This week’s read was The Conjurer’s Wife, a historical fantasy short story by Sarah Penner. The premise is in the name: the story follows Olivia, the wife of a conjurer whose livelihood centers around performances. Olivia doesn’t know how the magic works, but is growing tired of always doing what’s expected of her. Standing on the X marked on the stage, answering specific questions the exact same way during performances, etc.

As the story unfolds, Olivia learns the true nature of her husband’s conjuring, realizing that the magic is real and not an elaborate trick. During this journey, she’s notably set apart from those around her, unable to really engage in conversations and seeing them as both alien and obscenely surface-level. This is both a dig at society/social structures and a nod toward her unique station in life, both in terms of plot and in the social ladder. She is a performer, whereas the people she’s surrounded by are typically show-goers and businessmen, with whom she has little in common.

The story’s prose is more then serviceable, although there aren’t many lines that particularly jumped out at me. The POV is limited, 3rd-person present-tense — which is actually one of my least favorite setups. Although I typically put a book down immediately when I see this POV (yes, that’s how much it just doesn’t gel with me), The Conjurer’s Wife was engaging enough that I completely overlooked my preference.

Olivia as a character isn’t particularly deep. There’s some social commentary to be made after all the plot twists are out of the way, but she herself barely touches upon these themes. In fact, even her dialogue in scarce. While you could argue that this is in service to her dynamic with her husband (she is subservient in an oppressive way), it also gives the reader precious little time to get to know her.

The plot setup works well, although the twist was one I guessed rather early on. Overall, the story works well as-is, but could have actually used several more chapters to really flesh out the characters, themes, and repercussions for Olivia’s actions.

Overall, the story’s only sin is that it isn’t a bit longer and doesn’t spend as much time with its interesting elements — which is a compliment of sorts. The Conjurer’s Wife is free on Kindle Unlimited right now, and it’s made me want to look into Penner’s work.