Thistlemarsh
by Moorea Corrigan
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 21, 2026
Reviewed by Nancy
In the wake of The Great War, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Mouse Dunne. She once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Battle of the Somme, her cousin’s body disappeared into the mud, and her brother was left
with debilitating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams.
When Mouse receives news that her uncle has left her the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall, a dilapidated manor in the English countryside, she must leave her brother’s side and return to her
childhood home to claim her birthright. But there is a catch in her uncle’s offer: If Mouse does not rehabilitate the crumbling house in one month’s time, she will forfeit her inheritance and any hope of caring for her brother.
It quickly becomes clear it’s impossible to repair the manor in the allotted time, until a mysterious Faerie appears with a proposition. He offers to restore Thistlemarsh...for a price.
Mouse knows better than to trust a Faerie—especially one so insufferably handsome and arrogant—but she is out of options. There are dark and magical forces at work in the house, and
Mouse must confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her heart or lose Thistlemarsh, and herself, in the process.
Nancy’s Thoughts:
Thistlemarsh is an engaging fantasy romance with some dark undertones. The romance grows slowly amid hints that something is not right. Mouse doesn’t know whether the problem is something about Thornwood, the Faerie attempting the repairs or arises from the magic infesting the house and interfering with the repairs or comes from something else altogether. As the story
progresses, the hints that something is off become more common but are never clear. Corrigan does a good job of making them troubling but so cryptic that Mouse’s failure to act on them,
despite her efforts to decipher the clues, is understandable.
Mouse is easy to root for. Because she has few good memories of life at Thistlemarsh, her first impulse is to waive her claim to the house. If she does, however, she loses not only the house but
the money that comes with it to a spiteful, selfish cousin. The same thing happens if she fails to restore the house sufficiently to satisfy her uncle’s solicitor. Unless she has that money, she
cannot pay for the convalescent home where her brother lives.
Thornwood is more enigmatic. He can be snide and arrogant, but he also has unexpected moments of kindness. As he and Mouse seek to unravel the magic that’s impeding his repairs,
her courage and cleverness earn his trust and respect. A bond slowly forms between them.
Not everyone is happy about Mouse’s decision to work with a faerie. Mouse’s one childhood friend in the village, John, the vicar, doesn’t want to hear about faeries. The gardener, Mr. Hobb, who was friendly with Mouse when she lived at Thistlemarsh, avoids Thornwood. While their attitudes trouble Mouse, she has no alternative to helping Thornwood proceed.
The world is generally built in detail. The woods, the magical traps, and the house itself are beautifully drawn. The story incorporates Mouse’s experiences as a nurse on the Western Front in ways that add depth to her character and texture to the world.
Most of the supporting characters have enough depth to make them seem real. The main exception to that is Mouse’s nasty cousin, Anthony Carlyle. He seems one-dimensional in his
meanness. He truly is awful in his few appearances in the story, but I would’ve liked to see a little, tiny something more to him. I also wanted some deeper reaction from Mouse to his fate in
the story.
John tells Mouse the villagers disapprove of her staying at the house with Thornwood, but we never see the villagers’ disapproval. We only hear about it. And this disapproval seems
inconsistent with their attitudes at the end of the story.
Finally, a supporting character who appears late in the story initially insists on staying out of the confrontation Mouse is preparing, but this character later takes a pivotal role, which seems inconsistent. I would’ve liked a little more motivation for that. I wasn’t happy that this character’s actions overshadow Mouse’s in solving the big problem.
Despite those concerns, the final resolution to the story was satisfying overall. I was especially impressed with the way so many things about Thistlemarsh and some of the characters turned out to be not what they seemed. These revelations were surprising, but the story laid enough groundwork for them to be believable. Mouse’s relationship with Thornwood suffers a
devastating blow. The way she handles it at the end may not work for every reader. Although I expected a little more motivation for her decision, I found it believable.
Thistlemarsh offers a detailed magical world, a problem with clever, interesting magical twists and turns, and engaging characters. I recommend it.
