Library Acquisition: Thrushfield Hall

Thrushfield Hall is the third story in Tales from the Library, a series based on The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. In the previous story, The Red Chamber, Irene and Kai had their first face-to-face encounter with Count Lecerf, a Fae who appears to have claimed the alternate world where Irene is Librarian-in-Residence as his private playground. This doesn't sit well with Lord Silver, who likes to think he is the leader of the London Fae population. Silver has been known to pass Irene an occasional nugget of useful information when it suits his self-interest.

Somehow Lecerf has acquired the ability to transform book illustrations into portals to other worlds. It's unclear if the worlds truly exist or are artificial creations. Lecerf demonstrated his ability with a Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber. He's also orchestrated two attacks on Kai. Is he motivated by a dislike of dragons or is there something else at play? Lecerf could, for instance, desire to isolate Irene or he could view anyone associated with the Library as a threat to his plans. It's also conceivable he may harbor some personal animosity toward Kai.

It's become increasingly clear that Lecerf is being helped by others. He may even have an informant within the Library. How else could he have known about Irene and Kai's connection to the Library?

Since Kai has been targeted multiple times, Irene was tempted to ask for a different assistant at the end of the last case. But, ignoring the fact that Kai would have been devastated, there is no one she trusts as much. Coppelia, her supervisor, pointed out that Kai's services may be required on a diplomatic level if Lecerf is discovered to have a rogue dragon as an ally.

Lecerf's enchanted books present a threat to world stability. For the moment, only one world has been affected, but Lecerf could be planning to spread the contamination to other alternates. Coppelia has charged Irene with securing Dream of the Red Chamber for the Library and neutralizing Count Lecerf. No small task for a junior Librarian.

Penna wrote a post recently about The Animals of Caffrey Conversation. Animals are central to Tales from the Library, where dragons interact with humans and Fae. In The Burning Page, Genevieve Cogman mentioned the affinity certain animals have for dragons. I expand on that concept in this story. Nelly, a Russian wolfhound, is featured in Thrushfield Hall. She has a special role to play not only for Kai but Irene as well.

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