Louisa Morgan (1)Rezensionen

Really enjoyable read - steering female characters!

I enjoyed certain parts of this book, particular stories of the women involved and, others, not so much. It started with promise, sort of went downhill in the middle then picked up with Morwen's story. Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got.

The final story, to me, seemed disjointed and lost. Almost as if the Author had run out of things these women and their descendants could do. In the final story, she has a tendency to use the same words over and again; did she lose her thesaurus?

Despite this, I will try reading some of her other works in the hopes it was just this story she had difficulty holding together.

Spanning from Brittany in the 1820’s to London during World War II, this is a family saga with a twist.

The book almost reads like a book of 5 short stories. Stories that are connected yet complete in themselves. Told in separate sections starting in 1821, each section focuses on the life of each of the 5 witches in the Orchiéres families descendants and revolves around the relationships between mothers and daughters, each generation’s loves rivalries, and the fight they face to keep their beliefs and craft hidden.

The different women in each story are all distinct characters and not all are very pleasant or likeable! I did find that some stories were better than others with the best being Nanette’s story which takes us through the main storyline and taking us on to the next generation.

The world war 2 part will require you to suspend reality and embrace the magic of the witches and even though it maybe a stretch of the imagination it is a great addition to the book bringing real life history and giving it a whole new magical spin to it.

The only thing i am a bit disappointed in was the ending but perhaps it’s been left open for a sequel. I really hope so!!

2492

This novel was not at all what I was expecting based on the title, but it was a pleasant surprise. Anticipating black magic and cauldrons, I instead got a love story of accidental loss and perseverance despite recurring tragedies.

Barrie Anne was raised by her aunt after her parents die in an accident when she is a young girl. Just as she was reaching adulthood, World War II begins and she puts college on hold to marry her sweetheart before he heads to war. However, her handsome husband has a dark side and a hidden past, disappears soon after he ships off in the Navy, and Barrie Anne, left with more questions than answers, continues on with her life at home with her Aunt Charlotte. One day her husband mysteriously reappears with little explanation and buys an old farmhouse off the beaten path near the Hood Canal in Washington State. They attempt to start over as farmers but soon her husband's reconciliatory attitude turns sour and she leaves him to stay with her aunt once more. This time, though, she's pregnant with his child. When the Navy shows up at her aunt's door looking for her husband, she shows them to her house where he is no longer staying and instead of letting them take her back, she decides to stay in her farmhouse and make it on her own.

Filled with grit and determination, maternal instinct and a little something else, Barrie Anne is an inspirational character and The Witch's Kind is a story that will leave you feeling warm all over.

This book is an interesting take on witches. The characters are lively and I loved the characters and world it builds. The plot is leisurely, but I would recommend to young adults looking for a witchy read.

Morgan's magic is at full strength in a lovely depiction of Ursule Orchière the ancestor of the Orchire family in A Secret History of Witches. Realistic historical detail, proud feminism, devoted families and friends, and a raven familiar are some of its strengths.

I was bored and gave up when the audio narrator mispronounced Samhain.

This lackluster novel about several generations of witches grinds it way through 130 years before finally petering out in an open-ended conclusion that leaves several questions unanswered. One hopes there is no sequel in the offing.

First and foremost, the characters in Morgan’s tale are all denied, for one reason or another, the kind of lifelong study of the craft deemed de rigueur in most literature for a successful practitioner. In this world, however, it’s apparently enough to be born into the line and then, when the time is right, you simply light the candle, sprinkle a little salt around, mouth a few lines of tortured doggerel and presto!, you’re a successful spell casting, crystal gazing potion brewing witch.

Which brings up another issue and is something that has annoyed this reviewer for years in novels of the occult. Why do the charms and spells need to be in badly-written quatrain format? Why can’t one just say “Farmer Brown is a mean nasty man and he should come down with a bad case of boils until he learns to be nicer”? No, it has to be crunched and cajoled and massaged into something like “Mother Goddess, heed my call, / Farmer Brown is worst of all. / Bless the kettle as it roils, / Curse his ugly form with boils”. Or something equally banal. All the characters in ‘Secret History’ commit this particular sin in one way or another, until one wishes Mother Goddess would apparate at some point and say “Just spit it out, girl!”

