From the trio of witches who haunt Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy Macbeth, to the falsely accused women of Arthur Miller’s Salem in The Crucible, there are countless literary spell-weavers who have captured our imaginations over the centuries.
Despite their fantastical representation, witches are very real individuals who have existed throughout history. Whether or not they were truly capable of manipulating the elements, casting curses and levitating on broomsticks, however, remains up for debate.
Storytellers throughout the centuries have latched onto the persecution of witches for a myriad of reasons. In the past, authors may have used the figures in order to represent the dangers associated with female empowerment and sexuality. Others have utilised the hunting and burning of witches in an effort to draw pathos from their persecution.
As such, witches are often employed as figures which represent deeper forms of societal injustice, whether it be the suffocating power of the patriarchy or class inequality.
On a far more simplistic, fantasy-loving level, covens of witches represent an awe-inspiring power collective who exist on a higher metaphysical plane. They are able to dance with the elements and talk to the trees. They are at once defiant women who symbolise feminist power, and mystical entities who exist beyond their physical form.
Witches are in cahoots with Mother Nature. They have a holistic knowledge of the elements which results in their ability to manipulate everything from the weather to the tides. They are the keepers of expansive alchemical knowledge bound within countless grimoires. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by this distinctly feminine power?
The popularity of Witch-Lit has skyrocketed in recent years alongside the re-emergence of contemporary fantasy yarns. From novels which feature powerful female protagonists on the verge of universe-shifting discovery, to non-fiction tales of sorceresses throughout history, keep scrolling for the best spell-binding books about witches and witchcraft on the market right now.
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A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
A fantasy novel written with romantics and dark academia enthusiasts in mind, A Discovery of Witches is about a centuries-old vampire, a reluctant witch and a mysterious alchemical manuscript hidden in the depths of Oxford’s Bodleian library. An object desperate to be discovered, Diana Bishop unwittingly comes across the ancient, bewitched text during the course of her research – and it changes her existence forever.
Buy now £8.22, Amazon
Weyward by Emilia Hart
An interwoven narrative which follows the journeys of three intrepid young women over five centuries, Emilia Hart’s best-selling Weyward is a spell-binding tale of power and survival in the face of deadly patriarchal structures. Who says that spellbinding tales of witchcraft are limited to cosy winter evenings? We’re taking this thrilling novel straight to the English countryside this summer, where we can read of protagonist Kate’s fleeing to her inherited Cumbrian cottage in peace.
Buy now £4.99, Amazon
The Ruin of all Witches: Life and Death in the New World, Malcom Gaskill
The Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 have been the object of fascination for history buffs for decades, if not centuries. Whether reimagined in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to illustrate the horrors of the McCarthyism in America or reflected in popular culture to emphasise the demonisation of self-sufficient women, the plight of the women accused of devil worship back in 17th century New England is deeply intriguing for so many reasons.
Gaskill’s novel takes us through the history of the witch trials through an anthropological, sociological, political and theological lens. He tells the stories of lives entangled in heresy, fear, jealousy and desire by bringing attention to previously neglected source materials in what has become a simply unforgettable retelling. Not to mention it was also shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2022.
If you’ve just binged Netflix’s Wednesday and want to know more about the time of Goody Addams, you’ll want to grab a copy of Gaskill’s book.
Buy now £10.99, Amazon
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight
Deliciously twisted, many readers have a love-hate relationship with Dinerstein Knight’s poison-coated novel due to its satirically pretentious narrative style. A cult-favourite nonetheless, the story follows Nell Barber – an expelled PhD candidate in biological sciences who becomes irrevocably obsessed with her mentor, Dr. Joan Kallas.
A treatise on the danger of infatuation and the all-consuming nature of illicit relationships, Hex is a witchy, queer fantasy romance whose narrative reflects the thesis of our protagonist – can one truly toe the line between poison and antidote without succumbing to its destructive effects?
Buy now £7.25, Amazon
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
A young intern arrives in New York City in the hopes of spending her summer working at the infamous Metropolitan Museum of Art, all the while escaping her dark past. However, Ann Stilwell is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art.
Before she can even blink, Ann is drawn into the interwoven web of a few enigmatic researchers who share their outlandish theories. The curator of the museum, Patrick Roland, is convinced that tarot has the very real ability to predict the future – but when Ann discovers an ancient deck integral to his theory, she finds herself in a dangerous position. Filled with high-academic passages about the history of art, Hays’ novel is for dark academia enthusiasts looking for a narrative which is 50 per cent fantasy, and 50 per cent high academics.
Buy now £4.50, Amazon
In Defence of Witches: Why women are still on trial by Mona Chollet
Swiss Journalist and author Mona Chollet traces the history of witches in order to reveal their distinct feminist power in this brilliant piece of non-fiction. Chollet navigates the persecution of witches through three common archetypes: the independent woman, the childless woman and the woman who embraces ageing. The author draws comparisons to the ways in which women continue to suffer injustice at the hands of the patriarchy today, especially in healthcare.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Hargrave’s adult debut takes a real-life witch trial as inspiration to weave this fantastical yarn of female independence within a tight-knit, seventeenth-century island community. After a deadly storm wipes out the men of the Norwegian island of Vardo, the women are left to fend for themselves. Just over a year later, a priest-like figure named Absalom Cornet arrives on the island to take control.
Buy now £9.99, Waterstones
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
This panoramic, Gothic novel spans centuries with eerily shifting narratives which come together to reveal the truth behind a horrifying mystery. The story begins when two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one of the sisters is discovered – but she’s the same age as when she disappeared.
Buy now £9.99, Waterstones
The Familiars by Stacey Halls
A desperate, seventeen-year-old heir to Lancashire’s Gawthorpe Hall finds herself drawn into the swirling accusations of witchcraft which are plaguing the north-west of England. When Fleetwood Shuttleworth discovers she is pregnant for the fourth time, she is determined not to deliver another stillbirth and to survive her potentially deadly condition.
A young midwife named Alice Gray promises to help. Before they can stop it, the two women’s intrinsically interwoven lives are put at stake.
Buy now £8.99, Waterstones
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
A reimagining of the legend of Baba Yaga, The Witch and the Tsar is the story of forest-dwelling healer Yaga who has existed alone for centuries. But when the wife of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, Tasrista Anastasia, arrives death-stricken at Yaga’s cottage, the two women embark on a tumultuous journey to Moscow.
Buy now £16.99, Waterstones
The Maiden by Kate Foster
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, Kate Foster’s The Maiden details the deadly downward spiral of the privileged, newly married paragon of respectability, Lady Christian. By October 1679, our protagonist is arrested and charged with the murder of her illicit lover James Forrester. What could have possibly gone wrong? Inspired by history and imbues with a feminist revisionist edge, Foster’s riveting novel is a must-read.
Buy now £8.49, Amazon
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Set within a world where select humans are capable of skills which vary from the ability to manipulate matter, control the desires of others, and communicate telepathically, The Atlas Six is the story of six of these magic-wielding beings who are invited to compete for membership in the highly secretive Alexandrian Society.
Led by the enigmatic Atlas Blakely, the Alexandrian Society are magic-wielding custodians of lost knowledge from ancient civilisations. Over the course of a year, our six protagonists must practice and innovate their supernatural abilities from within the hallowed halls of the society’s London-based headquarters. The winner is invited into the mystical fold of the supernatural society, while the losers may not survive at all.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon
