The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Hello Books Lovers,
this review should have come out yesterday, but due to technical problems I had to postpone it. And here I am today talking about the new masterpiece by Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, out on September 7th by Oscar Mondadori. The Once and Future Witches, is a book that is exactly about witches. A story handed down from grandmother to granddaughter, generations of women who have had to endure, never receiving anything in return.
I wanted to read this book, postponing other readings that I should have already completed, because with the ten thousand doors Alix really impressed me. Her style struck me. She is able, like few others, to express everything, every sensation, through her words, whether it is a true story or a fiction. And although sometimes the length of this book made me despair, because maybe some scenes were slower than the rest, I never thought, not even for a second, of giving up reading.
Because despite everything I always wanted to remain attached to the pages to read, addicted to the events, and to the story of our protagonists, three sisters who have moved away over the years, each one has gone on her way. But the thoughts for the distant sisters are always there.
In this book there are strong themes, events, in a certain sense, that really happened, such as the persecutions of Salem, and a lot of inventiveness of the author enclosed in 500 pages of pure pleasure. Sometimes, I said before, the story might seem heavy, but what I’m telling you, if you get to a point where you want to give up, is to go on and finish the story or you’ll regret it. I found myself in front of many books that I have not been able to complete the reading, but I know that the way the prose was going I could not regret the choice I made. Yet I know that if I had stopped reading The Once and Future Witches, I would have certainly regretted it after a few days, to end up picking it up again.
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 three Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten 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 must 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.
Furthermore, on October 5th the new book by this author will be released, The Spindle Splintered, and something tells me that soon we will also have it in Italy. I think I have said a lot about The Once and Future Witches, and at the same time I know I have said practically nothing. But if I intrigued you even a little let me know in the comments, and keep me updated with your readings. Alix E. Harrow is one of those authors to have at any cost in your library.
