Witchy Things

I scored a 'skip-the-line' copy of 'The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches' (2022) by Sangu Mandanna. It was such an enjoyable little read. 

Thirty-one year old witch Mika Moon lives in Britain; she hides her magic in order not to draw attention to herself or any other witches. There's a small coven with a powerful senior witch named Primrose heading it, but they don't meet often, and their numbers haven't increased by many over the years. Apparently some witches decline to join this coven.

Mika is an orphan and is used to being alone; she lies low and doesn't mingle with other witches. But she has an online account that posts about witchy-witch things and pretending to be a witch because she thinks nobody will take it seriously. 

Except that one day, someone does. She is invited to Nowhere House to teach three young witches to control their magic. A mish-mash of characters live in the House owned by the mysterious Lillian Nowhere who's an archeologists, travels often and don't live there much. The young witches are the adopted wards of Lillian, and aren't blood sisters — ten-year-old Rosetta, eight-year-old Terracotta, and seven-year-old Altamira. There are the adults — groundskeeper Ken and retired actor Ian who look after the children, along with handsome librarian Jamie and housekeeper Lucie. Then suddenly, she 'belongs' to a found family, unconventional and endearing.

"That's very considerate of you," Mika remarked, wondering if the rest of the household knew that there was a tiny psychopath in their midst.

Before the conversation cold go any further, the sandpapery voice of Jamie, the librarian, interrupted them. "Cool outfit," he said, sounding amused. He tugged on the end of Terracotta's ponytail and Mika watched in fascination as the unnervingly intense expression on the child's face transformed instantly into a childish scowl.

"Jamie!" she complained, tilting her head back to glower up at him. "You're running it!"

"Ruining what? Your diabolical plot to scare the new tutor away, thereby saving you the trouble of having to murder her?"

Terracotta shot Jamie a betrayed, outraged look. "I told you," she hissed, making no effort to keep her voice down, "I don't want her here!"

Of course we have the classic danger and threat to this odd family in the form of wily solicitor Edward Foxhaven and the 'natural' death of Lillian Nowhere. But the danger is never that sinister. It feels like a fairytale of sorts. And the unexpected revelation that Lillian's twin sister is Peony, a.k.a Primrose. 

Mika Moon had to decide whether she wants to use her powers to protect the children and the House, and in doing so, carving out a real family, as well as uniting her coven of witches, and offering them another option of friendship and support instead of doing life alone. It's a happy ending. Heh.