THE SACRED & THE DIVINE

In Massachusetts in 1848, three sisters battle a force threatening their town.

Sixteen-year-old Daisy Wolfson and her sisters, fraternal twin Morrigan and 18-year-old Avery, made a mistake: They allowed something sinister to escape during their new moon ritual. Iniitally unaware of the problem’s origin, people in their small town of Redcliffe seek the sisters’ aid with curative spiritualist practices, tarot readings, crystals, herbalism, and elemental channeling. But, slowly and steadily, a Bleakness accentuates the townspeople’s worst instincts, and this animosity is aimed directly at the Wolfsons. The sisters, who can see into the past (Morrigan), the future (Daisy), and into people’s souls in the present (Avery) must work together to heal the afflicted while they still can and find the culprit causing this madness before they’re all overtaken. At the same time, Daisy follows her own spiritual journey, one mirroring the tarot’s major arcana that involves more than one handsome young man. Although the setting and action are well described, the minimally developed characters fail to do more than follow their assigned roles, resulting in an interesting premise that unfolds with little emotion. The thoroughly described spiritualist practices will appeal to readers interested in the occult. The sisters are cued white; their mother was a “French Catholic Acadian orphan,” something the town’s elite find disgraceful. Laude’s charming spot art adorns the text.

An atmospheric setting and strong spiritualist elements cannot compensate for underdeveloped characters.