The Midnight Bargain

It's Jane Austen plus magic, with a side of institutionalized misogyny. Despte the heaviness of that last one, the book is witty and charming. Two women are looking for a way to escape their lives as dictated by society. There are bookstores, witches, codes, spells, colonialism, parties, and visits to to the tailors.

I would read other stories in this universe, even though the novel has a very satisfactory ending that does not seed an obvious sequel or series.

Actual rating 3.5/5

The Midnight Bargain is a charming, easy read, tackling themes of gender equality and power through a Regency-esque fantasy. Beatrice Clayborn is a powerful sorceress in a world where women are not allowed to practise magic and are locked into a marital collar that cuts off their powers. But Beatrice is determined to not let this become her fate, even as her family pushes her to marry to lift them out of the severe debt they have fallen into.

I really liked following Beatrice as the main character. She is powerful and knows it, and she is ready to challenge the whole of society for her right to become a mage - even if she has to do so in secret, risking everything. I wasn't too keen on the magic system itself, which show more seems to be strongly based in the mage being possessed by a spirit. Women learn magic from coded grimoires hidden in plain sight, and we get a fair bit of insight into how the magic works by following Beatrice as she conjures a luck spirit, Nadi.

Nadi was by far my favourite part of the book. I absolutely adored her and would totally take her with me everywhere and give her lots of cake. Nadi was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise quite predictable plot and character development. The rest of the cast is frankly quite forgettable, and the love interest, Ianthe, was quite bland for my taste. I also couldn't forgive the instalove and, even though I tried to look past it to enjoy the rest of the book, it bothered me to no end that Beatrice and Ianthe would be madly in love after briefly speaking ONCE. Ianthe's sister (and aspiring sorceress) Ysbeta was honestly a much more interesting character and I felt more chemistry between her and Beatrice, to the extent that I would have greatly preferred seeing them as a couple rather than the usual, predictable romance.

Crossing magic with a period drama is a great idea, especially for someone like me who loves both those elements, so I did overall enjoy reading this book. However, it was not without its faults. The plot was quite thin, the magic system problematic and the romance disappointing - in many ways, it reminded me of my experience watching Bridgerton, which I also found entertaining but deeply problematic. And yes, I did imagine Beatrice and Ianthe like this every time a dance was mentioned:

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I appreciated the effort to include a gender equality theme in the book, even though at times it felt more like reading a Feminism 101 guide disguised as a fantasy rather than a story seamlessly incorporating these themes.

Overall, The Midnight Bargain was a pleasant enough read, in no small part thanks to the author's excellent writing style. It had some serious issues for me (mostly the thin plot and overreliance on the instalove), but some charismatic characters and the never-ending charm of the Regency-like setting somewhat made up for those, leaving me mostly satisfied and only partly wishing that this book had dared go further to reach its full potential.


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. show less

What I particularly love about The Midnight Bargain is that it embodies the classic feminist idea that "the personal is political." In this book, drawing rooms are the fundamental loci of political discussion, not courts, and the power relationships between husband and wife or parent and child are as worthy of political critique as that between ruler and subject. When characters debate gender politics in this book, they are never speaking theoretically, because they know what a large and concrete role those politics play in their personal lives: sexism is not just some abstract evil, but a concrete narrative force that pushes these women to submit to men, pursue heteronormative ideals, and give up their aspirations. So of course their show more personal lives are very politically charged.

Conversely, the characters' political lives are heavily personal. The ways that the characters seek liberation are well-rooted in their personal experiences. For instance, the male love interest respects women, but he struggles to understand and accept the risks that the protagonist takes for the sake of her liberation in a way that his sister, who faces similar struggles under sexism, does not. While the characters desire systematic change, they seek change for self-serving reasons, and often do so in ways that put them at odds with their allies. Freedom means something different to each character, and they have to fight to find commonalities between their experiences in order to work together. The differences between the characters' approaches make them feel like real people and bring a much larger degree of nuance to the political questions the book occupies itself with.

While the blurb may make it seem like this book is a romance novel, note that the gender-politics plot is the real meat of the novel. Related to that, the romance between Beatrice and Ianthe is not as well-developed as the friendship between Beatrice and Ianthe's sister, Ysbeta. And I like that a lot! Ysbeta makes a good foil for Beatrice, and has a lot more to contribute to a conversation about sexism than Ianthe. Just keep in mind that romance is not the main point of this book.

Although I love a lot of what Polk does in this book, I can't help feeling that it stumbles at the final hurdle. The book is about how sexism is a massive social problem that is forcing Beatrice to sacrifice either love or freedom, the two things she values most in life. Over and over again, the book underscores the inescapability of this sacrifice, which speaks to the inescapability of sexism. However, in somewhat vague terms, the resolution to this problem is that the characters make a technological advance that completely nullifies the sacrifice dilemma and strikes a massive blow against sexism in the process. It feels like Beatrice's unproblematic ending is at odds with the institutionalized, inescapable nature of sexism as is set up by the novel. While the author may not have intended the book's message to be "Technology can solve sexism!" the ending still comes across that way, and it feels like an inadequate answer to the difficult questions about surviving and thriving in an oppressive society that are brought up earlier in the novel.. While I wasn't enthused about the ending, the rest of the book is so good and thoughtful that I think it's worth a read anyways. show less

I checked out this book from my library as part of my reading of Nebula finalists for this year.

