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Morgan Is My Name (Morgan le Fay, #1)

Sophie Keetch

Start date: July 1, 2023

Finish date: July 31, 2023

Why we're reading this: Featured Buddy Read - July 2023
[close] Featured Buddy Read - July 2023

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Aug 11, 2023 Justine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2023-read

4.5 stars

Excellent book! The story was not what I expected, but was terrific nonetheless. The audiobook was a gem. The narrator did a lovely job. I’m really hoping there will be a sequel.

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Jul 14, 2023 Cathy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Arthurian legend from the POV of Morgan Le Fay. This is the first part. It is not immediately apparent, but I assume that this will be a trilogy. This first part starts with Morgan‘s childhood, youth and years as a young woman. We get to meet Uther Pendragon and Merlin, the rest would be a spoiler, unless you know various of the Arthurian myths.

There were parts of the story that I liked a lot, but mostly it was just ok. I didn‘t like Morgan particularly much. Maybe she is a bit on the weak side ...more

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Jun 16, 2023 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, arc, auth-f, x2023-read

Tempestuous. Conniving. Evil. These are descriptors for the Morgan Le Fay I read about when I was much younger. Unsurprisingly, these were stories written by men, and no doubt in an effort to make Arthur seem even more heroic, others in his life needed to seem more mundane, or cruel.

Sophie Keetch takes what we know from earlier legends and creates a more nuanced, complex portrait of this woman. Here Morgan, as she insists she be called, is a fiery, brilliant person who cares deeply, but doesn't Tempestuous. Conniving. Evil. These are descriptors for the Morgan Le Fay I read about when I was much younger. Unsurprisingly, these were stories written by men, and no doubt in an effort to make Arthur seem even more heroic, others in his life needed to seem more mundane, or cruel.

Sophie Keetch takes what we know from earlier legends and creates a more nuanced, complex portrait of this woman. Here Morgan, as she insists she be called, is a fiery, brilliant person who cares deeply, but doesn't suffer fools. Keetch takes us from Morgan as an eight-year-old, to a married woman with a young son. As this is meant to be the first of a trilogy, there is much left for Morgan to do to distinguish herself during Arthur's reign, and Keetch lays the groundwork for this woman's later achievements in this compelling portrait.

Keetch hits some of the usual beats: Uther rapes her mother after Morgan's father dies, her half-brother is born and spirited away by Merlin, then Morgan falls for one of Uther's Knights, Accolon, before she leaves home to spend years at an abbey in study, learning much, including discovering her ability to heal and her unusual connection to the sea. Later, she's married off by Uther to cement an alliance, and spends years making a life far from her home, living with a vain man, having his child and experiencing the failure of her relationship and finally meeting her seemingly long lost half-brother.

What Keetch does with these story milestones is make us care for a young woman who is forthright to a fault, daring, deeply caring of her best friend Alys and her family. She's also bold, passionate, clever, and impulsive.

I particularly loved how creepy she found Merlin, who comes off as manipulative and whose motives are murky. Her aversion is instinctive, and hints at future conflict, even while she and Arthur immediately connect and like one another.

The settings and character interactions are well-drawn, the atmosphere is wonderful, and showed that though most people were illiterate and superstitious, there were also centres of deep learning, including the abbey where Morgan felt happiest during many of the years covered in this book.

I anticipate more treachery, scheming, and clashes in the next installment, as Keetch will probably introduce us to various interests and individuals found at Arthur's Court. I can't wait.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review. ...more

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