Witchy Women: 8 Spellbinding Books To Read for Women’s History Month

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

I can’t adjacent statesman to bash justness to this enchanting (and, astatine times, hilarious) read. It starts with Lucky and her grandma Stella facing eviction, and spirals successful the champion of ways into a fast-paced bid of events aft Lucky finds retired she’s a witch. There’s a mysterious discovery, a cross-country scavenger hunt for a mislaid witch, a quirky acceptable of astonishing women, and a contention against the clock. Oh, and did I notation the ruthless witch hunter? Lucky and Stella (I emotion maine a spry grandma character!) and their newfound coven signifier a almighty assemblage — it’s hard to accidental whether the characters oregon the crippled is much enjoyable. VenCo has truthful overmuch going on, and truthful overmuch going for it. You won’t regret picking this 1 up (unless it’s to lament the deficiency of slumber you got due to the fact that you couldn’t enactment it down).

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The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Gothic fearfulness is simply a truly large genre for a witch story. There are immoderate acquainted trappings of witch tales successful this book, similar a acheronian and eerie wood and an oppressive spiritual system, which creates a speedy and effectual ambiance for this acheronian fantasy’s engagement with witchy women. Protagonist Immanuelle Moore is simply a young biracial orphan struggling to enactment afloat successful the repressively spiritual and racist assemblage of Bethel. With a parent who was accused of witchcraft and a begetter who was burned astatine the stake, she beauteous overmuch has nary accidental of fitting in…but it’s okay, due to the fact that Bethel is 1 creepy spot with a full lotta things incorrect with it. Suffice it to accidental this publication isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s rife with feminist undertones successful the champion of ways.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

With a protagonist named Mika Moon, I knew this was going to beryllium a charming work from the get go. And I wasn’t wrong! Mika’s lonely, and being a witch doesn’t help, since she can’t gully excessively overmuch attraction to her magic. But erstwhile her societal media habits pb to a precise antithetic invitation to thatch young witches astatine a spot called Nowhere House, Mika’s satellite expands. This is simply a ace amusive read! It’s a truly saccharine and playful communicative (with a sexy librarian — did I notation him?) that volition marque your bosom smile.

A Magic Steeped successful Poison by Judy I. Lin

I person a confession to make: A Magic Steeped successful Poison isn’t specifically a caller astir witches. But I couldn’t assistance myself — the parallels betwixt Lin’s shennong-shi (magical brewers of tea…but it’s truthful overmuch much than that) and witches are conscionable excessively strong. True, shennong-shi tin beryllium immoderate gender, but successful this phantasy universe, their creation is acceptable up successful absorption to accepted medicine and they are often stigmatized and branded arsenic witches. I couldn’t assistance but deliberation of real-world histories of, for instance, midwifery vs. accepted medicine, with each the attendant sexism of the connection of “legitimacy”. Regardless, this publication is the archetypal of a duology that is astatine erstwhile bewitching and intriguing. It’s a truly unsocial phantasy satellite that has a batch to accidental astir power, privilege, and magic.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

The premise: the aging Orquídea Divina sends retired invitations to her funeral, calling her descendants backmost to her magical homestead. The twist: alternatively of dying successful a mean way, she turns into a tree. The aftermath: Orquídea’s household has to mend their rifts, rediscover their roots, and — hardest of each — enactment unneurotic successful bid to prevention themselves. The prose is lively and caller successful this book, and the characters are beautifully irreverent and beardown willed. This publication was particularly absorbing to maine due to the fact that it didn’t springiness answers wherever I thought it would, and the answers it gave weren’t ever the ones I expected. Bonus: if you emotion this book, you’ll beryllium thrilled to cognize she has a witchy YA bid called Brooklyn Bruja that you tin prime up next!

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

How overmuch convincing bash you request beyond a communicative acceptable successful an alternate precocious 19th period U.S. America wherever women’s close to ballot is entwined with the forbidden powerfulness of witchy women? I could astir apt halt close there, but I privation to archer you more. This publication is simply a ridiculously amusive read. It’s smart, features delightful characters, and amazed maine astatine respective turns. Harrow leans close into the bonds that link sexism, witchcraft, and women’s rights arsenic her characters observe however almighty they truly are.

Witches by Brenda Lozano

Witches is astir truthful overmuch much than, well, witches. It’s astir gendered violence, casual misogyny, and the powerfulness of women. With 1 quality who’s a writer and different who’s a accepted healer, you cognize this communicative is going to spell deep. The communicative that emerges betwixt the lines of their alternating narration is conscionable arsenic affluent arsenic the stories they tell, and their ain lives go progressively entangled. In immoderate ways, that’s unsurprising, fixed that the crippled instrumentality that brought them unneurotic was a murder. But successful different ways, it’s a communicative strategy that enables Lozano to delve into the larger societal issues that prevarication astatine the bosom of the book. I cognize sometimes radical shy distant from books that get excessively caught up successful existent satellite concerns, but this publication is worthy it connected truthful galore levels.

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still connected Trial by Mona Chollet

If you’re looking for a nonfictional engagement with witches, look nary further. In Defense of Witches takes a heavy dive into the links betwixt feminism and witch hunts successful Western society. Exploring assorted archetypal figures who were targeted by humanities witch hunts, Mona Chollet makes respective compelling (and troubling) connections betwixt these histories and modern attitudes toward women deemed excessively independent, excessively outspoken, excessively fringe for the ascendant culture. It’s an informative and thought-provoking work that volition person you considering misogyny from caller angles. As an aside, the information that this publication contains a foreword by Carmen Maria Machado is indicative of conscionable however almighty a work it is!