The Applecross Spell

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Wendy MacIntyre’s second novel presents readers with what could be
termed a feminist gothic. Though featuring a feminist protagonist, the
story otherwise conforms to the gothic genre, from the isolated Scottish
castle that is its setting to the revelatory visions its protagonist
receives at the height of a thunderstorm.

Feminist author Suzanne Clelland is working on a scholarly examination
of the witch as an archetype and exemplar. Against the advice of her
friends, she has married the much older Murdo Napier, believing their
union to be a mystical marriage. Murdo is a cosmologist engaged in
studying the stars and seeking through mathematics a unified theory of
the universe. Both of his two previous marriages ended in tragedy and he
is estranged from his adult children.

After leaving everything she knows and moving to Murdo’s estate in
the Scottish countryside, Suzanne begins to uncover clues indicating
that Murdo is not the benevolent, enlightened, and tragic figure she
believes him to be. She begins to have strange feelings, dreams, and
even waking visions that draw her into a covert investigation of her
husband. These inklings are her legacy from Ada, her mother, who was a
witch of gypsy heritage and no small talent.

MacIntyre writes well and weaves a good story. Though she goes to some
length to establish her protagonist’s latent psychic abilities, she
presents Suzanne as too practical to truly give in to the gothic moment
of terror. The reasons for her marriage to Murdo are clearly presented,
but again, it is difficult for the reader to believe (just as it is for
Suzanne’s feminist friends) that she could have been so blinded to
what appear to be his obvious shortcomings.

The Applecross Spell is nonetheless a rewarding read that will appeal
to a broad readership and could easily fit into mainstream, feminist,
romance, or suspense fiction collections.