Cast Long Shadows by Cat Hellisen

I would like to thank Francesca from Luna Press Publishing for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Luna Press Publishing

Published – Out Now

Price – £12.99 paperback £4.29 Kindle eBook

Marjeta Petrell.

Replacement bride, shadow of a dead and perfect wife, step-mother to a duke's treasured daughter.

A girl out of her depth, alone and afraid.

Magic runs deep in her veins, stitched in blood ties, embroidered with kindness and pain.

In an unfamiliar court, Marjeta must discover who are her friends and who are enemies; who she can trust before she is accused of witchcraft and executed.

From childhood we are warned about the evil stepmother. The cuckoo in the next that spells danger for the young children they are supposed to care for. Yet, when you think about it she is also one of the rarest female characters apart from of course the witches to have agency. Sometimes they are both. Just possibly the gender here plays a role. Isn’t it strange that this is the only time a woman gets to have power. Isn’t also slightly not reflective of the reality of those tales where women did not often have much control over their marriages and own destiny? This is the core of Cat Hellisen’s fascinating novel cast Long Shadows where we hear the stories of the evil stepmother to be condemned as a witch and the stepdaughter she is expected to betray.

Marjeta is the third daughter of a King and expected to play very little part in politics. Her sister Valerija is the tall beautiful one with magical gifts. She will be taught to play the game of royalty and is already pledged to a powerful Duke. Marjeta though wants to be outside hunting and risig with her dogs and horses. But tragedy strikes and the teenage Marjeta instead finds herself now the betrothed to a cold Duke who only marries for an alliance. Alone from her family and kingdom except for a faithful servant she now has to learn the ways of her new home. A place that views her and her family’s faith with suspicion and make friendship with the Duke’s suspicious daughter Silviania. However, Silviana’s nursemaid Lilika is sure Marjeta brings disaster in her wake.

This is an absorbing tale of positioning using the very core of the old Snow White tale as starting point but is a very very different beast to the tale with dwarves in it. Instead Hellisen skilfully creates a historical fantasy of Queens set in a  world that never existed with its own faiths and traditions. It’s a fascinating game of chess with two would be queens and their two powerful servants navigating a very dangerous board. We start the tale with Marjeta facing being burnt to death as a witch, so the story focuses on how these events came to be and also importantly who are these women?

The characters are the heart of the tale and what I loved is how no one in this game is evil just all focused on their own duties and life. Marjeta and Silvania are having to deal with hands they dealt. They are very much their father’s tools and toys. Marjeta is indulged for her outdoor nature but when required gets packed off to a remote palace to bear children and seal an alliance. Silvania is a reminder of the Duke’s previous wife and is very much confided to her glorious rooms never to be let out in case harm befalls her. The two could almost be sisters and yet both realise they have to be wary of the other and its often less a friendship and more a political dance the two must learn around each other.

As their agents we get two unusual servants in the form of Lilika who is devoted to the future of the realm and wants Silvania to be protected and sees Marjeta as a dangerous interloper (plus she is the Duke’s mistress). Marjeta has in her corner the smart and capable Areya who takes it upon herself to teach Marjeta the ways and dangers of court. We get a fascinating battle of wits and attacks brewing between the two groups and we know from the start this will end badly but importantly we understand each character and why they have to act in the ways they do. We don’t see the roles and titles here we see and understand the individuals which is the trademark of great character work.

The other key factor in the story’s success is the world Hellisen uses. Its an unfamiliar world of medieval places but with traditions and religions that are not quite our own. Marjeta#s family worship a Celtic style Three women who listen and see all. While Silvania’s family is absorbing a new religion with a bull headed god who died for his followers and asks a high price of obedience and is distrustful of women. Here magic is prayer, blood and rituals which could be just superstition that strangely works or something more ethereal. We get strange apparitions, dreams and unexpected events that hint at magic but may all just be how the characters see the world. It feels dark and oppressive which is a fitting atmosphere for this strange castle where our major characters have to navigate unseen dangers all the time. My one reserve is pacing feels a little slow at the start and then very fast at the end, but I really did appreciate that slow beginning for making us walk in Marjeta’s shoes and understand her later choices.

Cast Long Shadows for me is a much more interesting approach to a retelling just using the ones of s story and instead giving us a fresher, surprising and more complex tale. I loved meeting these characters; getting to understand them and their dangerous world which combined  Hellisen’s quiet eloquent storytelling style made this an delicious reading experience. An author I will be looking out for more from. Highly recommended!