
Huff, Tanya. The Enchantment Emporium. DAW, 2009. ISBN 978-0756405557 368 pp. $
***
The Gales are a powerful magical family, much like witches, who celebrate the pagan Shabbats. Women outnumber men four to one, and meddling post menopausal aunties play matchmatcher and help keep the family’s power in balance.
Allie, a newly unemployed Gale, inherits her grandmother’s curiosity shop, filled with magical treasures for the fey community. Unfortunately, the Gales seem to be on the outs with a mafia like clan of dragons, the this is the central conflict in this well-written urban fantasy.
The author’s choice to reveal the details of the Gale family by degrees requires careful reading. I easily dismissed the incestuous nature of the Gale family as ritual, but some readers may have a problem with it.