Review: Summers At Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

Excerpt from back cover:
"She was a girl with a talent for witchcraft and a taste for adventure. The illegitimate child of a royal lord, she longed for a man who could never be hers. and she lived for her summers at Castle Auburn.
She is a woman who has grown accustomed to standing alone. What she once loved, she has lost. Where she once saw joy, she now sees terrible injustice. And at the castle where she once lived in peace, she now walks in fear for her life..."

Sharon Shinn is one of the best romantic fantasy writers I have ever read. I can say without any embarrassment that I am obsessed with her books! Summers At Castle Auburn is not my favorite, but it is still definitely worth reading. It is aimed primarily at young adult readers, but it is appropriate for older readers as well. Corie, the main character, changes throughout the story which starts when she is 14 and ends when she is around 20 years old. Corie, who once though living at Castle Auburn was the greatest part of her life, grows to understand the indignities and unfairness that surround court life, especially in respect to the enslaved Aliora that work in the castle.

Another interesting aspect of this novel is witchcraft, which Corie learns from her grandmother. Corie has a divided heritage that she much choose between, that which consists of witchcraft and life in a village with her maternal grandmother or court life with her deceased father's family.