Friday Friyay: 'A Season of Monstrous Conceptions' by Lina Rather

Happy Friday and happy November! I have no idea how we already got here and I've got a busy month ahead of me, but thankfully I'll be busy with exciting things. I also just finished reading A Season of Monstrous Conceptions, a delightful novella by Lina Rather, so I wanted to share some teasers with you! Hop over to my review of the novella, if you're interested :)

In 17th-century London, unnatural babies are being born, with eyes made for the dark and webbed digits suited to the sea.

Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness—having hidden her uncanny nature all her life and fled to London under suspicious circumstances, Sarah starts over as a midwife’s apprentice to a member of the illegal Worshipful Company of Midwives, hoping to carve out for herself an independent life. But with each new unnatural birth, the fear in London grows of the Devil's work.

When the wealthy Lady Wren hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Lord Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who want to use her power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. Freda is taking a break at the moment, but we're keeping the spirit going! I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may be different in the published book.

Warning: quotes contain references to child death.

BB:

'Sarah knew Rebecca's babe was dead as soon as the head slid free, from the look on Mistress June's face.' 1%

I really wanted to share more from the opening because it is so good and gives such a good idea of where the novella is going. But I wanted to keep some of the mystery as well. Sarah is a really interesting main character as well and I really liked how Rather introduced her backstory. 

F56:

'The creature howled - shocked, afraid - and its outline shimmered.

"Wait!" Sarah said, but it was too late and it didn't understand.' 56%

There is quite some tragedy to this novella as well and I really liked how it kind of questioned who gets ostracised, who gets put on the outskirts of society, and more. 

BBH:

This week's question comes from Billy himself:

Have you ever read a Western? If so, do you enjoy the genre?

Nope, never. I just don't think I've ever run into a Western book? I'm thinking whether I've encountered Western-style characters in other books which I think, yes? Like, Weatherby in His Dark Materials is kind of cowboy-esque, no? But I just don't think it's my cup of tea, although there is nothing wrong with the genre itself.

That's it for me today! What are you reading?