Book Club is going strong into the new year! I'm so pleased we're all keeping up with it.
Our March pick was A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan (2019). Everyone was intrigued by the premise, and even though Elissa had already read it when it first came out, and admitted she wasn't a huge fan, we all dove into it excitedly only to come out the other side with one doozy of a hate-on meeting.
The plot of the novel follows multiple generations of women in the Orchiére family lineage as they pass down the craft from mother to daughter trying to protect not only their legacy, but also themselves from persecution. Each story traces the life of one of these women as nearly a century passes from beginning to end of the novel.
This book did not fare well on our rating system, coming in at an average 5/10. I'm usually the generous one and I only gave it a 5. Honestly though, the book had me pretty wrapped up right until the fifth witch's story when they involved the British Royal Family and WWII. **Spoiler Alert**: In this 'history' the Queen Consort - NOT to be confused with the actual Queen Elizabeth II, nor to be actually called Queen Elizabeth - is a witch! Like what?! No thank you. This generational story could have easily gone on well without that ridiculous twist thank you very much.
Enough on that for right now though (we all had bones to pick with that plot line), instead let's talk about characters we loved and the ONE we all hated. The book had five main characters, the five witches that descended from the Orchiére line: Nanette, Ursule, Irene, Morwen and Veronica. Out of these five Morwen was the most liked and Irene was the most hated. We had a lot to say on the subject of Irene, but first, what we liked about Morwen and the other women. For us, it wasn't until Morwen that the cycle of the women using magic to ensnare the men in their lives was broken. This was a big win for the book, because by the time Morwen came around (Story #4) the whole using the craft and simples and potions to control men was getting old. However, we were still unhappy that it took so long for that revelation to come around.
Nanette, Ursule and Morwen all had strong connections to the earth, farming, animals, etc. which is a common trait amongst witchcraft practice and lore, so that was a nice touch, but that's where it ended. The author did not delve into that aspect at all and the book suffered for it. Especially when Irene went against everything she was raised to hold dear and just ditched her mom (Ursule) to go after a man (using a potion) so that she could be come a lady and rise in society. So many things were wrong with that story. There was so much of a disconnect and breaking of the bond that all the mothers and daughters had prior to Irene's story. She was also a snotty, self-centered little bitch. Ironically, her daughter Morwen ends up being in tune with nature and brings things back around a bit.
None of us were happy with the magic system, particularly Jane. She said the scrying stone was a nice touch, but none of the rest of it made sense, nor was it developed enough for it to make sense to readers who might not understand the simpler side of magic and witchcraft that isn't Harry Potter grandesque. We all could have used more description and development of the magic and why certain rituals and items were used or performed. Another ball dropped by the author unfortunately.
The writing style was easy and this was not a slog of a book, but the arrangement of the stories and plot could have been done much better. The culmination of the novel is Veronica's story, but there was no allusion to her or what her significance would be, so yet another dropped ball. We had a fun discussion on what we would have done differently and everyone agreed that there should have been a prologue that touched on Veronica, THEN went back the century to Nanette's time where it all started. Then, instead of focusing on five women, pick three; we opted for Ursule, Morwen and Veronica. You could have still had the other women in there but as flashbacks or history tidbits. Like honestly just CUT IRENE OUT. Ugh. If done this way there could have been more focus on the magic and deeper stories of the women most easily related to and it still could have keep its multi-generational appeal. But who are we except avid readers? Ha ha.
I chimed in near the end of the meeting with a nice observation about the spirit familiars in the book and how they tied into each woman and into each others stories, but it would be long to explain and this post is already getting lengthy as it is. I don't know if I would recommend this book... I guess not strongly, but like, read it if you want and form your own opinion? As I said in the "Up Next" blurb on my last post, the author has two other books about witches that intrigue me because I kind of want to know if she did better in subsequent attempts at writing about witches and witchcraft, or am I just setting myself up for disappointment again?
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