Books by and for independent women

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

If you’re looking to place bets on the bestselling book of the year, pay attention: come December, A Discovery of Witches will inevitably top any number of end-of-year lists.

It’s the debut novel from Deborah Harkness, a multi-tasking wonder woman with a long list of prizes and other academic accomplishments earned in her guises as a historian of science, scholar and author of several non-fiction books.

The first book in the All Souls trilogy, pre-publication buzz about A Discovery of Witches abounds: Headline fought off five other publishers for it, and translation rights have already been sold in over thirty countries.

As publishers all around the world compete to find the next millionaire-making magical series in the wake of Twilight and Harry Potter, A Discovery of Witches seems to be being marketed with that in mind; the gothic black and red cover is remarkably similar to Stephanie Meyer’s series of vampire novels.

A complex and intricate interweaving of romance, magic, folklore, science and history, A Discovery of Witches is told by Diana Bishop, a historian at Oxford. Despite coming from a long line of powerful witches, she is determined to ignore her own innate magical powers.

But then she accidentally finds and breaks the spell on an enchanted alchemical manuscript that has been missing over a century, setting off a chain reaction. Daemons, witches and vampires start showing up around campus, with each faction determined to find out how she did it and get their grubby mitts on the coveted missing manuscript.

Enter Matthew de Clairmont. As seductive vampires go, he won’t give Poppy Z. Brite’s Zillah any sleepless nights, coming across much more dignified, protective and old-fashioned than you might expect from a short-tempered predator with a thirst for blood.

Sensing the danger Diana is in, he spirits her away to his family home in France. From there, their adventures together include defying ancient magical folklore forbidding cross-species fornication, torture in the oubliette of an abandoned castle, questions about family and identity, and sinister brotherhoods and congregations which control far more than our heroine suspects.

At almost 600 pages, A Discovery of Witches is a testament to Deborah Harkness’ meticulous research and rich imagination. But although her skill at scene-setting and building tension cannot be denied, it does make the first half of the book frustratingly slow.

The switch between the first person narrative to the scenes recounted from Matthew’s point-of-view were awkward and unconvincing, but thankfully few and far between, and at times the text suffered from tedious and unnecessary over-description of Diana’s every move (making toast, tying her hair into a ponytail, deciding what to wear for yoga, all activities which are as thrilling as they sound).

Once the pace speeds up, it soon gets engrossing, and the evolution of Diana and Matthew’s characters is skilfully drawn as Diana progresses from fearing and repressing her magical powers to attempting to understand and harness them.

But the problems with pacing continue, and towards the end the introduction of an assortment of new characters, several action-packed scenes and then an abrupt cliffhanger felt rushed and confusing. Despite those drawbacks, though, for fans of escapism and epic romances, this will sell by the shelf, and a film adaptation can’t be far behind.

A Discovery of Witches is published today by Headline. Buy the hardback from Amazon for £6.99, or get the Kindle edition for £7.99.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended for: Librarians, Anglophiles and armchair historians with a weakness for folklore, fierce women (Matthew’s mother Ysabeau is a definite highlight) and brooding vampires with an encyclopaedic knowledge of wine.

Other recommended reading: For another epic magical fantasy with a historical flavour (plus perving opportunities aplenty over ‘Batman in britches’ Jonathan Strange), indulge in Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Or for more be-fanged bloodsuckers, try our top three vampire novels.

Jane Bradley