The Once and Future Witches
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel - Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR Books - Barnes and Noble - BookPage
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in this powerful novel of magic, family, and the suffragette movement.
In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters―James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna―join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote―and perhaps not even to live―the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There's no such thing as witches. But there will be.
An homage to the indomitable power and persistence of women, The Once and Future Witches reimagines stories of revolution, motherhood, and women's suffrage--the lost ways are calling.
Praise for The Once and Future Witches:
"A glorious escape into a world where witchcraft has dwindled to a memory of women's magic, and three wild, sundered sisters hold the key to bring it back...A tale that will sweep you away."―Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author
"This book is an amazing bit of spellcraft and resistance so needed in our times, and a reminder that secret words and ways can never be truly and properly lost, as long as there are tongues to speak them and ears to listen."―P. Djèlí Clark, author The Black God's Drum
For more from Alix E. Harrow, check out The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
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Community Reviews
When it comes to anything feminist related, I'm all for it. This here, shows us a time when women didn't even have the right to vote. And it was a time shrouded by religion. This is the second book I've read about witches, and there's always the Christians involved, where they burnt those they believe to be practicing witchcraft. This story is about three sisters fighting for the recovery of the strong witches, the original ones. Only, I didn't get until there, because it was too much of a drag. Three sisters, three perspectives. But the way the author wrote them made them boring.
Witches are long gone from the cities and towns - wiped away by fire and those who felt threatened by women with power of their own. Many years later, James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna, the Eastwood sisters, find themselves in New Salem, a city seemingly on the brink of...something. When Juniper sets her sights on joining the suffragist movement, only to realize their goals are not enough for her, the Eastwood sisters set in motion a movement of their own. Witches might not exist - but they will. All they need is the words, the ways, and the will.
This is one of those stories that's so beautifully written that I could tell I'd needed to pace myself. Separated for years, the Eastwood sisters have finally found one another again, as if by fate, or perhaps by magic. A tale of love in many forms, I was mesmerized. When I finally turned the last page my emotions were all over, I felt wrung out yet happy. Proud. The world-building was incredible and the use of the rhymes and songs - many I remember from my childhood - was perfection.
When I find a good standalone fantasy novel I feel like screaming from the rooftops, but since I can't do that, I'll scream here instead! Though it's a long story, and may take some patience, if you choose to pick up this book, I hope it's as magical for you as it was for me.
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