Uptown Oracle Reads… The Once and Future Witches

The Once and Future Witches Alix E Harrow

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In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in this powerful novel of magic, family, and the suffragette movement.

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’d heard a lot of good things about The Once and Future Witches before I read it and I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed, but I don’t think my expectations of the book matched what it actually was. I’d recommend anyone who wants to pick up TOAFW to manage their expectations going into it too as it’s closer to historical fiction (with some magical elements) than it is to a pure fantasy book. 

First up is to talk about the historical elements, which were clearly well researched by Harrow. In 1893 there’s an uprising of suffragists in New Salem and a fight for women’s rights, and it’s rightly pointed out that the movement isn’t completely inclusive and sometimes isn’t as effective as it could be. The world is an alternate history of ours, but it also includes a lot to think about when it focuses on politics.

Despite it being more historical fiction in it’s pacing and some world building, the book has an interesting magic system that I loved reading about. The witches are no more due to death, and mostly being killed off in witch trials. However, each woman no matter where they’ve come from has had “small words” whispered and passed down to them from mothers, aunts and grandmothers which allow them to use small magic and give women power. 

The overall theme that I got from the book is about the strength of women, and the strength of family and friendships too. The strength of a woman is not tied to how tough she is, the way they act, how much education they have or even tied to their titles of mother, maiden or crone. But themselves as women, strength is needed every day to live and power can be shared and amplified through family, friends and strangers too. 

Whilst the book focuses heavily on women, there’s also discourse around men having magic but a different kind of magic which can help them. There’s a group of men that do end up helping the sisters, and I found this to be reminiscent of power dynamics in our own society, where women can fight and fight but we also need men as allies to help our voices be truly heard sometimes. 

One element that I think Harrow did purposefully is give each of the Eastwood sisters flaws which make them unlikable. When reading at the beginning, I found it harder to root for the sisters except out of the “I want women to be equal” goal. However as they come together as sisters, and build out the society they start to get better, and their strengths help overcome the flaws of others. It also helps that there’s a fantastic supporting cast of characters who you do end up loving. 

Overall I think the biggest sticking point for me was that the book’s pacing is slow, and the long build up to the more magical elements is something I imagine many fantasy readers might not enjoy as much. I kept reading despite my own push back from the pacing, and found that I started to get more enthralled as the secret society builds (kind of like a secret that’s being whispered all over town). But I get why others might not make it that far into the book.

Positives of The Once and Future Witches

• Interesting mix of historical and fantasy elements
• Intriguing female characters and strong relationship building

Negatives of The Once and Future Witches

• Slow pacing

I received The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review

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