Saturday, March 11, 2023

Five titles featuring witchcraft

Emilia Hart grew up in Australia and studied English Literature at university before training as a lawyer.

Weyward is her debut novel.

At CrimeReads Hart tagged five novels featuring witchcraft, including:
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

First published in 1926, at a time when women were dependent upon male guardians for financial security, this moving, funny novel might be the original example of “witch lit.” Fed up of relying on the charity of her male relatives, English spinster Laura
“Lolly” Willowes moves to the rural village of Great Mop in search of independence. There, she adopts a kitten named Vinegar, and makes a pact with the devil. Lolly becomes a witch, as she puts it, “to have a life of one’s own, not an existence doled out to you by others.” An ode to female freedom that’s as relevant now as it was a century ago.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see: Mark Skinner's twenty top witch lit titles.

--Marshal Zeringue