Title:

The Brides of Maracoor

Author:

Gregory Maguire

Category:

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

November 12, 2023
even women live on an isolated island called Maracoor Spot. Each day these women, called the Brides of Maracoor, perform a ritual cutting of the soles of their feet and then stand in the salty sea while they weave nets to capture time - these rites are thought to be necessary to keep the kingdom of Maracoor stable and safe. The island is visited once per year by a sailing ship that brings the Minor Adjutant to check that all is well. If one of the Brides has perished, then a new infant girl will be brought to the island to replace her. The Minor Adjutant also checks that a dangerous relic, called the Fist of Mara, remains securely locked in a strongbox in the temple, with the key hidden in a secret place.

The Brides of Maracoor introduces the reader to these seven women. Helia is the oldest, the Queen Bride, and thus she is the ruler of the tiny tribe - her commands are the law. But the second eldest, Mirka, aspires to rule - she declares that aged Helia is not following the rituals closely enough; Mirka quite plainly is hoping that the bent and creaking Helia soon perishes. The youngest Bride is Acaciana, nick-named Cossy, who is just ten years old - a bright and trusting child. Scyrilla, who is just a few years older, used to be her friend but now is a moody, spiteful teenager.

The Brides go through their daily routine until a unusually powerful storm batters the island. When the weather finally clears, they discover that a green skinned woman is washed upon their beach; she is clutching a sodden broom and accompanied by a huge Goose. The green skinned woman knows her name is Rain, but she can tell the Brides little else. Her ordeal in the storm has deprived Rain of her memories. It turns out that the Goose can talk, and it is named Iskinaary - but if the Goose knows Rains past, he reveals no details.

The presence of Rain disturbs the Brides - now there are eight women on Maracoor Spot when the rites clearly stipulate that there can be but seven. The Queen Bride, Helia, sees no harm caused by Rain, but Mirka declares that Rain corrupts the rituals and that she must exiled, though how Rain could depart is unknown. Tension grows amongst the tiny community even as Rain recovers from her injuries and befriends lonely Cossy.

The Pious Enterprise anchors offshore - it is time for the annual visit of Minor Adjutant Lucikles, who rows a coracle to the beach. Helia attempts to hide Rain, but Lucikles dog (with the imaginative name of Cur) sniffs out Rain's location. Lucikles has never seen a green-skinned woman before, is she a deity? A magical apparition? On the voyage sailing back to the capital city of Maracoor Crown, Lucikles is troubled by strange omens - flights of birds with behavior never seen before swarm the ship. Much bigger surprises await the crew of The Pious Enterprise when it docks. Has the presence of Rain caused all of this disruption? Or is it merely coincidence?

The Brides of Maracoor is 368 pages in the hardcover edition, but it was a fast read. I was intrigued by the mystery of the amnesiac Rain - clearly she flew across the open ocean on her broom (the inside flap of the book tells the reader that Rain is the granddaughter of the famous witch Elphaba), but I know nothing else about her past. Cossy is a likeable heroine, as she befriends Rain and finds herself used as a pawn in the schemes of the Helia and Mirka as they compete to rule the Brides. Maguire introduces a lot of mysteries - what is the Fist of Mara? Does a deity actually appear to Lucikles? Who murders one of the Brides, and why? Who are the marauders from the Skedeland and what are they after? The biggest mystery of course is Rain herself - what is her background, where was she flying when the storm caught her?

Many years ago I read Wicked, but I did not read any of its three sequels, and I do not recall if Rain was a character in those novels. The Brides of Maracoor is marketed as Volume One of the Another Day trilogy; I assumed that although it is set in the world of Wicked that The Brides of Maracoor could be read as an independent story. The book ends abruptly, without any clear resolution to any of the story threads. Rain has started to regain her memories, and flying monkeys are spotted. I guess I will have to read book two, The Oracle of Maracoor, to discover what all this means.