The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
This stirring tale of magic, family, and the suffragette movement takes place in the late 1800s, and it centres on three sisters who use witchcraft to alter the course of history.
Witchcraft does not exist in 1893. Before the burnings started, there were wild, dark days for witching, but these days all that remains of it are neat charms and children’s stories. The modern woman must use the voting booth to gain any kind of influence. Yet when the Eastwood sisters—James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna—join the New Salem suffragists, they start to look for the lost language and practices that can transform the women’s movement into the witch’s movement.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
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The sisters will need to dive into the ancient magics, forge new allies, and mend their relationship if they want to survive. They are being pursued by powers that will not allow a witch to vote—and possibly even live. There’s no such thing as witches. However, it will be. The Once and Future Witches reimagines tales of revolt, motherhood, and women’s suffrage—the lost ways are calling—as a tribute to the unstoppable strength and perseverance of women.
By the end, the family drama’s secrets are all revealed in their entirety. That only serves to demonstrate how seriously lacking in communication, lives can end up being destroyed. Bell, Agnes, and June are all byproducts of the neglect, cruelty, and pain they experienced as children. They must join the suffrage movement in order for them to at least find some common ground. A location where they both fight for the same cause, perhaps even to the point where forgiving one another can start.
This story, in my opinion, evolved into being more about how women are treated and how they finally rebel against the forces holding them back. Women are treated as property and have no voice at the time it takes place. The men set all the rules and treat the women brutally. The witch hunts and the first burnings in America were also happening during this period. Being a woman at this time was risky.
It also has to do with love. sisterly affection and maternal love. illegal romantic love. compassion towards other people. Another lesson in this story is that colour, gender, and sexual orientation are irrelevant if you sincerely love someone. The sisterhood that develops in the midst of this extremely perilous time marks the start of a new way of living and thinking. We are aware of the actual history of what happened to women and witches.
But, despite not having to live in the same conditions as our sisters, we nonetheless engage in some of the same conflicts. There are some who, if they had the power, would prevent us from exercising our right to vote. Women continue to be mistreated. Persons of color face discrimination and exclusion. There are still people who think that only heterosexual love is right. But, when we read the accounts of how the battle first started and how we got here, we can be inspired and given the strength to keep going. Even while the war continues, when we put aside our differences and work together for the greater good, tremendous things may be achieved.
