The Trial of Magdalena Overmorrow by Catríona Moran is a 480 page novel (apparently the first in a planned duology??) published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 2026.
Genre
Fantasy, Romance
Description
Perfect for readers of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden, The Trial of Magdalena Overmorrow is a sweeping enemies-to-lovers debut epic for romantasy-curious fantasy readers, fantasy-curious romantasy readers, and all lovers of slowburn romance.
Scholar. Healer. Harlot.
In her house, the villainy is her.
Magdalena Overmorrow has been called a scholar, a healer, a harlot. She carves out some measure of freedom for the women of Astoleyn, risking capture and death by caring for them and performing forbidden abortions. When she’s betrayed by a close confidante, she faces banishment to the realm’s desolate northernmost city as an accused witch. There, she must await her trial and possible doom under the watchful aegis of the Lord Proctor of Cair Gramora, a man so pious and humorless it is rumored that he has never once laughed in his life.
When she arrives, though, Magda is surprised to find that the Lord Proctor isn’t the grizzled old priest she expected but a man barely older than she is. As cold and mysterious and beautiful as the mountains at the cair’s northern border, he holds her life in his hands. One word from him could send her to the stake or worse, but she can’t help her fascination with a man and fellow scholar who is more than he appears to be, and the dangerous secrets he is clearly keeping. As her trial draws closer and the intrigue of the isolated cair threatens them both, she and the Lord Proctor must form an uneasy alliance that could either save her life or lead her to martyrdom and ruin.
Opening Line
It is the harvest season: a time of reflection and repentance, of setting one’s affairs in order before the unforgiving slog of winter, of purging one’s house of any villainy that has plagued it during the hot, slack summer.
My Thoughts
The Trial of Magdalena Overmorrow is “Romantasy Plus”–the romance and occasional spicy scenes are garnish to the main dish of a fantasy story rooted in feminism.
Magda acts in her community as a sort of witchy healer and cunning woman (I think seeing this same type of character being persecuted in novels has been way overdone by this point, but the worldbuilding in this story bolsters it with enough original interesting details that it didn’t bother me here). She is an educated and sexually liberated woman who is used to people gossiping about her personal affairs with disdain. At the beginning of the book we learn that she has been accused of apostasy for helping women terminate unwanted pregnancies with her tinctures augmented with magic.
The incorruptible Lord Proctor of Gramora has agreed to take her as ward until the date of her trial. Thus Madga finds herself dragged to the far north to await her fate. There, she learns about the area’s customs and religious traditions and how they differ from those where has has long lived in the capital. She forms friendships during her “stay”, while also dealing with those who despise her on principle. Over and again it is demonstrated that 1) bodily autonomy is good, and 2) slut-shaming is bad. Amidst it all, she shares the feeling of an unexpected spark with her minder.
The story of Magda’s (potentially fatal) legal woes gets wrapped up nicely, and honestly pretty epically (never underestimate a woman scorned, be she mortal or divine!) On the other hand, other things in the story were left in various stages of “disappointing” at the end of the book. I was pretty bummed about this at first! I had seen no indication that this wasn’t a standalone novel, but an internet search had Google AI telling me that it is indeed part of a planned duology, which I was very pleased to learn.
