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OLDER FICTION
Merchant, Tamzin

The Hatmakers

384 pp. | Norton | February, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-324-01603-8 $18.95 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-324-01604-5 $17.48
(2) YA While waiting for her sea captain father's return, Cordelia Hatmaker gets terrible news: his ship has foundered and gone down with all hands. Cordelia's aunts and uncle try to set aside their grief to finish the magically endowed Concentration Hat commissioned for the king, but Cordelia decides that her father (whose name is Prospero, hint hint) isn't dead but rather "lost at sea," and that "what is lost can be found." The rest of this energetically zany fantasy details Cordelia's efforts in that direction--after the Concentration Hat fails to relieve the king's madness, Cordelia focuses on petitioning the princess for use of a boat; the princess can't help her due to the looming war between England and France but tells Cordelia the palace has learned her father's cabin boy survived the wreck and is lying delirious in a sailor's sickbay in ­Wapping. Meanwhile, per France's aggression, the Makers are tasked with making the princess some Peace Clothing, but each rival Maker family is robbed before they can complete the piece. There's a lot going on--plots, subplots, vivid descriptions of the magic of Hatmaking, adjectives galore--but Merchant (heretofore known mostly for her acting roles in The Tudors and Salem) tucks each wild strand in neatly, forming a vibrant, surprisingly credible whole. There's even an enticing wrinkle at the end regarding the fate of Cordelia's missing father. For those who like their swashes well-buckled and their Loquacious Lilies fresh, this over-the-top fantasy checks all the boxes.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

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