A SECRET HISTORY OF WITCHES.

A SECRET HISTORY OF WITCHES by LOUISA MORGAN.

It's true, ma petite. If they know - if they discover what we are - they will try to kill us'

Brittany, 1821. After Grand-mere Ursule gives her life to save her family, their magic seems to die with her. Even so, the Orchires fight to keep the old ways alive, practicing half-remembered spells and arcane rites in hopes of a revival.

With each new generation, the struggle continues - and when World war II looms, magic is needed more urgently than ever. Not for simple potions or visions, but to change the entire course of history.

- Back Cover Blurb

 The layered clouds, gray as cold charcoal, shifted this way and that, mirroring the waves below.

- First Sentence; 1821

"Because men believe it's their right to tell women how to live. They tell us who to marry, what to wear, when to go out and when to stay. Some men beat their wives, and no one speaks a word about it. But despite all the power they hold over us, they are powerless against our kind. We resist. We cause things to happen. We interfere with their plans, with what they think is the natural order. That frightens them. Men hate being afraid, so they hate us instead."

- Memorable Moment; Page 127

    

SOURCE ... A book token buy.

READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.

MY THOUGHTS ... 'Tracy you HAVE to read this.'

Seemingly the 'best thing since sliced bread', I've actually lost count of the number of people (some of them people who have not picked up a book for 'as long as they can remember') who have urged me to read this. 

A casualty of its own success?  With so many raving about it its hardly any wonder that I was left feeling, well, a tad disappointed.

Don't get me wrong (rated 3 stars on GoodReads) I liked the book well enough (I'd even go as far as to say I really enjoyed part one, The Book Of Nanette) but I had expected to find it amazing ... and then some.

Featuring several generations of women, all of them the off-spring of Grand-mère Ursule, The History Of Witches chronicles the struggles that each woman has as they in turn come to terms with the realisation that they are one in a long line of witches.

Essentially left feeling altogether a bit meh! about what to me could have been an exceptional story. Starting out really strongly with The Book Of Nanette I could initially see why people were raving about this novel and then ...

The five Orchiére women given their own dedicated 'book' in which to tell their story; stories that became ever more similar to the point that they became not only repetitive but predictable, the message that men were fearful creatures (that fear leading them to hate these 'powerful' women) loud and clear and becoming increasingly exasperating as its repeated time and time again, the plot increasingly ... increasingly what?  ... ludicrous(?) with what I can only describe as a surreal twist involving a senior member of the British monarchy and as for the ending? Well, lets just leave it at that, no doubt with a second book in mind, I found the ending to this one rather unsatisfying.

Perhaps in hindsight too generation with my original rating. Thinking about it ...

Grand-mère Ursule (and maybe Nanette to a certain extent) aside, these weren't the good strong female characters of which I'm so fond. They weren't even generally speaking convincing witches; (Veronica aside) often using their gift to some dubious end. Alas, whether 2 stars ('it was OK') or 3 ('I liked it'), this isn't one that I'll personally be shouting about from the roof tops.