Double, double toil and trouble, October books to burst your bubble…
As the season changes, pumpkins are carved and candy corn is consumed, it can be fun to pick up a book that reflects the spooky, ghoulish atmosphere. Whether you choose a mystery, a book that has ghosts, or a story with witches, you are sure to be in the spirit!
The Witches of Moonshine Manor by Bianca Marais
A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.
Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby–one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years–will surely be their salvation.
But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.
The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.
Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life.
Weyward by Emilia Hart
I am a Weyward, and wild inside.
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub
A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.
In this exuberant reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story from her own perspective. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves; Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.
But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat, and Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would you expect from a demon? And if you think Mr. Darcy was uptight about dancing etiquette, wait till you see how he reacts to witchcraft. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that when you’re a witch, promises have power…
Full of enchantment, intrigue, danger, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice — while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister.
Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer
Beauty, grace, and a resting witch face…
Bewitched meets Yellowjackets in Maureen Kilmer’s Hex Education when a former coven reunites to stop their lives from going up in flames.
On the outside, luxury realtor Sarah Nelson looks like every other mom in the neighborhood—running errands, navigating the school pickup line, and begrudgingly volunteering at the high school concession stand. Yet she has an edge that others don’t: She’s a witch! She uses light magic in secret, small ways, almost like an enchanted personal assistant. And absolutely no one knows about it.
Except her estranged ex-coven. In college, when she and two friends, Katrina and Alicia, first uncovered the magic, it didn’t take long before they used it to improve their lives. Yet, they made a mistake one night, and their dorm went up in flames and burned to the ground. After that terrible night, the coven scattered. And no one ever found out that the fire was their fault. Their secret was safe, until the three reunite at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the fire. Suddenly, the magic doesn’t seem to want to stay small any longer. Her familiar—an overweight orange tabby cat named Katy Furry—begins to argue with her. Her self-brooming broom goes full Martha Stewart. Her fridge overdoes it and stocks thirty pounds of sliced turkey for school lunches.
As it grows more and more difficult to hide the magic and the past, Sarah, Katrina, and Alicia once again gather to harness their power, and keep their secrets safe…before they find out if polite society still burns witches.
Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell’Antonia
Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters, the story of one woman’s Halloween homecoming to the town where she swore off magic, and where she must reclaim it in order to create the life she desires and protect everyone she loves from an unexpected threat.
She gave up on magic. But magic didn’t give up on her.
Two exes. One misbehaving mother. Surprising magic. The perfect recipe for Halloween chaos.
Flair Hardwicke knows the deal: Magic is real, love isn’t, and relying on either ends in disaster. She’s seen the havoc romance and witchcraft wreaked on her mother’s life, and Flair swore off all of it long ago, after the boy she thought was her destiny ditched her. But then her strictly no-magic life falls apart, and Flair inherits her grandmother’s home and bakery in Rattleboro, Kansas.
When the cookies Flair decorates as Tarot cards unleash the magic of the family deck she stole as a child, luring Flair’s mother to town, tempting Flair’s magic-obsessed daughter, ensnaring Flair’s ex in a curse she can’t break, and bringing Flair’s first love back to town, Flair has to accept that while she may have given up on magic, it refuses to give up on her.
As Flair’s attempts to control the Tarot cards play into the hands of a powerful witch, Flair must find a way to accept her magical heritage in order to save those she loves from a danger she’d never anticipated. Part Gilmore Girls, part Practical Magic, this romp of a tale is KJ Dell’Antonia at her very best.
This article appears through BookTrib’s partnership with BookNationByJen. It first appeared here.
