How many of you can finish this quote: “Oh, look, another glorious morning….” Can you guess the journey that I took in my readings this past month? I have always enjoyed watching shows like Charmed, Sabrina the teenage witch (the original), The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, A discovery of Witches, and movies like The Craft, Hocus Pocus, and Practical Magic during this time of year. I’ve even added a few new witchy shows to my watchlist this year. I also noticed that my reading list has been quite lacking in witchy reads, and when I say lacking, what I mean is almost non-existent. Yes, I have read books with witches as sub-characters, but not usually the main character. Which surprised me a bit! Perhaps, I have watched so many witches on television and in movies I felt content.
As we move into the next season, I was looking for something a little different. I decided to go on a quest to meet some new witches. So, grab some of your favorite witch’s brew and come, let’s start our journey…
The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston
The first witch I got to meet is, Bess Hawksmith. We first meet the young, carefree, spirited Bess in 1628 at the height of the witch hunts in England. After tragedy hits her family and village in the form of a deadly plague, she also has to watch her mother be tried and hanged as a witch. All alone, Bess is forced to go seek protection from a local warlock, Gideon Masters. Gideon teaches Bess how to use and awaken powerful magic. She is forced to make a deal with Gideon, not knowing all that it entails. Part of the magic makes her immortal. Bess knows that she does not want to be connected to evil, she makes a vow to never use magic in dark ways and flees to escape Gideon’s control. She then spends the next hundreds of years on the run.
We next meet, Elizabeth three hundred and eighty-four years later in modern day England. She has recently settled in a small English village; attempting to find the balance of being seen just enough not to draw attention to herself and trying to remain isolated and not draw attention to herself. Yes, you read that correctly. This is something that every time Elizabeth reinvents herself, she has to learn all over. Every society is different in what they will accept, and since she ages very slowly, staying in one place too long would bring too many questions and attention. Elizabeth knows the dangers firsthand of letting others get too close to her. So, when she meets Tegan, a new inquisitive teenage girl, she realizes just how lonely she truly is. Tegan is also lonely, and their relationship goes quickly from teacher/student to maternal. The teaching’s Tegan receives are how we get to meet the many different versions of Elizabeth’s throughout the years and history. We meet four in this book. Elizabeth is extremely protective of Tegan, almost to the point of smothering. So, when Gideon re appears after all this time, she is finally ready to fight him head on for the first time to protect the young girl that she has come to love and care so much for.
This book is a wonderful blend of my two favorite genres: Historical Fiction and Fantasy. The author did an amazing job including small details so that you were able to imagine yourself right there experiencing everything right next to Bess. Including the time that there was a certain infamous killer on the loose in England. This book will also make you hear a popular holiday song differently; I don’t think I will hear it now and not think of these characters. I felt the writing/story was easy to follow even though the timelines do jump around a bit. I really enjoyed this story, and I can’t wait to see how Bess and Tegan’s story continues in the sequel, “The Return of the Witch.”
A Time of Witches by Madeline Martin
My journey continued on in “A Time of Witches.” This book was just released in September of this year, and I was so happy to be able to get my hands on it. In this book we meet a lot of witches. Each important in their own right. Our main witch is Lilith, but she doesn’t quite know that she is an actual witch, yet. She knows that she is different, that nature acts differently around her, and that unexplainable things have happened to her in her past. Things that her mother immediately rejected and silenced. We meet her in modern day Savannah Georgia, where she lives and owns a local bookstore. After the death of Lilith’s mother, she starts to experience nightmares of being burned alive, and after a strange encounter with a psychic that her best friend suggested she see, Lilith takes off to England to research her maternal family history to see if she can figure out the nightmares and stop a past event before dire consequences of the past take shape in her present future. She quickly realizes after she enters a decrepit English manor that the things she is being shown are the events of the same day and it is up to her to figure out the mystery of a past betrayal before it is too late.
The other main character we meet in this story is Sybil. Sybil’s story is as tragic as many stories we have heard of women from the 17th century. Married to a wealthy older man, Sybil inherits his fortune when he passes and then has to try to protect herself, her younger sister, and her fortune. Sybil is strong willed, opinionated, and educated none of which are good character traits to have in 17th century England. Sybil will go to any length to protect her younger sister even if that means taking the fall for something that was out of her control.
I enjoyed this book with the mix of historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery. This book is a dual character point of view story. I didn’t find myself confused by the multiple story lines and timelines, since they are both connected. I felt very drawn in, and at times I found it difficult to put the book down. The author did a wonderful job of blending them all together. It was fun to follow the story and try to figure out how all the present-day characters that we meet fit in with the characters from the past. Some parts emotionally were difficult to read, and I still find myself thinking back to them. I truly appreciate that this author did a lot of research of the real witch trials in England to give an accurate account of what the men and woman victims of the past endured in these past events.