Morgan also manages to ignore the entire Romani culture, despite repeatedly telling the reader that it gave birth to her characters. In fact, there’s a whole lot of telling going on here, and not much showing. The characters move around the chessboard Morgan has set up for them, going through the motions that will advance the plot, with nary a surprise or an emotional punch to be had.

Good premise, but hardly scratched the surface of these women’s lives while giving enormous attention to mundane chores they did. You come away knowing more about milking goats and planting potatoes than you do about witches. This story could’ve used a strong editor. And likeable characters. I regret that the author didn’t choose to tell a riveting tale just about the first witch, Ursula (the old). Instead you’re intrigued by Ursula but then the stories just go downhill from there and never up the hill again. Sorry, but I would not recommend.

I found this book a little hard to get into. There are parts that I really enjoyed and others not as much.

I was provided with an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My x meets x pitch for this is Downton Abbey meets Macbeth. It's got all the class, money, and elite socialites mixed in with three witches each with their own agendas.

This book was very well written. All the characters were very well developed, even the "villain". Everyone had clear motives and were given the right amount of page time. This book was a success technically. My favourite character was Annis by far, being the wise beyond her years and modern for her time character that she was, but I also love how that came out not in a needlessly rebellious way but with actual interest that served to forwards the plot. Also, I very much appreciate her horse-crazed nature, as it was something I went through and, had my mom not been allergic to barn dust, I might be a lot like her.

On the subject of witches, I liked how it was handled. Having taken a class on witches and witchcraft in literature, I appreciated how witchcraft was seen as something powerful and manipulative, but also empowering and useful. It was something that didn't just pit woman against woman but also brought them together.

In the end, this book was incredibly well done and impressed me. It was just lacking that special, person-dependent spark to make it an all-time favourite. I would highly recommend this to historical fictoio0n fans or light fantasy fans. Definitely both.

The Age of Witches is the story of three women. Harriet, Francis and Annis are all descendants of witches, with the ability to use magic. Harriet is a herbalist, her cousin Francis dabbles in darker magic, and Annis, Francis's stepdaughter, is only just discovering her powers. The book is about strong, flawed women who know what they want and take it. It's about the use and misuse of magic, and about being a woman in a world set up for men.

The writing is absolutely beautiful, in typical Louisa Morgan style. There is so much detail, and the historical setting is really brought to life. The story is very slow moving, though, and it took me quite a while before I felt hooked in. The book has a similar vibe to A Secret History Of Witches, Morgan's previous novel, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, I didn't connect to the characters in this novel as easily as I did in A Secret History. I considered DNFing during the first half. I'm glad I didn't, because I enjoyed the later parts of the book a lot more.

3.5 stars

I've read my fair share of books about witches (yes, I went through a phase as a teenager, but the 1990s and early 2000s were ripe with supernatural fiction), but this book stood out for its very serious focus on history. Most stories about witchcraft and magic in general often touch on history in relation to the craft's tradition or in regard to historic persecution of magic practitioners, but MOrgan's story that follows the line or Orchiére witches from the 1800s to the 1950s centres the story far more solidly for its truthful treatment of the various time periods. Through her characters we witness the persecution of the romani by ignorant townsfolk and the Church, see how a witch's power can use used selfishly for gain, and how women throughout the ages have survived even as the so-called "weaker sex." The final woman whose story we are told has a far happier ending than I expect, but considering all the suffering that her family has seen she deserve some solace and stability. In many ways this book was a more female-centric story in the same lines as Edward Rutherfurd's historic epics, since we see a family throughout the ages (albeit in much shorter and condensed form). Morgan lacks some of his attention to historical detail (the historian in me will always want more, even if the general public doesn't care) and writing panache, but her story remains highly engaging throughout. The only thing that I couldn't take seriously was her royal name dropping during the World War II era story - I won't tell you who the alleged witch is, but I couldn't help but laugh!