I LOVE THIS BOOK. LOOOOOOOVE. It hits all of my sweet spots. A regency-inspired original world, with magic! Women striving for independence against societal expectations! A central romance with a guy who is a respectful, smart, supportive person, not a jerk! Smart heroines! Everything about this book is glorious and wonderful, including an ending that delivered a multitude of surprises and immense satisfaction.

The Midnight Bargain is a beautiful blend of original fantasy and regency tinged romance with a backbone. At once an engaging tale of romance, magic, and an examination of women’s lives under a patriarchal society, The Midnight Bargain will sweep you away.

All Beatrice Clayborn has ever wanted is to become a Magus. She has a strong gift and the dedication to study, but women aren’t allowed to practice the higher magics. Ladies with the talent must marry. And in this world, marriage means being locked away in a collar that will suppress a woman’s magic for the rest of her child bearing years.

Forced to take part in the Bargaining Season, Beatrice is determined to track down the secret grimoires that can teach her how to become a show more Magus before her father completes a deal for her hand in marriage. Things quickly get complicated when another sorceress snatches the very tome Beatrice needs from her hands - and introduces Beatrice to her brother. Torn between her only chance at a life of magic and a man she grows to realize she may love, Beatrice finds herself in a quickly closing trap that will save her family but spell the end of her study of magic - and her freedom.

Female empowerment is an often neglected theme in fantasy novels, more frequently books casually support male dominated societies that are a reflection of our own. The Midnight Bargain chooses instead to examine what it means to be a woman living under the thumb of her father or husband. What freedoms must be sacrificed for a family when women’s lives are a black or white choice? Why are women the ones who have to make this sacrifice? Isn’t there a better way? Placing this examination against a familiar feeling background with rules any woman who grew up on Pride and Prejudice will recognize, makes that argument hit harder. This is a society with rules we understand because it’s so close to that of our own culture’s past.

Written in an open engaging style, The Midnight Bargain is a fast paced novel that draws a reader in and keeps them turning the page. That’s not to say it is entirely without flaw - the plot is often predictable and hits all the expected beats. However, while more creativity in plotting would have served this book well, it is still an enjoyable storyline with interesting world building that is a satisfying read. Once started, you’ll want to see it to the end.

A digital galley of this book was provided by Erewhon Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

Beatrice's family needs her to marry this season, and marry well, in order to restore the family finances. But magic is forbidden to married women, and Beatrice's only wish is to become a magician. She meets and falls for Ianthe Lavan, the season's handsomest and most eligible bachelor, and he returns her affection. But is she willing to give up the one thing she's always wanted, just for him?

Things about this book I liked:
- Familiar Regency-esque setting, but there's magic! Magic that is forbidden to women, emphasizing their lower status and lack of independence.
- The reason that women aren't allowed to learn or perform magic actually has a logical basis beyond just generalized misogyny. (There's still plenty of generalized misogyny to show more go around, but the magic in this world is performed by summoning and bargaining with spirits, and a pregnant woman runs the risk of a spirit permanently possessing her unborn child.)
- Noddy (Beatrice's minor familiar spirit) was adorable, especially as voiced by Moira Quirk.
- The magic-dampening collar that women are forced to wear from their wedding until they are no longer of childbearing age, while a touch on-the-nose literal, was described so well as to be thoroughly horrifying.

Things about this book that didn't quite work for me:
- I wasn’t crazy about any of the characters. Beatrice waffled a LOT without actively doing much at all for most of the book. Ianthe was charming, but that may have been because he was the only male character to even entertain the possibility that women are people, and it definitely seemed like there was a touch of insta-love between him and Beatrice. Ysbeta (Ianthe's sister), for all of her protestations of friendship towards Beatrice, just came off as spoiled and selfish, even through to the end. (Like I said, Noddy was my favorite character, and it wasn't even a corporeal being.)
- The pacing was sloooooow for 75% of the book. Lots of handwringing, and going on about the usual social activities of courting while secretly handwringing, and talking to the other character who is also secretly handwringing about similar problems but never actually doing anything. It picks up quite a bit towards the end, and the ending was well done, but it definitely takes its time getting there.
- What I thought was the most interesting aspect of the worldbuilding - how women acquire and disseminate magical knowledge in secret - was only barely touched upon. I wanted a deeper dive into that aspect of the world, rather than staying focused on the high society balls and who is paying calls to whom. show less

This is not a book I would normally read, but did so because it is one of the Canada Reads contenders for 2021.

It held my interest, which says a lot for a book of this genre! I commend C.L. Polk on her imagination. This was a blend of Jane Austen meets magical fantasy. Debutante balls, making a good marriage, money issues...etc. It also dealt with the choice so many women still have to make in our world between family and career. Granted, most of us have it much easier than the women in this novel, but the questions are the same: why does the burden fall solely (in this novel) on women? Why does no one question this?

So, good writing that provokes an examination of our own world...for that I give it high marks.