A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers
As I continued on, my next witchy read was highly anticipated by yours truly. I was so excited when I got my hands on this next book just from reading the synapsis this was number one on my witchy reads to be read list. I journeyed on in, A witch in Time.
This one begins in Modern day Washington DC. Helen is down on her luck after just finalizing her divorce and takes a chance on a blind date set up by her friend. Luke wastes no time and goes full steam ahead telling Helen that she is reincarnated, that she has lived multiple lifetimes before, and that she is victim of a botched curse that makes her have to relive a doomed love affair over and over again. I remember reading this like wow, that escalated quickly, but as you read on you come to realize there is a very important reason why Luke had to just rip the band aid off. The past lives Helen has lived start coming to her as dreams in order that they were lived.
First, we meet young Juliet in 1895. Juliet is free spirited and wants more than the life being presented to her in rural France. She meets a well-known artist who frequents the area where Juliet lives in the summer to escape Paris with his wife. Soon Juliet becomes his muse, and we can guess where this story is heading. Juliet falls completely for the artist, but she has already been promised to another. Juliet’s mother finds out, and in my modern use of language, completely loses it. Her mother casts a spell that goes wrong. After the botched spell is cast, Juliet who is still pinning for the artist is sent to Paris, for what we think is a position to work in a wealthy man’s home. We learn that this man is the administrator of the curse. So, to the outside world he instructs Juliet to refer to him as her uncle. One night while attending the opera in Paris, Juliet comes face to face with the artist where he rejects her. Juliet is completely heartbroken. She continues living her new life in Paris and develops a deep love and care for the administrator. Juliet once again gets let down and left heartbroken when he returns back from being away with a new wife in tow. As you read on you meet the other versions of Juliet, and interestingly things play out the same, but different in each lifetime. This time though, Helen wants to break the curse once and for all. Can Helen be the one to finally figure out what needs to be done, before it is too late and she will be forced to start all over?
Have you ever read a book, and wished you could experience it again for the first time? This is one of those books for me. I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the pace that the author told the story. This book had humor in the right places, and there is also sadness, hardships, and happiness. I felt like each different version of Juliet was realistic to the time when the story was taking place. If I could recommend a single book to add to your witchy reads list, it would be this one!
The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce
The last book on my reading list was, “The Witch in the Well.” With spooky season upon us, I had to throw in one spooky one. This book is about a women named Ilsbeth Clark, who in the 1800’s was tried for the disappearance of local children, she was acquitted but the towns people were in such a craze that they still thought she was guilty and threw her down a well where she died. The story picks up in modern day Norway in the town of F–, where we are introduced to two women, Elena and Cathy. We learn that these two women were very close friends in their youth, but as they grew up had a falling out and have not seen or spoken to each other in many years.
Elena isn’t a native of the town of F—. She only visits in the summers to visit her uncle who lives in a nearby castle. Elena has come back to get the property ready to sell after her uncle passes away. Elena is an author who found success with the release of her first book. She wants to take the time to get her uncle’s things in proper order and start working on her second book.
Cathy is a native resident of F—. Life hasn’t been easy for Cathy. She was an isolated child after a car crash that severely injured her and her family was poor, the opposite of Elena’s family. Cathy is desperate to have a friend, and she is eager to meet the new residents of the castle that borders her family’s farm.
This story is told in an old folklore style. It is told through diary entries and blog posts. Elena and Cathy both decide that they want to write the true story about Ilsbeth. Cathy is extremely protective and believes that Elena shouldn’t be able to write a book about the town lore since she isn’t a native resident. Elena feels like she is more connected to Ilsbeth, and Cathy feels Elena will only taint the story. Both women become obsessed with their version of Ilsbeth. When Elena mysteriously dies, Cathy is the prime suspect. Cathy takes to social media to proclaim her innocence, but is she? Or are there other forces at play?
This book was the right amount of spook for me. I had a hard time putting this book down. Just when I thought I had started to figure things out, a curve would get thrown and I would get pulled back in and wanted to keep reading to figure out the mystery. I read from other online posts that said people had a hard time with the style this book was written. I actually enjoyed the style this book was written in, and I always knew whose perspective I was reading. I find that most psychological thrillers have a ‘confusing’ element to them. They usually are a complexed layered story that are meant to keep you guessing. This book delivered on that, and that is what I really enjoyed about this book.
This list is far from the end of my season of witches. Tell me readers, what are some of your favorite witchy books to read during this time of year?
