Would you risk everything for magic? Beatrice Clayborn faces this choice in C. L. Polk’s latest fantasy novel, The Midnight Bargain. Polk expertly explores themes of women’s rights and bodily autonomy by taking the tropes and atmosphere of a Regency romance and transporting them into an original fantasy world where the practice of magic is segregated by gender. The Midnight Bargain was released just last week, and you can find it in stores now.
Beatrice Clayborn wants the one thing women in her society aren’t allowed to have: magic. While male sorcerers study at elite chapterhouses, Beatrice has spent her youth teaching herself magic out of illicit grimoires. But that’s all about to come to an end with this Bargaining season: once her family negotiates an advantageous match for her, Beatrice will have to put on the marriage collar that cuts her off from all her magic, lest a wandering spirit take advantage of any pregnancy to possess her unborn child. Yet Beatrice has a plan: if she can make the great bargain with a spirit, then she’ll be a fully-fledged mage. She can use her magic to turn her father’s business around and live her life as an unmarried spinster, practicing magic in the shadows. Of course, she didn’t count on falling in love with one of the most eligible bachelors in town for Bargaining season, Ianthe Lavan.…
In The Midnight Bargain, young women practice magic with a recklessness that reminded me a bit of Hannah Abigail Clarke’s The Scapegracers. Though rather than having the chaotic energy of Sideways Pike, Beatrice just has a bit of a gambler’s heart. She’s always willing to take a few risks if the potential payoff is big enough. In this case, that means allowing a mischievous spirit of chance named Nadi to invisibly accompany her to all of the delicate social functions of Bargaining season. The magic system in this novel was reminiscent of one of my childhood favorites, the Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud: sorcerers summon dangerous spirits, and must be careful to word their bargains carefully and keep their supernatural servants under tight control. But perhaps because of her own refusal to be controlled, Beatrice doesn’t see her relationship with Nadi as one of master and servant, teetering on the edge of victim and monster. Instead, Beatrice and Nadi form a close friendship built on mutual respect and trust. And while it may seem reckless to trust a spirit that just wants to gulp down three cups of punch, kiss a stranger, and hex your enemies, sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith.
Apart from the magic system, one of the most notable aspect of this novel is its subversive world-building. Beatrice’s home country of Chasland resembles Regency England. But rather than this society being lionized, Chasland is actually viewed as somewhat backwards and regressive, particularly in its treatment of women. And perhaps more importantly, The Midnight Bargain rejects one of the most problematic tropes that plagues both Regency romance and second-world fantasy: not everybody is white! And the Black characters aren’t just visitors from some exotic equatorial island at the edge of the map, either. Ianthe and his sister Ysbeta are from Llanandras, the most powerful country in this world’s trade economy and the seat of beauty and fashion. The Llanandari language is the lingua franca among the international socialite crowd and Llanandari fashion sets the trends for the rest of society. The Llanandari are more socially progressive, as well, allowing women more reproductive, economic, and even magical freedom than in Chasland. Although, even the most progressive society falls short of true equality. And so, Beatrice and Ysbeta team up to imagine a better world, in which women are free to make their own choices, and neither their magic nor their bodies are under the control of men.
If you’re looking for some fun, feminist magic with nuanced world-building and a sweet romance, don’t miss The Midnight Bargain! You can find The Midnight Bargain on shelves now at your local retailer, or buy it online from this Bookshop.org affiliate link and support The Gothic Library in the process. If you’ve read it, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!