If you like a bit of history, some dark romance, and female empowerment in your fiction, here are some books about witches you will want to read STAT
Witchcraft is a troubling concept. Are there women with terrifying powers who need to be stopped? Or was the idea of witchcraft conceived to persecute women seeking the slightest bit of power in a patriarchy determined to oppress all women and remove their economic autonomy?
When resourceful woman sought to remain single and scrounge a living growing herbs and selling knowledge in a world where they were not allowed to work, those in power called it witchcraft and hung them for it. Or did the powers witches wielded create the fear of female power that so defines the patriarchy?
In the hands of these novelists, in this roundup of the best witch books for adults, the question is fascinating, terrifying, and mysterious. You will enjoy every page.
Weyward
by Emilia Hart
Told in three time periods, this debut novel from Australian lawyer Emilia Hart is a compelling story that will keep you turning pages into the wee hours and wishing she would write another as fast as her pen will carry her.
In modern times, Kate flees her abusive partner in London to a cottage she inherited from a great aunt she barely knew. Everyone in the town knows the history of that cottage. (Hint: Witchcraft!) Kate has to uncover it slowly.
This is a mystery, a tale of self-discovery and empowerment, and a history of the fear of women with power.
Lots of awards. Blah, blah, blah. I’m telling you, read this one first. It’s real good.
The Invited
by Jennifer McMahon
A couple moves to rural Vermont to escape the rat race and build their own house.
While learning about their new locale, she gets a bit obsessed by a local legend — a witch who once lived on the land they just bought.
Or maybe the local legend is obsessed with her?
It turns ghosty. A once-solid marriage starts to flounder. Things go missing. There’s a hanging and a fire and it’s not clear what’s happening now and what happened then. What does this witch even want?
Meanwhile, you will be up all night turning pages.
This is a ghost story turned modern. It’s also a mystery. Loved it.
Hex
by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
This modern ghost story is creepy.
A town in the Hudson Valley has been haunted by the Black Rock Witch since she was tortured and hung for witchcraft in the 17th century. The town council has been doing damage control on the situation for centuries.
She’s not a “maybe there’s a ghost” type of ghost. She turns up in your living room and freaks out the dog. Then she just stands there. You have to report it in an app everyone uses. And she has scary powers.
Things go off the rails this year, though. And, as everyone knows, you cannot unsew her eyes, which were sewn shut long ago. That’s how the town is managing to function. Oh, oops.
I’ll let you read to find out who — or if — that gets messed up.
Dark Sister
by Graham Joyce
Maggie and Alex move to a new house. He is an archeologist tasked with a local dig. She is planning to stay home with their two children.
Well, she would like to work. But he disagrees. She would like to go back to school. He says there isn’t time or money.
She discovers a journal hidden in their rather ancient house and digs into the recipes she finds there. He doesn’t approve.
Things turn very dark, both in their marriage and her new hobby.
The pages turn quickly on this one and you will want to know not only WTF with that witchcraft but also if she will dump this patriarchal and controlling guy she married and take up with the new guy.
No spoilers from me because you will have so much fun finding out on your own.
Hour of the Witch
by Chris Bohjalian
Ready to visit 17th-century Puritan New England? I’m warning you, you might not be. The Salem witch trials are happening in the background and, if you have ever been in an abusive relationship, you quickly see how much you do not want to add that element to the situation. You will feel for Mary, the protagonist here, because that’s her reality.
What if your abuser had only to accuse you of witchcraft? And what if you couldn’t get a divorce?
Bohjalian skillfully depicts the fear women experienced in a world where fear of witchcraft ran rampant and men knew it. He clearly researched the time, the language, the brutality, and the terror.
It kept me up at night turning pages. But I found myself triggered and angry during the day.
The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow
Set against the backdrop of the suffragist movement, Harrow tracks three sisters as they discover and harness their magical abilities and use it to change the course of history.
It’s 1893 and witches aren’t a thing anymore. Or at least they weren’t until these three sisters get involved.
This best-selling piece of historical fiction explores the power of sisterhood and the fight for women’s rights.
The Year of the Witching
by Alexis Henderson
This debut novel from Henderson is chilling and atmospheric, with spicy elements of dark fantasy, horror, and feminism.
Bethel, a town steeped in religious fanaticism and supernatural dread where the tyrannical Prophet has too much power.
Immanuelle — the result of a union with another race — has none. She shouldn’t even exist, according to the rules of the town. But she manages to find some power hiding in her mother’s journal.
Enter witches, rebellion, and more (horror and some violence) fun!
Witches of East End
by Melissa de la Cruz
The first adult novel from the creator of the YA Blue Blood series weaves a tale of magic, family, and the bonds that tie generations together.
This paranormal fiction – already made into a series introduces the Beauchamp family. (They are witches! Oh, and immortal! So that’s fun.)
There’s lots of mystery, some romance, and an elaborate magical system to keep the pages turning and the late-night candles burning.
Don’t scare yourself!
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