It took me Four (4) 3 week renewals to finally read this because I didn't like this book at first, however, once I began to read it I found it so compelling it took me only 3 nights to finish it.

It is the history of the five Romani generations of Orchiére women, all gifted with the power of crafting. The history of Grandmére Ursule: her daughters: Isabelle, Louisette, Florence, Fleurette, Anne-Marie, & Nanette (the one to inherit their mother's gift).

Then continuing with Nanette's daughter Ursule, grand-daughter Irène, great-granddaughter Morwen, and her great-great granddaughter Veronica who is called to work w/ the Queen during WWII.

From Brittany to Cornwall to Wales to London an intense, well-written & book of powerful/gifted & spirited women, which I found to be a compelling read...

A Secret History of Witches tells the tale of five generations of witches in a gypsy family. Mothers pass the gift to their daughters. They are persecuted and have to hide their powers from others. Spanning the time from the early 1800s to WW2, the book is divided into five sections, one for each of the five Orchiere family witches -- Nanette, Ursule, Irene, Morwen and Veronica.

This book was at times a little too slow moving, but there is such a strong mother-daughter love through each generation that I felt that emotion was almost more important than the magic. The family grimoire and scrying stone speak differently to each generation as they receive their powers at puberty.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. At times, the plot moved along a bit slowly and I felt the ending was a bit lack-luster, even abrupt. But it didn't really hurt my enjoyment of the overall story.....the characters, their love for each other, and how the passed down power effected them all a bit differently was enough to keep me reading. What the story lacks in action, it makes up for in emotion and a sense of Family passed down through generations. Normally, I tend to not like stories that span multiple generations because the character/time/generation changes can seem abrupt or some portions of the story can be left unresolved. I didn't feel that way about this book, except at the very end. I felt this book was a nice mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I would definitely read more by this author.

The cover art is fantastic!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Orbit Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I really enjoyed this story although I could see where the relationship was headed..... I liked the characters. I found this to be a compelling read, so much so that I was up until 3:00 am in order to finish it.

The story revolves around the fictional descendants of Bridget Bishop (a woman hung in Salem at the behest of her former lover in order to get rid of her & gain her assets)…

Harriet is an older craftswoman living in the Dakota. Annis is her distant younger cousin who is head-strong, unwilling to marry, & loves breeding horses. Frances is also a cousin, married to Annis's father (via black charms) and a social-climbing nasty woman, who is using Annis as bait for an English Lord in order to obtain a title with which to gain access to the 400.

When Annis is taken away against her will to England in order to marry a deeply in debt Lord, Harriet follows in order to save Annis & the Lord from the powerful spells put into play by Frances.... There a duel between good & evil (Harriet & Frances) for the life of Annis takes place.

Wow!½

First of all, the cover is very appealing and appropriate for the story. The language is easy to under unlike most of the historical fiction novels. Life during of the different sections of the society during the Gilded age in New York has been elegantly described in the novel.

The story is interesting and alluring, told through four different perspective- Harriet, Annis, Frances and James.
A witch named Bridget Bishop was hanged 200 years ago in Salem. Her two lines of legacy through her two daughters, have different motives.

Annis is a strong, vivacious and independent girl who has immense passion for horses against her family's interests and the social taboos. But, her stepmother, Frances, has other plans for her that she wouldn't like.

Frances has always lived in poverty until she met a affluent widower, George Allington. After getting him under her control through some dark magic, she marries him and lives a wealthy lifestyle. She only has one more desire- she wants to climb higher in the New York society, that is, she wants to become one of the four hundred most prosperous families. And acquiring a title in the family would make the difference she had wanted.

Harriet is dedicated to use her power for good purposes like healing. She also keeps an eye on her cousin and her great niece. On seeing that her cousin is up to no good, she arrives to rescue Annis, her great niece.

James's father, the old marquess, has just died leaving James the title and also, debts. The whole estate is in danger due to the debts. James must find a solution quickly or lose them all. To make matters worse, his mother thinks the best way to get out of the problem is by forcing James to marry money.

As all of their lives intervene, the story takes us through a rattling journey of love, power, ambition, feminism and most importantly magic.

