“Deep in the woods they gather. The same clearing they have always used; and their forebears before them, since the legends began. A strange flock. Black-robed, beast-headed. Born of the unknown depths of the wood: an image from a medieval woodcut, a dark folktale to frighten badly behaved children. In the modern world, a world of busyness, of speed and connection, they make no sense. But here among the trees, hidden from moonlight and starlight, it is as if the modern world is the fairytale: other and strange.”

Lucy Foley titles the second chapter of a novel with a bird symbol representative of The Birds, a secret group that carries out Vigilante Justice in a Local Community of Tome. For this chapter, Foley adopts a lyrical tone filled with poetic language and folkloric imagery to emphasize Magic as a Natural Force that runs through the plot, highlighting the elements of legendary folk magic that persist in modern day Tome.

“In the middle of the scene, like a fairy queen—like Titania on her woodland throne—sits the owner of The Manor. Francesca Meadows. Radiant in a pale rose, off-shoulder fantasia of washed silk, hair rippling down her back, face aglow with candlelight. The culmination of a dream: that’s what she said in the article. I’m so excited to share this place with everyone. Well, everyone who can afford it, anyway. But who’s quibbling?”

Here Foley evokes the image of Titania—the Fairy Queen from the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream—which takes place in the English woods during the ritually magic time of midsummer. The image connects the world of The Midnight Feast, which takes place in the English woods during the summer solstice, a few days before midsummer, to a long, rich history of British folk magic. The comparison of Francesca to Titania reflects the fantasy persona she’s cultivated for herself sets up Foley’s reveal that Francesca’s true self is a dark foil of the character from Shakespeare’s comedy.