When you’re a woman alone in a patriarchal world, you claw your way to power by any means necessary. This is the philosophy of Lady Evelyn Perdanu in Caitlin Starling’s 2020 fantasy novella Yellow Jessamine.
Evelyn Perdanu is one of the most powerful shipping magnates left in the struggling city of Dephinium. But her true power comes from the secret garden at the heart of her estate, where Evelyn grows medicines and poisons that can cure most ills and remove most obstacles. But Evelyn knows of no cure for the strange illness that suddenly besets her sailors, leaving them in a catatonic state with unsettlingly blank stares. As the condition spreads, it becomes clear that someone or something is coming for Evelyn, and her past misdeeds may finally be catching up to her. Can she hold on to her position of power long enough to survive the besieged city’s inevitable fall? Or will everything she’s built come crumbling down around her. If Evelyn is to have any hope of making it through, she may have to lower her walls and accept a helping hand. But which potential ally should she trust—her loyal maidservant, the charming judicial officer, or the injured rebel soldier?
Evelyn is something of a mad scientist figure. As she tinkers away in the workshop adjacent to her garden, whipping up potions of leaves, roots, and tinctures from her unlabeled jars, it becomes clear that her mind is troubled. Evelyn is tormented by spirals of anxiety about her precarious position of power dissolving out from underneath her. Slowly, it is also revealed that Evelyn is tormented by guilt over some of the terrible things she’s done while building the house of cards on which she now stands. To cope with these feelings, Evelyn self-medicates with concoctions from her workshop, but these coping methods may be hurting her more than they help. Evelyn is a classic unreliable narrator, withholding secrets from the reader that when revealed, show her in a whole new light.
The true horror element of this story is a particularly spooky form of possession that’s unlike anything I’ve encountered before. The sailors in a catatonic state have had their minds wiped by something else that temporarily took over. When Evelyn comes across fresher victims, their wide-eyed, glassy stare is accompanied by a voice not their own—the voice of something eager to meet Evelyn. This voice hops from victim to victim, infecting an alarming number of people in Evelyn’s radius. These unfortunate souls are not possessed by any ordinary ghost … but to say more would give the story away!
If you love scheming, ambitious women and tales of plots and poison, be sure to check out Yellow Jessamine! You can find it in stores now at your favorite local retailer, or buy it online directly from the publisher Neon Hemlock. If you’ve already read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments!