Healer and Witch
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
After eleven young-adult novels, best-selling and award-winning author Nancy Werlin casts a brilliant new spell in a middle-grade historical fantasy for fans of classic fare. Nancy Werlin’s first story for middle-grade readers tackles and transcends traditional fantasy tropes: can a young woman gifted with magic learn to manage her powers—and claim her strength—without violence? Sylvie and her mother and grandmother are beloved, trusted healers in their medieval French village, though some whisper that fifteen-year-old Sylvie and her grand-mere deal in more than herbs and medicines. Perhaps they’re a bit . . . witchy? After her grandmother dies, and an attempt to use magic to heal her mother’s grief brooks tragic consequences, Sylvie leaves her village in search of a teacher. The journey subjects her to strange alliances, powerful temptations, danger, and deceit. In the end, there may be only one wise woman Sylvie can trust in a world that would define her limits: herself. Beautifully crafted, this quietly powerful work for younger readers assures a whole new audience for an established author.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Werlin's (Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good) middle grade debut, an introspective historical fantasy set in 1531 France, 15-year-old Sylvie can see and manipulate thoughts and memories, but she has received no official training for the power, which, like that of her Grand-mère, is stronger than her Catholic family's usual gifts of healing. After inadvertently erasing some of her midwife mother's memories in attempting to ease her grief around the death of Grand-mère, Sylvie leaves her small town to seek out a mentor. Unexpectedly accompanied by eight-year-old farrier's son Martin, she sets forth across the richly described French countryside, keeping her power a secret from those who'd attack her for witchcraft as well as those who would exploit her. When she joins a caravan led by 24-year-old merchant Robert Chouinard, Sylvie develops a friendship with the mercurial, mysterious man, but even he may not be able to protect her from the dangers of her journey. Leisurely paced and told in an assured third-person voice, Werlin's gentle reflection on trauma and healing, the ethics of power, and seemingly dual natures explores Sylvie's place in the world and her relationship to those she cares for. Protagonists read as white. Ages 9–12.
