The Age of Witches

Harriet Bishop, descended from a long line of witches, uses magic to help women in need -- not only ordinary women, but also those with powers of their own. She must intervene when a distant cousin wields dangerous magic to change the lives of two unsuspecting young people... one of whom might just be a witch herself.

Frances Allington has used her wiles and witchcraft to claw her way out of poverty and into a spectacular marriage with one of New York's wealthiest new tycoons. She is determined to secure the Allingtons' position amongst the city's elite Four Hundred families by any means necessary -- including a scheme to make a glorious aristocratic match for her headstrong and reluctant step-daughter, Annis, using the same strange power with which she ensnared Annis's father.
To save Annis from this dark magic, Harriet reveals to her Frances' misuse of their shared birthright and kindles in Annis her own nascent powers. Together, Harriet and Annis must resist her stepmother's agenda, lest she -- and the dashing young lord she suspects she could come to love -- lose their freedom, and possibly their lives.

Title: The Age of Witches

Author: Louisa Morgan

Genre: Historical Fiction / Paranormal

Hardcover:  448 pages

Publication Date: 04/07/2020

Publisher: Redhook

Language: English

ISBN: 0316419516

ISBN-13: 9780316419512

My Review

The Age of Witches, a story sweet and gentle, not what I expected.

Blame the bloodthirsty/goth short story collections I read before this title, but I expected a bang with this book. As one of my more anticipated novels this year, it let me down gently, only to envelop me with its tendrils (or witchcraft) to fall for the warmhearted plot.

With that said, the main character in the novel, young Annis, is anything but easy pickings. It's the year 1890 in NY, and the 17-year-old Annis lives with her wealthy father and new stepmother Frances Allington, who thinks she should be spending more time in high society than in the barn or riding horses. To rectify that situation, she persuades her husband to take Annis overseas to England by ship to find a suitable man for her.

Harriet Bishop, the great aunt of Annis is a herbologist and witch. She knows exactly what Frances is really up to, like using incantations and spells that will enchant a suitor to fall for Annis and using her abilities to meddle with any upcoming situation of a possible match. What matters to Frances are money and status.

Annis meets a young man indeed and he too loves horses. However, more than indulging in his time for short outings is as far as he will get with her. That is until Frances puts a spell on them both and it all goes topsy-turvy from there.

Harriet will try to intervene and ousts herself to Annis. An instant bond connects the two and together they forge a plan to stir against Frances's endeavors.

Will they succeed and stop her from casting her bewitching incantations?

That is to be found out when reading The Age of Witches.

***

Again, much gentler of a novel than I thought it would be. There wasn't a huge amount of witchcraft in all and it felt a bit like a historical romance overall. I enjoyed the characters and the writing, very atmospheric.

Sometime earlier this year, I saw a video that the author had posted to introduce the novel...it was when the pandemic hit I believe and I knew that I would like her writing and passion for the subject.

If you are a historical fiction fan and this novel shows up in your path, read it and enjoy. I will definitely pick up one of her other novels too.

I would like to thank my pal Traveling Cloak for sending me his copy after reading it. You are the bestest!