Hecate's Secret Book Club ~ May 2021

I have just finished The Night Library of Sternendach: A Vampire Opera in Verse by Jessica Lévai--a slim volume, easily snapped up in a night or two. Told in the style of epic poetry, akin to Poe or Beowulf, it is the story of a young woman born into a long line of vampire hunters. She is doomed to wrestle with the opposing forces of responsibility and desire. (Aren't we all?) In the postscript, the author alludes to the fact that the Graf (or Count) is modeled after a deceased rock star. I'm going to guess David Bowie? I would love to see this made into a musical!

I'm currently reading Witchcraft Therapy: Your Guide to Banishing Bullsh*t and Invoking Your Inner Power by Mandi Em. I have followed her on instagram for a while and I was very excited for her book to be published. It's a little bogged down by all the modern colloquialisms but in essence, it's like sitting down with a good friend, sipping a Long Island and chatting about the Craft and Life. She's more of a physical realm, science based witch, which is really nice - it feels genuine when she talks about working spells while also doing mundane work to make the magick happen (i.e. doing a ritual for employment but also pounding the pavement and giving your resume to anyone who will look at it). Mandi is funny, relatable, and has been through a lot in her life, so much so, that this could probably be filed under a self-help book too. It's equal parts witchcraft and therapy, it covers the basics of grounding and manifestation, as well as setting boundaries and imposter syndrome. It's a really nice size and hard cover so I can pop it in my purse and read it while my son is at his karate lesson. I hope Mandi continues to write, she has a real knack for making her topics feel accessible.

As part of my book club with friends, we read The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January). It is an adult historical fantasy about witchcraft, power, and women fighting for both in a world that does everything to deprive them of either.
Here is the synopsis: "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."
We absolutely loved the book, it is such a well-crafted story, there are so many references and foreshadowing hints, you can feel how much work the author put into this novel.  Although the story is set in the 1890s it feels eerily relevant to the world we live in nowadays, women trying to gain power and society fighting back, trying to keep them in their "right place". And the magic system is also very similar to the "modern" notion of real witchcraft as we know it, it requires "the words the will and the way" and has no real shape or form, it is proper to every witch (man or woman!) I won't go into the plot properly because if the synopsis sounds even remotely interesting to you I beg you to give it a try! There are so many layers to the stories woven throughout, other things to expect are fairytales strangely close to real life, a sisterly bond so raw and true, so much marginalized representation in characters, the personification of the Maiden, Mother and Crone, and so so much more!

Thank you @mandigutterrose and @tinybookwitch Both of the books that you recommended are on my 'To Read" list now :)