Kit describes Culpepper House’s abilities as “wondrous” rather than magical. Do you agree with his terminology? How do you see these terms as being different or similar? Do you think Kit would have pursued Hadley as determinedly without the house’s instigation?
The house’s “wonderous magic” didn’t make a deep impression upon me. Was this significant to the story? Not really, but that’s one opinion. I think Kit would have pursued Hadley as she would have him regardless of the house and setting.
that the house is wondrous I think is the right terminology- it was part of the story that didn’t really nees to be there but did add to the feeling of the story.
I’m not so sure he would have pursued her after how she acted towards him. I think the house actually pushed him towards Hadley more than would have happened naturally.
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Whatever Kit calls it, the house does things nature doesn’t allow, so functionally it’s supernatural. But the three words (magical, wondrous, supernatural) aren’t quite synonyms, and the gap between them says more about Kit than about the house.
“Supernatural” is a claim about the phenomenon itself, that it lies outside natural law. “Magical” usually implies a practice or practitioner, spells and intention, and it carries connotations of fantasy, the occult, or something faintly illegitimate. “Wondrous” describes the observer’s response, awe, and quietly leaves open that the thing might be natural but not yet understood.
That last possibility fits the book’s Victorian setting. In the 1860s, photography, chemistry, and spiritualism overlapped, and plenty of serious people treated the unexplained as science that hadn’t caught up yet. With Edmund running a laboratory in the house, a Culpepper preferring “wondrous” to “magical” could be family inheritance, a scientific or proprietary way of seeing the house as a marvel to study and protect rather than a haunting to fear.
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I think the house certainly helped overcome Kit’s reservations. He might not have been so dogged in his pursuit without the vision, but I think they would have gotten there in time. The house was “wondrous,” though I probably would have said “magical” instead. Both work.
Ann_Beman, This was a really good distinction of the three words…well done.
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I was not a fan of this element of the “wonderous” house. I felt we had a lot going on in this book, such as dual timelines, twins, a Victorian mystery, etc, and this was not needed. It could have been written without bringing in the house to push him. I find sometimes less is more effective rather than introducing another element.
Agreed @Dee_Driscole. Less would be more, in this case.
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