The Once And Future Witches

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Manufacturer: Alix E Harrow
Brand: Fantasy Fiction/Historical Fiction/Alternate History
Brew: Audio Book
Steeping Time: 16 hours 3 minutes
Tea Service: Book Club
Strength:

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 Eastwood sisters —James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna — join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and 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 will need to 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—”

I find it fitting that The Once and Future Witches was the first book I finished after deciding to start a book review blog.

The name Fairy Tales and Tea came to mind because I wanted to evoke something whimsical. I wanted it to feel like I’d stumbled upon a ruined castle, blanketed with moss in an ancient forest. Perched high in one of the towers sits a library, untouched for hundreds of years and yet as pristine as if it were occupied only days ago. I wanted a place I could steal away to on a rainy day. A place to hide away and read to my heart’s content. With endless amounts of tea, of course. Cream and sugar, please.

I like that this book is the one I read after making this choice. Not because it was my favorite book ever or because I loved it so much, but because my favorite thing about it was the fairy tales and how they all got tipped on their heads.

Ok, enough chat. Now on to the review!

To start, The Once and Future Witches opens on the three Eastwood sisters: Juniper, Agnes, and Bella. We meet each one in turn and get to know them just a little. Their mother died in childbirth when Juniper was born and they are left to be raised by their abusive father. It seems Mama Mags, their grandmother, is their only source of comfort and knowledge aside from each other. None of that is to last, however. Their father shatters the sister’s relationships and the pieces scatter in the wind.

Years later, the sisters find themselves in the city of New Salem, none of them knowing the other sisters are there. (This is an alternate America. Old Salem was burned to pure ash and now serves as a tourist attraction of sorts. It’s also a warning to those seeking to practice witchcraft. Very much a ‘this will happen to you if-’ scenario.) The three sisters find themselves all drawn to the same square, where they run into each other for the first time in many years. If this isn’t surprising enough, they also see a massive dark tower appear and then quickly disappear in the middle of the city, wrapped in a flurry of wind and magic. The adventure begins.

Juniper, the youngest and by far the most headstrong (and also just flat-out angry), sees a chance for change with the women’s suffragist movement. Bella, the oldest and meeker of the three, is not interested in joining or causing a stir. She simply wants to be left to her books at her job in the Salem College Library. Agnes, the middle sister, portrayed as the wise one, wants nothing to do with any of it and wishes to be left alone. None of them get what they want. We follow the sisters through their journey of healing their past wounds while finding a way to survive. They find themselves on the path to recovering the lost ways of witchcraft and seeking out the Last Three Witches of the West.

They are brought together for an epic journey to find the lost ways, whether they like it or not.

When it comes to favorites in The Once and Future Witches, for me, it’s the magic system. Women’s magic (yes, there is also men’s magic) is hidden in plain sight. Women hide the words in nursery rhymes and needlepoint, children’s stories, and lullabies. I think that was a brilliant move. The world that Harrow has created is magnificent. I can’t even begin to explain the jolt of glee that went through me every time I came across another twist of words on a well-known story. From tweaking fairy tales to changing Brothers Grimm to Sisters Grimm, I loved every bit of it. Classic stories shift, and suddenly, the woman or girl becomes the focal point (Little Boy Blue turns to Little Girl Blue, for example).

I think my most favorite, and perhaps most subtle if you don’t know the history, was her simple shift to the Square Shirtwaist Factory.

This factory also met a sad fate in the story, just like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory did in our actual history. Even the book’s title, The Once and Future Witches, is a nice play on T. H. White’s The Once and Future King. The play there does the same thing all of the other swaps do: it gives the women in the story power and alludes to their greatness. In the legends of King Arthur, it is said that he isn’t truly gone. He is only waiting to return at the precise moment that Britain will need him again. It’s the same for the Eastwood sisters. Perhaps they will call back the Lost Ways when they are needed most.

I thought it odd the women’s suffragist movement is mentioned so heavily in the synopsis. In reality, it doesn’t last long in the story. We see characters come from the movement and join the sisters, but it becomes much more a fight about women’s rights with the emphasis heavily on magic rather than women fighting for the vote. I was perfectly fine with that shift. However, I think that might be because I’m not in the mood to deal with anything political right now and was happy that this wasn’t a politics-heavy book.

The movement is still referred to in the book, but more so in terms of, ‘this crazy witchcraft business is why we can’t give women the vote’ (said with heavy finger-wagging). Naturally, the Big Baddie of the story is a politician who is not only heavily against witchcraft but also just as much against women’s rights in general. He uses the ways of witchcraft to stamp down the suffragist movement and drives up fear in the public.

THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Spoilers Ahead. Scroll Past To Return To Safety.

While I loved the world, the magic, and Alix E Harrow’s way with words (she is truly an eloquent writer), I struggled to get close to the characters. When we meet the sisters, each one is deeply flawed, which is great and makes them more realistic, but their flaws made them hard to like. Agnes and Juniper are both bitter and angry, while Bella is meek and afraid of nearly everything. Once I started to get to know and like them a little more, their walls were still up and I couldn’t get close. It made me feel like I was watching their story but wasn’t living it with them. Perhaps because I listened to the audio version, it felt more like I was being told their story second-hand instead of experiencing it with them.

In the end, I loved who the sisters were when they became their true selves, but I just didn’t connect. Even when Juniper walked into the fire at the end and was dying, I didn’t feel what I normally would during this kind of scene. It’s an odd feeling because I like the book and I like the characters, but I had an incredibly difficult time caring for them deeply.

I can pinpoint the exact moment in this book where I became invested. It’s when the sisters call back the tower after it burned and meet the Last Three Witches of the West. They hooked me. The Last Three interested me more than any other character. If there were a prequel that focused on them, I’d definitely read it. Maybe it was because they are mysterious women that we only scratch the surface of. Or maybe it’s simply the fact that they are three souls that live in a magical tower and are sort of all-knowing beings. Either way, I want more!

My favorite takeaway from The Once and Future Witches is that ANYONE can do magic.

Anyone can do any spell, whether it be considered women’s magic or men’s magic. As long as you have the words, the will, and the way, the magic is yours. You aren’t born with it. It’s not something that you have or you don’t. ANYONE can do magic. And I love that.

BACK TO SAFETY

At the end of the day, I liked The Once and Future Witches. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it. The world in which the sisters live is amazing, and I love that magic is present and alive. Harrow tells this story with classic fairy tale tropes when describing the sisters and their personalities. It’s a clever way to weave in classic fairy tale storytelling. I did struggle with keeping track of characters since there are a lot and they come and go throughout. The story could have been edited down a little as well. Sometimes I found things repetitive, even though I understood the reasoning behind it (being no one, for example). And again, I wish I could have connected more with the sisters.

Harrow brings different races, social backgrounds, and nationalities together in a fight for a common cause while recognizing the differences each has to offer. There is a Russian character who offers up her tale, a version of Baba Yaga. You also have Cleo, a Black woman who is part of the Daughters of Tituba. She brings so much to the table and is a solid, strong character. Native Americans are also represented, although they keep their magic close to their chest. It was great to see so many different cultures crashing together into one glorious revolution. If fairy tales, magic, and witchcraft are something you like, I think you’d enjoy this book.

Have you read The Once and Future Witches? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to get yourself a copy? Click here.
Cheers,
Lydia