She needs her help to seek revenge against the man who wronged her, and together they pursue him north. I think the big topics were given due respect and breathing room for the most part, although of course that feels like a very personal rubric. The realness of all these elements, in conjunction with the magical atmosphere of the setting and prose, made Lux’s story hit home all the harder.

But the one that I felt in my bones every time when she said; ‘If the owl is screeching under your window it means somebody is going to die. What I enjoyed the most is how each chapter had a different title (the first part at least) and the title defined Lux (Maiden, Poisoner, Wolf etc) and showed the different roles and labels women can be categorised into. The plot was so compelling, the pacing perfect, it just flowed beautifully, exactly what I’d expect from Kirsty Logan and her skilful writing. The synopsis of the story is fairly straightforward -- Luz, a young woman, thrown from a monastery she never chose to go to, is chased out of her hometown by odious townsfolk accusing her of witchcraft. In rich and immersive prose Kirsty Logan conjures a world of violence and beauty in which women grasp at power through witchcraft and poisons, through sexuality and childbearing, through performance and pretence, and most of all through throwing other women to the wolves.Else wants Lux’s help in getting some good old-fashioned revenge and Lux, who has her mind fixed on travelling north to a land where freedom reigns and witches thrive, teams up with her. It was either no full stops, lots of amphersands and inconsistent capitalisation or a sort of dreamlike prose which kept me at arms length. The chapters were perfect length-wise for me; someone who always checks where the end is when I start to read a new chapter. the stream of consciousness parts felt super random and were incredibly hard to read so i had to skip them completely. I did not connect with the characters, and I found the plot both a bit too drawn out and quite repetitive in places.

I was really interested the the idea of reading a ‘feminist witch’ book but this book didn’t live up to my expectations. Irgendwo zwischen magischem Realismus, historischem Roman, literary fiction und ein klitzekleines bisschen Fantasy. It was equal parts haunting, whimsical and lyrical prose as it was dark, sensual and full of feminine rage. But, on the off chance you have no clue what I’m rattling on about, all I can say is, read this book to find out.

Any who assume agency are swiftly denounced and brutally dealt with: those labelled witches are tied to poles in the sea and left to slowly drown; others guilty of lesser offences (talking too much, too loudly or indeed at all) are paraded around in scold’s bridles, torture devices deployed to humiliate. Its pacing, its structure and its internally consistent motifs (Earthliness, light vs dark and the culmination of events at an equinox, the different “roles” a woman plays e. In the harsh world of Now She Is Witch, which would seem to be some version of medieval Europe, most girls and women are possessions for men either to harm or play with. The story tells of Lux, alone and suspected of witchcraft after her mother’s death, when she meets the mysterious Else, who may or may not be a real witch.

It’s a moment of grace and vindication, one that Logan lets the long-suffering Lux experience utterly, triumphantly alone. Throughout the book, people retell their stories back to them, twisting them so the women become the villains, seductresses, witches. It’s a kind of revenge plot, but being female in a male dominated time highlights the power and powerlessness of women at this time. On every level, from the poetry of the prose to Lux’s courage and sheer canny-ness, it’s absolutely essential reading. But when I say every cell in my body was shivering, shrieking and went into a max frenzy just like Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic when I heard the owl, That Owl, under my window I’m not even exaggerating.

It throws you in at the deep end and slowly unravels a story around you -- whilst simultaneously weaving a tapestry of imagery and very modern observation that really draws the imagination in. The few cases in which midwives were accused of witchcraft, their jobs as midwives were often coincidental. I HATE the myth of the female herbalist/midwife/abortionist who only tried to help the poor villagers and then gets murdered because men hate women with agency. The reason for a reading slump or a more serious writing block is the inner blockage that I can’t pump out of my system. But what I really love here is Kirsty’s vivid and folkloric imagination - I’ll never get tired of it!