The Sorcerer's Lady

by George MacDonald

Like Verran, your protagonist here is thrust into a position of immense power and danger through circumstances beyond their control, forced to navigate a deadly court while learning the rules of sorcery and politics simultaneously. Addison captures that same tension between external duty and internal dread, but with a protagonist who must survive through wit and compassion rather than dark magic—it's a fascinating inversion of the power dynamics you just experienced.

by Joel-Peter Witkin

Published in 2023, this gives you something from a different era while maintaining that gothic atmosphere Volsky excels at. A gravedigger's daughter must navigate a dangerous partnership with a mysterious man tied to dark magic, and the slow-burn tension between attraction and terror mirrors Verran's predicament—but Lloyd-Jones explores it through a female protagonist who actively resists her circumstances rather than accepting them.

by Naomi Novik

A young woman is claimed by a powerful sorcerer—but Novik subverts the 'sorcerer's bride' trope entirely by making the relationship one of genuine intellectual and magical partnership rather than domination. If you found yourself frustrated by Verran's powerlessness, you'll appreciate how Novik gives her protagonist agency while maintaining the same high-stakes magical stakes and that delicious tension between fear and desire.

by Elizabeth Kostova

This is my surprise pick—it reads like literary historical fiction rather than fantasy, but it's fundamentally about the seductive danger of pursuing knowledge tied to dark power, much like Verran's dilemma of being close to the source of sorcery. Kostova builds dread through atmosphere and research rather than plot mechanics, creating that same sense of being pulled into something ancient and inescapable.

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Bujold explores what happens when someone becomes entangled with a powerful magical curse and must navigate both the sorcery and the human relationships around it. Where Volsky focuses on the bride's perspective, Bujold gives you a wider view of how dark magic corrupts entire families—it's a meditation on the cost of power that deepens the themes you've just finished exploring, with her characteristic blend of magic and emotional intelligence.