The Year of the Witching

Starred review from May 4, 2020
Henderson’s bewitching feminist fantasy debut draws readers into a world of harsh contrasts and dark magic. Immanuelle’s mother dies in childbirth, proclaiming, with her dying breath, that her baby is “a curse.” Now a teenager, Immanuelle can’t find her place in the rigid, puritanical society of Bethel as the mixed-race daughter of a woman remembered only for adultery, madness, and an association with witchcraft. The forbidden Darkwood on the outskirts of town whispers to Immanuelle, and when she finally gives in and wanders into its thickets, the spirits of the town’s murdered witches bequeath her with Miriam’s journal. As Immanuelle learns more about her mother’s history and her own connection to the Darkwood, a series of plagues befall Bethel. With her newfound magic, Immanuelle, the town’s shunned, blasphemous daughter, may be the only one with the power to stop them. Henderson offers a powerful portrait of patriarchal, racial, and religious abuses in Bethel society, conjuring a sense of creeping dread and maintaining the pacing throughout. This riveting work announces Henderson as an exciting new voice in dark fantasy. Agent: Brooks Sherman, Janklow & Nesbit.

June 1, 2020

DEBUT In Bethel, the Prophet's word is law; everyone submits to his strict rules and no one has seen the outside world. Immanuelle, an aberration and outsider living within the community, had a mother who fell in love with a man of a different race then disappeared into the forbidden woods. She returned to give Immanuelle birth before she died. Now on the cusp of adulthood, Immanuelle is drawn into the Darkwood herself, where she meets the spirits of the witches the Prophet violently preaches against. They give her a diary, written by her late mother, which opens Immanuelle's eyes to a wider world. This dystopian tale is filled with witchcraft, family secrets, and folk horror elements that address themes of racial and sexual inequality head on. Immanuelle's coming of age will keep readers glued to the page, wondering if she has the strength and power to save her community from itself. VERDICT An exciting debut with the potential to appeal to a wide range of readers and fans of titles as varied as Jennie Melamed's Gather the Daughters, Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and Scott Hawkins's The Library at Mount Char. It also joins a recent trend of witch-themed titles like the short story anthology Hex Life, edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2020
In the strict theocracy of Bethel, the Father and the Mother are the supreme beings. The Prophet, who has absolute power, is the spokesman for the Father, and people follow him out of a combination of fear and piety. The Mother is a dark creature that spawned the four original witches, and though followers of both the Mother and the Father can have magic abilities, those that follow the Mother can be burned if they are perceived as evil. Immanuelle Moore's mother was unwed when she was born, making her an outsider in this society of extremes. Because of her grandparents' frailty, she is the family's main provider, and she does her best to follow society's rules. But after an unintentional detour into the heart of the Darkwood, the domain of the Mother and her four followers, Immanuelle cannot shake the belief that the strange events affecting Bethel are her fault. With the help of the Prophet's son and heir, Immanuelle tries to prevent the progression of the plagues. The more Immanuelle works against the darkness, the more she draws the jealous attention of the Prophet. Horror meets fantasy in this witchy story that will appeal to readers of The Handmaid's Tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)