Review: The Year of the Witching

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of my earliest recollections of witches is that of the Wicked Witch of the West in the film The Wizard of Oz. She was an embodiment of evil, other than her love for her sister, the Witch of the East. The picture got muddied with benevolent witches. There was Mad Laurie, who wasn't really a witch at all, in Paul Gallico's Thomasina, or real witches who were just do-gooders like Miyzaki's Kiki, or Alice Hoffman's beautiful Owens women (Magic Lessons, Rules of Magic, Practical Magic) and Pullman's fierce witches led by Serafina Pekkala and Ruta Skadi (His Dark Materials), all of whom are forces of nature. But "evil" witches? They've largely been rewritten with the tales of backstories about Morgaine (Mists of Avalon), Maleficent (the film version") or Elphaba (Wicked), all of which offer feminist takes on how powerful women are feared, slandered, marginalized, and at risk of harm for their skills and power. Combining these various paradigms on witchcraft, The Year of the Witching offers us a complex picture of the power of witchcraft to do good or great evil and juxtaposes it with religion's power to do the exactly the same.

Immanuelle Moore is a young woman raised in a puritanical, polygamous culture in the community of Bethel. the denizens of Bethel live by the rules and laws of The Prophet. When, against the rules, she is lured into the Darkwood, a place where the first prophet of Bethel killed four women, Delilah, Mercy, Jael, and Lilith, who he called witches, she receives her mother's journal and is shocked to learn that her mother once sought refuge in these woods. Immanuelle is forced to contemplate previously unknown truths about her community and her own growing power.

This is a deliciously dark fantasy novel. With rich worldbuilding, Henderson steadily ramps up the horror of Immanuelle's world. Can she save those she loves without being blamed for the sins of others? To say more would be too spoilery. Take note- this novel would be a perfect bookclub read for Halloween season.

I will update readers with information about the audiobook once I take a listen.

I received a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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