I thank NetGalley and Little, Brown Publishing (Orbit Books) for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read and review this book.

P.S.- I would love a sequel of this book.

A Secret History of Witches -Morgan
Audio performance by Polly Lee
3.5 stars

This history begins with a Romany family in early 19th century Brittany and continues through four generations to the end of WW2 in England. With each generation the story centers on the one female family member who inherits magical ability along with the responsibility to pass on the rites and traditions of witchcraft. The need for secrecy in the face of violent discrimination insures that much is lost through the generations. The life of each witch is generally bleak and usually tragic. There’s generational repetition of mother-daughter conflict as the young witch comes into her talent in adolescence. It also seems that witches are fated to be unlucky in love, and in constant conflict with men who look to suppress their power.

There was some good writing in this book. The characters were interesting even when they were not very likable. The last young witch has the most redeeming personality, as she nurses returning soldiers. Unfortunately, her magical participation in the war effort was the least believable plot of the entire book. Overall, the book was a depressing saga of systemic discrimination against an unusual minority. It could have used an occasional spot of humor.½

The Age of Witches was a fast read. It was entertaining for the most part. Felt a bit unrealistic at times, but overall it was a good read. This novel didn't wow me but that's not to say I didn't like it. I finished this book in a day which says a lot about the writing style and story.
This is a story of the clash of wills and intentions of two witches and the repercussions of their actions. Annis falls victim to the scheming of her stepmother Frances, who's a witch, and Harriet, Annis's great aunt tries to save her and other innocent people from getting affected by Frances' manipulations. An interesting feminist story. I was a bit puzzled by the ending though. Is there a sequel to this book, is this part of a series? I am not sure.
I loved both Harriet's and Lady Eleanor's characters. But, I was sorely disappointed by the way men were characterized in the story. Weak, vain and vacuous, the men in the story had absolutely no substance. None of them were likable or unlikable they were just bland and mostly useless. They felt like distractions to the story and I was uncomfortable with that. It's not necessary that a woman can shine only if the men in her life are weak. There are thousands of stories where women have shone due to the silent and strong support of men in their family. I would have loved to see stronger and deeper male characters in the story.
Also, Velma's character was so unrealistic that I caught myself rolling my eyes multiple times. Maybe it's my cynical nature, but I found her naivety and innocence unrealistic.

Recommend this book if you want a quick witchy story and a throwback to the 19th-century life and the lives of the women in those times.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

Read my detailed review: https://rrkreads.com/the-age-of-witches-book-review/

Not good. Why did I keep reading this?½

I am, in a word, disappointed.

The book's description and title led me to believe this is a story about witches. Reasonable assumption, right? This is not at all a story about witches.

This is a story about a young woman and her aunt, living a secluded life right after WWII. These two women have occasional premonitions, which is their only "power." There is absolutely no witchcraft. We do have a lot of drama, a strange baby, hints at alien life, and government conspiracies.

The pacing is slow. We're given long passages from the past, meant to explain and lead into the present situation. At the one-third point, so little had happened that I was bored and skimming. By the halfway point, I was too bored to bother and I gave up.

If the title and description had better reflected the content, I probably wouldn't have read this book. At the very least, I'd have been prepared for a totally different type of story.

*I received a review copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine.*

This is a fascinating book that follows a century's worth of generations of witches through one family, their stories each compelling and intertwining nicely. It was a bold choice in the last section to assign the practice of witchcraft to Queen Elizabeth (the queen mum, not the sovereign), and I found myself a little uncomfortable at times in the ways in which the craft was used. I also wasn't sure the fear of discovery always seemed particularly genuine given the widespread interest in the occult through much the 19th century. I would like for that to have at least been addressed. But overall, an enjoyable read.

Wonderful book

I really enjoyed reading this book. I fell in love with the characters and didn't want to put the book down to go do something else.

This was a wonderful inspiring book that has strong female characters. I really enjoyed how it wove a sisterhood during a time when gender was a big issue, and the hard choices that is faced when trying to protect the people you love. It had just enough mystery and suspense to keep me going all the way to the end.