Sorcery & Cecelia - Wrede and Stevermer

If you like magic and if you like Jane Austen, you’ll love Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Two spunky cousins, Cecy and Kate, communicate with frequent letters that soon begin to include more than just gossip and the weather. A curious chocolate pot and a charm-bag arouse an almost mischevious adventure that gives Cecilia and Kate the time of their lives.

Wrede and Stevermer did not start writing this book with the goal of publication in mind. They were playing the Letter Game. The Letter Game is a writing exercise in which two people write letters back and forth in character. Stevermer says that the letters usually die out after two or three in most cases, but she and Wrede grew more and more excited about their story until they had completed it and were writing another – The Grand Tour. But they weren’t writing for publication – they were writing for fun, and their animation shines through.


The only thing that turned me off a bit to this book was the fact that the two authors’ writing styles are so similar that it is hard to tell them apart. Since the cast of characters around each girl is very similar as well, things get a little confusing. However, this story is humorous, enjoyable, and through it I developed a sincere affecton for Cecilia and Kate. Maybe I’ll even try the Letter Game myself one day.