A Marvellous Light

In setting her novel in Edwardian England, Freya Marske opts for a time and place in which class and the nature of power were defining features of society. In establishing that magic, like class, has hereditary elements that reinforce other forms of status, or diminish them for those without magic, Marske allows for a deeper investigation of unearned power and its meaning. Robin and Edwin’s relationship, and their character growth, rests on determining their own relationships to power and asserting values that are more egalitarian and consensual than the worlds they each grew up in.

Though Robin has no magical abilities, he hails from an aristocratic family and has inherited a title and significant social power. On his first day at his mysterious job, many of his assumptions and reactions are shaped by the class system he knows and benefits from. When Edwin asks, “[W]ho are you related to that I’d know?” (8), Robin is concerned that Edwin, like his parents, thinks only in terms of rank and status. Later, Robin reflects that he was assigned to the post because Lord Healsmith had let his dislike of his father “ferment until it was safe to express” (37). At this early stage in his career, Robin’s social and economic position depends not on his own efforts but on other people’s opinions about his family. He realizes that this helps as well as hurts him: While he would not have chosen this position for himself, he knows he is fortunate not to be starting at the bottom of the bureaucratic hierarchy. Robin’s dislike of estate management, like his dread of malicious gossip, underlines his discomfort with these hierarchies despite his skill in navigating them.

As his relationship with Edwin deepens, Robin learns that the magical world has its own hierarchies of hereditary power. Just as Robin cannot openly discuss his lack of funds, Edwin is stung when Anne Gatling openly alludes to his lack of magical ability when he leaves her a description of a clock-repair spell rather than executing it himself. Edwin was born into a powerful magical family, but he inherited little magical ability himself. This perceived shortcoming makes him an outcast in his own family, as both his brother and his sister continually mock him while his father treats him with quiet disdain. Later, Robin realizes that his relative lack of interest in magic is its own entertainment for the Courceys, as he is “like a bootblack standing among the silk and perfume of Court” (144). The analogy here is explicitly class-based. The Courceys expect him to be overawed in their presence, and his surprising nonchalance earns him their grudging respect.

Edwin’s lack of magical ability structures his entire life and sense of self, so that meeting Robin is a kind of shock to his system. Edwin is flattered and surprised by Robin’s praise for his intellect, and reluctantly explains to him that while he can design the spell, only Charlie has the power to remove his curse. In the Sutton hedge maze, Robin is unconcerned with Edwin’s lack of magic, trusting in his reading to keep them alive. The search for the Last Contract forces Edwin to contemplate and redefine his relationship to power. His willingness to speak frankly to Miss Morrissey, who understands lack of power, underlines that he has begun to resist not only social reserve, but the racial and power hierarchies that would otherwise discourage him from knowing her or being known in turn. The power Edwin wins through Sutton is a gift, not an inheritance or accident of birth, underlining that strength can come from choices and not only from privilege. Later, he admits to Robin “a month ago, Billy’s offer might have worked on me” (357). This is effectively a confession that knowing Robin, and their time together, has given Edwin faith in himself and a sense of what he truly values. Robin, in turn, ceases avoiding his financial responsibilities and uses his title to save Edwin, not himself. Marske thus constructs a world where social hierarchies are powerful, but meaning and true endurance comes from self-determination and discovery.