After the self-assigned inundation of reading to vote in the Hugo Awards this summer, I took a break and read A House Between Sea and Sky, by Beth Cato. This semi-urban fantasy turned out to be a perfect recovery book for me, a little bit mysterious, creepy, and suspenseful, but ultimately quite cozy and comforting.
What I mean by semi-urban fantasy is that it isn’t high fantasy, although there are high fantasy elements — it’s partly inspired by Slavic folklore — but I wouldn’t quite call it urban fantasy either. It’s set in 1926 in the small town of Carmel-by-the-sea, although several characters usually work in Hollywood/Los Angeles, which was already a boomtown by then. There’s a magical house, and witches, and magical sourdough starter.
That sourdough starter is a very sore point for protagonist Fayette Wynne, a studio scriptwriter; bread baked from it has healing properties, but that didn’t save her mother from illness. So she resents it, but respect for family history (a hundred-year legacy) won’t let her abandon it, either.
Many people in this book are suffering from grief, in various ways. Fayette’s landlady’s husband is stricken and uncommunicative, so Mrs. Fitz has fallen prey to spiritualists who claim they can relay messages; moreover, their housekeeper seems to be suffering from repressed trauma. Actor Rex Hallstrom is so unhappy with the life he’s being forced into that he’s considering drastic alternatives, before his chance encounter with Fayette.
Storm-stunned Fayette and Ray stumble into a house on a cliff to take shelter. Fayette’s experience with magic helps her to avoid panic and calm Ray when the house appears to be taking an interest in things, and later when they realize that not everyone can see it. Far more than a haunted house, it’s more like a former witch’s familiar, with a lot of stored power.
Fay realizes that this power can be used to help other people, and she and Ray set about making some people’s lives better. It’s not a romance, though, at least not between them, but a budding friendship. The starter and the house also become friends, in a way! Fayette does use her Hollywood insider knowledge to divert some of Ray’s stresses away; in the meantime, some revelations that come from helping others assists her in dealing with her own sorrow.
Unfortunately, the power of the house also makes it a target. One of the spiritualists has enough power of his own to recognize the house’s power, and he carelessly causes trouble and pain. And when the house really starts to rouse itself, someone who’s been searching for it for a long time is alerted, which puts everyone in danger. However, unexpected allies make the battle winnable, and everything turns out well in the end.
I adored this book. The found-family aspects and the caring ways that people find to help each other amid strife and stress were really heartwarming. The cameos from a couple of often-used important historical personages might strain credulity for me if they came packaged differently, but here, amid the other fantastical elements and all the positive storylines, I was more than happy to accept them and their actions and influences.
This theme of people (and magic starters and houses) helping each other, and helping perfect strangers, even when dealing with their own troubles, made reading A House Between Sea and Sky really rewarding to me. I’ve liked other stories by Cato, but this one was just loveable.
Cato’s “Author’s Note” at the end talks about her own familial influences, and the research she did, and the historical figures that appear, with a bibliography for those who want to know more. I’ve learned some history of the era (including listening to a lot of early-Hollywood episodes of Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This), and read a lot of fiction (mostly murder mysteries, but some general) written in this time period, and everything rang true for me.
I know nothing of baking, beyond brownie mixes, but I’ve tasted some of Cato’s cookies, yum! She has a long-running food blog, Bready or Not, which can be found at her website (BethCato.com | Site of Author Beth Cato), so all the food lore in this book (except maybe the magic part) is surely reliable, too. Check it out, along with her other work.
Content warnings: Offscreen/past death of parent and other losses; suicide ideation; attempted thefts of power and murder attempts; magic-meddlers ignoring warnings.
Comps: “Open House on Haunted Hill” by John Wiswell; Ruthanna Emrys’ Winter Tide and Deep Roots (the parts with bureaucrats riskily attempting to use/weaponize magic).
