The Bewitching

I enjoy reading about the occult in contrasting times in history. If someone came up to a modern person and said there was a witch in the woods stealing children, they would raise an eyebrow and swiftly walk in the opposite direction. A couple of hundred years earlier around the same woods the reaction would have been quite different, perhaps you would have believed, and the children saved? The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia explores witchcraft through the eyes of three woman in three different time periods, and although their tales may have similarities, their actions differ. 

Alba lives on a farm with her mother and her siblings, life is good, if a little dull. The most exciting thing to happen is when her uncle from the city arrives. But dull is good, when excitement comes in the form of animals becoming ill and people going missing. Is the farm cursed? Almost 100 years later Alba’s great-granddaughter Minerva is a post-Grad studying the works of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure horror writer. Her research into Tremblay reminds her of what her great-grandmother taught her. Was Beatrice involved with a curse and is Minerva? 

I have enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's work since the early days, as this is a writer with a fantastic ability to create characters and draw the reader in. This is across genres, Moreno-Garcia weaves characters from nothing in only a few pages. In terms of this The Bewitching is her best work yet, we do not get just one developed and strong female protagonist, but three; Alba, Minerva, and through her words, Beatrice. Three different woman whose lives are linked across time. 

What makes this even more impressive is how the author evokes a sense of time and place that each character lives in; 1908 Mexico, 1934 and 1998 Massachusetts, each is distinct. Layered on top, we have what I consider an author flexing their skills wonderfully. Alba and Minerva’s tales are told from a traditional third person perspective, but Beatrice tells her story through a story that Minerva is reading. The style of author Moreno-Garcia and author Tremblay are subtly different. Moreno-Garcia has always been able to adapt to different styles and genres, but in this book the author adapts her own style within the same book – impressive. 

Technical writing aside (and I do think that Moreno-Garcia is one of the best genre authors currently writing) the tale itself is a wonderfully twisty and slow burn. It is supernatural and occult, rather than full horror. The uneasiness is allowed to build across timelines. Three apparent separate stories become drawn together. There is no science fiction link between time, but an invisible bond of fate that draws these three woman’s tales together. 

I would consider Moreno-Garcia at this point a master of their craft weaving characters and tales that draw the reader in. A purple patch that has been ongoing for some time now, The Bewitching is a story for those that like supernatural tales with strong female characters. It feels like both classic gothic and modern supernatural horror.