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The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow
“That’s all magic is, really: the space between what you have and what you need.”
We are all witches.
Harrow contends in The Once and Future Witches that humans have the ability to access a source of power to accomplish wonderful and necessary things. Witchcraft just needs the words of execution, the methods of planning, and an unwavering determination to cross the divide between taking what you have and what you deserve.
Witchcraft has two antecedents. There are the canonical, centuries-old witch tales that have been published in books and newspapers and paint these ladies as devil’s minions. Then there are the untold tales of what actually transpired: courageous women defying oppression and reclaiming the authority that the patriarchy and society at large had traditionally wielded against them. Fairy tales, children’s songs, stitched artwork, and oral narratives passed down through the years have all preserved these tales; their spells are carefully kept in secrecy, with words and techniques as varied as the civilizations that shepherd them.
But if the Eastwood sisters have anything to say about it, everything is about to change.
The youngest and most committed to her trade is James Juniper. She has a bonfire of anguish and wrath inside of her that has been kindled by a life full of suffering and betrayal; she just needs a target for it. Agnes Amaranth limits the number of people in her circle of trust to one. Agnes will have to reevaluate her connections with people who are seeking her and those she has avoided as a result of events that are about to introduce a new person into her life. The oldest sister, Beatrice Belladonna, has an insatiable curiosity about her witch origins. A new friend comes into her life and helps her discover long-buried feelings as well as a road to a power that could transform the practise of witchcraft for women everywhere.
The sisters join the women’s suffrage movement, which first acts as a stand-in for their own expanding influence over New Salem. They encounter challenges from the usual suspects, including sexism, racism, classism, ignorance, fear, and hatred, in addition to the myriad other forms of discrimination and violence that women have experienced throughout history. However, there are more dangers concealed beyond the curtain that will bring New Haven to its knees.
This book is a superbly written adventure narrative with strong themes wrapped in the charm and experience you’ve come to expect from an Alix Harrow novel. It is a love letter to stories themselves, just like her previous book was, and I am honoured to have been a part of that profound affection.
The Review
The Once and Future Witches
8.3 Score
This is a beautiful story about three sisters who overcome shared and separate traumas to fight back against the oppression of women and bring witchcraft back into the world. And part of what they learn is that the witchcraft never really left, and they don’t need the help of ancient wisdom, because they have their own power already.
PROS
- Halloween or anytime read.
- Arthurian legends meet the witchy suffragists.
- A tale of three sisters and freedom.
- Bewitching and lyrical fantasy.
CONS
- Exceptionally Boring
- Very poorly written.
- Hate read. Overwritten and full.
- Historically inaccurate.
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