Charlotte Kersten

Year published: 2002

Category: Historical fantasy, retelling (Bluebeard, The Fitcher Bird)

Summary:  1843 is the “last year of the world,” according the Elias Fitcher, a charismatic preacher in the Finger Lakes district of New York State. He’s established a utopian community on an estate outside the town of Jeckyll’s Glen, where the faithful wait, work, and pray for the world to end.

Vernelia, Amy, and Catherine Charter are the three young townswomen whose father falls under the Reverend Fitcher’s hypnotic sway. In their old house, where ghostly voices whisper from the walls, the girls are ruled by their stepmother, who is ruled in turn by the fiery preacher. Determined to spend Eternity as a married man, Fitcher casts his eye on Vernelia, and before much longer the two are wed. But living on the man’s estate, separated from her family, Vern soon learns the extent of her husband’s dark side. It’s rumored that he’s been married before, though what became of those wives she does not know. Perhaps the secret lies in the locked room at the very top of the house—the single room that the Reverend Fitcher has forbidden to her.

Inspired by the classic fairy tales “Bluebeard” and “The Fitcher Bird,” this dark fantasy is set in New York State’s “Burned-Over District,” at its time of historic religious ferment. All three Charter sisters will play their part in the story of Fitcher’s Utopia: a story of faith gone wrong, and evil countered by one brave, true soul.

My thoughts: This is a strange one. On one hand, I think Frost explored a fascinating period of American history and did it well. This book truly captures the danger of religious fervor rising from a simmer to an insane fever pitch and how a manipulative person can twist people’s morality and wield terrible authority over a cult. It shows how evangelical Christianity’s notions of sin, obedience, and purity in particular can be wielded to control and abuse women. These elements were my favorite parts of the book. Some other elements did not work very well for me.

For one thing, I can’t help but feel that Frost played into some of the oppressive messages around sexuality, morality and victim-blaming that Fitcher himself wielded so malevolently. Vern and Amy feel somewhat like they are portrayed as the flawed “lesser” sisters who are not smart and principled enough to figure out what is going on and resist their sexual desire. They are depicted as having significant character flaws and both have sex with Fitcher when they are warned not to before being raped and killed, ultimately ending the book in a state of insanity and never getting their own happy endings. On the other hand, Kate is the good, virtuous one who manages not to have sex with Fitcher, and she therefore gets a happy ending with a kind husband and children. None of this is said explicitly in text so I don’t necessarily think it is purposeful on the author’s part, but the implicit messaging remains.

In addition, some of the fantasy elements ended up disappointing me. Lots of mysteries are built up – who is the ghost in the wall? Why is Fitcher doing what he’s doing? What’s up with all the weird magical stuff in his house? – and the explanations/lack thereof felt pretty lame to me. It turns out that Fitcher is pretending to be a ghost in the walls to sort of groom the sisters, but the content of the ghost’s conversations with them doesn’t really feel like it matches that purported purpose. At the end of the day, Kate concludes that Fitcher is simply an insane sorcerer who is consorting with demons, which is the least interesting explanation/motivation possible. We never learn what is up with a few of the stranger details such as why all the murdered men’s shades are trapped in his house and what is up with the magical sex egg.

I also have a few quibbles with the writing style. There is a great deal of distance from the sisters’ minds while they are being abused and terrorized, which to me kind of undercuts the impact of what is happening and any intended insight into its effects. I really noticed this at the end when the cult is convinced that the world is ending and they start destroying the commune. People are setting fires and rioting and fighting and sexually assaulting each other – it’s completely terrifying chaos. We follow Kate wandering her way through all of this and get absolutely no reflection on how this is affecting her emotionally or what she is thinking about any of it. In addition, there are a lot of very detailed descriptions of houses and their layouts/furniture, Bible verses and preaching, and people completing tasks and chores. Some writers include a lot of “procedural” details like this that feel somewhat mundane instead of evocative in any way, and I am just not a reader who finds them very interesting.

I’ve never read anything quite like this and I don’t exactly regret doing so. There was plenty going on with the weird magical details, unique historical setting and crazy religious cult fervor to keep me interested. Ultimately, though, the writing style, disappointing explanations, and questionable underlying messaging regarding the sisters’ behavior undercut my enjoyment.