Ms. Hen reviews The Once and Future Witches

 

The Once and Future Witches

Alix E. Harrow

Redhook Books/ Orbit

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this book because she was at a bookstore in Concord Massachusetts, and saw it, and decided to buy it because she had read two other books by this author, THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY, and A SPINDLE SPLINTERED, and enjoyed them. She also indulged in this because she likes books about witches, and needed another Halloween book to round out her October.

This novel is about three sisters who are witches: Juniper, Agnes, and Bella, who believe they are the embodiment of the maiden, the mother, and the crone. Agnes and Bella left Juniper alone with their abusive father, and Juniper is resentful of that. Juniper goes to New Salem to find her sisters, but she is caught up in witchcraft during a suffragette demonstration in the town square.

This is historical fantasy that takes place in 1893. The sisters find each other, but they all harbor ill feelings toward one another. Agnes works at a mill, and Bella is a librarian. Agnes is pregnant, and fears for her unborn daughter. The sisters try to bring the women of the town together through witchcraft, with the spells and the stories that their mothers and aunts and grandmothers have taught them through the ages.

Ms. Hen liked this book, but at times it seemed to drag. Magic appears, but things don't seem to be magical enough, and it's like the witches are striving for magic, but never quite get to make it work correctly. And there are so many obstacles that get in their way. It took Ms. Hen a long time to read this book, possibly because she had a lot of things going on, but it seemed interminable.

One aspect of this novel that Ms. Hen found strange is that there are hardly any positive male characters. Some men are nice, but even the decent ones seem like sniveling idiots to Ms. Hen. She understands this is a feminist novel, but she thinks that doesn't have to mean it's a man-hating novel. This is historical fiction, and maybe the women in this era didn't know any sympathetic men, but she believes the attitude of the women towards the men is skewed.

Ms. Hen likes this, but it wasn't her favorite book by the author. She wants to believe in magic, but a novel like this doesn't help her dreams of becoming a witch, it only makes her think that witchcraft is something that is painful and difficult, which it shouldn't be. Ms. Hen could be a familiar to the right witch, better than a real chicken, because she doesn't complain or make a mess. Ms. Hen is ready and willing to participate in magic, but she thinks this book isn't the place to find the way.