Review – City of Stolen Magic

City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak

I was lucky enough to be sent an early copy of this. All views and opinions are my own.

I’m so thrilled this is our Children’s Book of the Month at work for July! It’s a really immersive and gripping story which offers a new take on the classic magical fantasy adventure and which draws so well on history and real people places and events to do so.

Chompa and her mother both have magic. But while her mother’s is written magic – slow, considered and controlled, Chompa’s is finger magic – quick, powerful, immediate…and banned. Her mother has forbidden her to use it because it is too dangerous, but when she won’t explain why, and as Chompa’s frustrations with the laborious nature of written magic and their neighbour’s ingratitude and suspicion around it, Chompa finds herself the catalyst for a series of events that see her mother kidnapped and her magic under threat.

So far, so typical fantasy adventure. HOWEVER, where this book’s brilliance lies is in the context for all this and the surrounding and ensuing events which see Britain’s colonial past brought squarely, and shamefully, into the spotlight.

Because we soon find out The Company who have taken Chompa’s mother are also taking other magical children, stealing India’s magic for themselves; alongside this, they’re responsible for causing poverty and hunger in India’s villages as they insist on people switching their crops to indigo, devastating their land, withholding their pay and leaving them unable to produce food.

And so, with fiction mirroring real life perfectly, we set sail from India to London with Chompa trying to save her mother, deceive The Company’s despicable head Clive Devayne (a name derived from two of the real East India Company’s directors – well played, Nazneen!), and find justice and freedom for those he has wronged.

Thus this becomes much more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it IS a thrilling historical adventure across two continents; it IS fizzing with magic in its various djinn, charms, wards and protections; it IS a gripping quest with a great twist at the end; it IS four children thrown together tricking, bribing and sneaking their way into saving the day… but it is also historically and culturally important, shining a light on the awful treatment of many Indians by the British who East India Company back in the day and showing the power of protest, people and words – together we are stronger.

The contrasting worlds of Chompa’s Indian village, Devayne’s luxurious living (both in India and London) and dockside London streets are all brought to life exceptionally (and Lia Visirin’s maps showcase them and highlight the contrasts between them wonderfully) We are drawn into a rich tapestry of cultures, languages and lives and really immersing us in the adventure.

I felt Chompa’s discomfort being dressed in her fuh-rock and paraded round Devayne’s dinner party; my head buzzed with the hustle and bustle at Sal’s, I felt the wind in my hair as I sat in the branches of Aaliyah’s tree with Tipu (though in reality, I’d have been much like Chompa unable to reach the first branch!), I breathed in the smells, sights and sounds of Farhana’s printing and publishing (if I’m honest I have to admit I’d have loved to see a little more of Farhana in this, she was such an interesting character)…it’s a book which clearly comes from the heart and draws on personal experience and detailed research.

Having had the pleasure of listening to Nazneen speak at some school events last week too, I can absolutely confirm that the background and inspirations for the book are just as fascinating as the story itself and would urge anyone reading this to also read the author’s notes at the back. This would be a fantastic novel to read alongside (or to dip in and out of for extracts to use within) KS2/3 learning about the British Empire and Colonialism.

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this, without the final art work, but have also bought the gorgeous finished book since, which features a simply stunning cover and interior art work from Sandhya Prabhat; they bring the character, places and excitement of the book to life so vividly, with full page illustrations at the start of each new part of the book as we move from Chompa’s village to Dacca to her time at sea to London.

This is a beautiful, rich and important book, which weaves together different cultures, magic, history and adventure seamlessly, and is set off beautifully by its artwork, both inside and out. Stunning.