Splendors and Glooms (review)

Elderly witch Cassandra Sagredo lies on her death bed, steadily succumbing to the fire opal she wears around her neck, the source of her power and her downfall. Cassandra has power enough to summon Gaspare Grisini, a once-powerful, now washed-up magician turned to street puppeteering, who informs her the only way out of her predicament is for someone to steal the fire opal away from her. With two malleable orphaned apprentices and the ability to transform a live child into a puppet, Grisini is just the man to set a theft into motion. He arranges for three children to take up residence in Cassandra's mansion, certain that one of the three will steal the gem and then be pressured into using its power for Grisini's benefit. Will it be Lizzie Rose, the kind-hearted apprentice who simply wants enough money for a secure future? Will it be Parsefall, the talented puppeteer apprentice who is a liar and pickpocket? Or will it be Clara, the last surviving child of wealthy parents, whom Grisini kidnapped, made into a puppet, and now holds for ransom? An intricate web of backstories binds the three children into an unusual alliance and supplies each with a motivation that makes the likelihood of one of them perpetrating the theft an even wager. London fog and northern ice, manicured parks and suffocating parlors all figure in to the rich Dickensian settings, and a supporting cast of suffering parents, a tipsy landlady, a befuddled copper, and a staff of envious servants keep the action rolling. Middle-schoolers not quite ready for Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus can revel in this lusciously atmospheric title of rival magicians and the children caught in their crossfire.