Healer Anja specialises in poisons and antidotes. Ever since a cousin died of eating hemlock root, she has been studying ways to counteract everything from venomous snakes to toxic plants. Because of her respectable family, she is not denounced as a witch. Her greatest test arrives in HEMLOCK & SILVER.
 
This splendid fantasy doesn’t layer in too many names or complexities of society. We just get what we need. If you can imagine Snow White retold by Patricia McKillip and combined with the computer game Portal 2, that’s what we find. The King, who has blood on his hands, to his sorrow, requests Anja’s attention to his daughter, Snow, who is dying of a mysterious illness. Of course, the King must be obeyed. With a degree of secrecy, a guard at all times, and her chime-snake, Anja heads off to the desert palace.
 
Young Snow, aged twelve, isn’t eating much and has various symptoms that make Anja suspect she is taking low doses of poison over a long period. The tale wouldn’t be Snow White without a magic mirror and an evil queen, but the palace staff know nothing of this, unlike the snooty talking cat, Grayling. Look forward to a supernatural realm, portals and treason, oh, and the odd murder. Some aspects of the story are extremely creepy. This isn’t a YA book, but more mature teens could read it, especially girls. Women are the major characters, with Anja sometimes slow to figure things out because she paid more attention to chemistry books than fairytales. After all, magic isn’t real. As far as she knows.
 
T. Kingfisher has written several sharp fantasies for adults, including the much-awarded Thornhedge, about a knight arriving at a castle surrounded by thorns, to be met by a toad maiden. These stories don’t always work out like the original. HEMLOCK & SILVER is well worth a read, with a gentle romance developing between Anja and her guard, Javier. I would be keen to read more of these characters if the author develops them into a series.