The Midnight Bargain
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| Written by: | C. L. Polk |
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| Genre(s): | Fantasy, Romance |
| First published: | 2020 |
The Midnight Bargain is a 2020 fantasy/romance novel by C. L. Polk.
In a world that resembles Regency-era Britain with magic, women have no way to safely practice magic. Spells are nearly-unknown beyond minor effects. Instead, bargains are made with spirits, which do all the magical work. A proper Magus is bound to a major spirit and vice-versa. If the Magus is female, a minor spirit can take permanent possession of any unborn child she is carrying, so females almost always end up wearing collars that suppress their magical ability (and mundane senses). Refusing to bear children is not permitted by society.
Beatrice Clayborn refuses to accept this fate.
She seeks out various "puzzle" books which are actually primers in magic that women can read without the men in their lives knowing that they're learning magic. But she isn't the only one; Ysbeta Lavan – the sister of Magus and eligible bachelor Ianthe Lavan – is also looking for these books, and there aren't enough to go around. Also, Beatrice can't afford to buy all of them because her family is in dire financial straits. Beatrice turns to a risky path to gain a fortune so that she doesn't need to marry into the Lavan family: she makes a bargain with Nadi, a spirit of luck. Then she makes another, and another. Eventually, and after Beatrice and Ysbeta have become friends and Ianthe has fallen in love with Beatrice, her family discovers that she has been making these bargains without her father's permission, and her father collars her the day that he accepts Ianthe's proposal of marriage to Beatrice.
It's at this point where Beatrice and Ysbeta, with Ianthe's knowledge, decide to do whatever it takes to claim equality in their society... including each of them making the Midnight Bargain with a major spirit to become a full Magus.
The Midnight Bargain was nominated for the 2021 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and shortlisted for the Nebula Award the same year. It was also a contender in the 2021 edition of Canada Reads.
- Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: In the final chapters of the novel, when almost every single male Magus refuses to take equal responsibility for his own children.