Morgan Is My Name

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Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of all retellings with a female lead being proclaimed to be ‘feminist' retellings. It's not necessarily true, for one — you can have a retelling with a female lead and the book be almost misogynistic. Having a female lead doesn't mean you're feminist. Luckily, Morgan is My Name does have feminism coming off of it in waves — but don't expect a woman to lead a queendom or anything inside it's pages. This is Dark Ages Britain we're talking about here. There's only so much Keetch could get away with here without losing the historical accuracy that she was so clearly going for.

Because yes, while this book does have magic in it, there is very much a layer of historical realness here that isn't usually present in these sorts of books. It truly feels like we're right beside Morgan in these cold and drafty castles, watching as war after war is started. Morgan is My Name reminded me very much of Lucy Holland's Dark Earth that I read last year and loved. These are both dark books with a heavy dose of female companionship and love. The Arthurian legend is here, but it's very much in the background at first. Arthur isn't even born until maybe halfway through the book. What we start with, and where we're based is in Morgan's childhood.

The aforementioned Morgan is, of course, Morgan le Fay or Morgana of the Arthurian legend. While she's usually painted as something of a villain, in this particular book she's just a wild-at-heart girl eager to learn everything she possibly can about healing. We see her heal someone miraculously with just her hands, and we see her dip into what we are supposed to assume is dark magic to bring someone else back from the brink of death. Morgan has magic, and she's desperate to use it. Unfortunately for her, her brute of a husband all but forbids her. (She ends up going behind his back and doing it anyway.) We see all sorts of familiar names and places in this book, but a great deal of it seems to be pulled from either history or made up. It's fine! It works wonderfully.

I really enjoyed Morgan is My Name — I love the Arthurian legend and always have. This was a fresh new look at a character that is most often shoved to the side or painted in rather broad strokes. I loved getting a look at what her childhood must have been like, at what forced her to become what she does.

I truly thought this was a standalone novel, but the end of the book proves that to be absolutely false. I am very much looking forward to where Keetch is going with this. Right now, I can't see this Morgan doing what Morgana does in the original legends, but I guess we'll see how she gets there! Four stars!