Review of The Bewitching

Blurb: “Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

Review: Minerva is studying a lesser known horror writer named Beatrice Tremblay and is researching the real disappearance her book is based upon. Yet this ghost story is turning out to be more real than fiction. Minerva remembers stories about witches her Nana Alba told her. As Minerva continues her research, strange things start to happen, and she begins to believe that whatever happened to the missing girl decades ago is now happening to her, but will she survive the witch's curse or end up another footnote in history?

This is a wonderfully written gothic horror story. It takes place in three different time periods. The first is in 1908 when Alba (Minerva's great-grandmother) is a young woman in Mexico City. Ill luck befalls her family, and an unknown force hunts her. It gives a peek into a century old culture that I rarely see. The second time period is 1938 in Massachusetts at the same college Minerva is currently attending. It's from the writings of Beatrice concerning her flamboyant roommate, Virginia. Virginia is into spiritualism and has true psychic talent, but that just makes her a prime target for the witch. The third time period is 1998 with Minerva at her small college. Minerva is very much an introvert and dedicated to her work. She's also a realist, which makes believing in all the witchy stuff difficult.

All three eras tie in nicely together, and it starts off slowly. The creepiness dials up and snags the reader in the heroines' plights. It's a traditional witch tale with hexes, witch marks, and superstitions. It was easy to discern who the villains were, but it didn't deter me from enjoying the thrill of the tale. A wonderful read for spooky season.

You can find Silvia Moreno-Garcia on her site and buy the book here.