shake out.
June 26, 2024
I received this novelette as part of the Hugo Awards packet and have to say, this one got my vote.
An urban fantasy set in the inner-city neighbourhood of Hurston Hill, circa … we’re not quite sure … could be the forties or more likely the seventies.
Miss l’Abielle, the neighbourhood Witch returns home from burying her mother to find a desperate, frightened orphan on her doorstep. Together they run her rounds – blessing and protecting the area with benign spells – but a dark plot is revealed, almost certainly involving her new charge.
This story tugged at my heart and drew me along with its compelling narrative.
You can read it for free on Tor.com, and here is my insta read and review: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dSsBwBCEW/
An urban fantasy set in the inner-city neighbourhood of Hurston Hill, circa … we’re not quite sure … could be the forties or more likely the seventies.
Miss l’Abielle, the neighbourhood Witch returns home from burying her mother to find a desperate, frightened orphan on her doorstep. Together they run her rounds – blessing and protecting the area with benign spells – but a dark plot is revealed, almost certainly involving her new charge.
This story tugged at my heart and drew me along with its compelling narrative.
You can read it for free on Tor.com, and here is my insta read and review: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dSsBwBCEW/
September 10, 2024
3.5 stars
An engaging novellette, set in 1980s US about a changing of the guard in witchery in the neighbourhood of Hurston Hill.
Miss l’Abielle, recently bereaved after the death of her mother, finds a waif on her stoop. Miss l’Abielle does not realise this, but the appearance of this child is the first shot in a war for control of her neighbourhood, by forces that wish to change and modernise it, and find no use for Miss l’Abielle form of magic. How this attack is overcome makes for a tight and satisfying story. It was a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award, but not the winner.
You can read the story here https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
An engaging novellette, set in 1980s US about a changing of the guard in witchery in the neighbourhood of Hurston Hill.
Miss l’Abielle, recently bereaved after the death of her mother, finds a waif on her stoop. Miss l’Abielle does not realise this, but the appearance of this child is the first shot in a war for control of her neighbourhood, by forces that wish to change and modernise it, and find no use for Miss l’Abielle form of magic. How this attack is overcome makes for a tight and satisfying story. It was a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award, but not the winner.
You can read the story here https://reactormag.com/ivy-angelica-b...
June 24, 2024
I read this for the 2024 Hugo Awards, Best Novelette, to be presented at Glasgow WorldCon in August. The story impressed me greatly: richness of setting, excellent depth of character, and a highly engaging plot. This is my first reading of the author's work, but I will very definitely be seeking out more. First rate storytelling.
January 13, 2024
A lovely follow-up to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid
March 2, 2024
This story is the embodiment of the Colbert GIVE IT TO ME NOW gif.
Grief, city planning, disco, magic, lies, gentrification, BEES. I love it, and I again petition the universe for exactly this but a long novel version, possibly a five book series.
Grief, city planning, disco, magic, lies, gentrification, BEES. I love it, and I again petition the universe for exactly this but a long novel version, possibly a five book series.
March 28, 2024
powerful females
Ms.Polk did it again. This is a great sequel. You will fall in love with the witches of Hurston Hill. You will want them to be safe and happy. You will weep for and with them when they are in danger. I love this world and look forward to the next adventure.
Ms.Polk did it again. This is a great sequel. You will fall in love with the witches of Hurston Hill. You will want them to be safe and happy. You will weep for and with them when they are in danger. I love this world and look forward to the next adventure.
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