The Witches of Bellinas
A Novel
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
A dreamy California Gothic about a woman who moves to the mysterious town of Bellinas to save her marriage, only to be swept up in a hedonistic cult that isn’t what it seems
Tansy and her husband Guy are the newest arrivals in Bellinas, a lush oasis tucked into the coast of northern California where a reclusive, creative community is beginning to take shape. Helmed by Guy’s cousin Mia, a famous model -turned -wellness -luminary, and her tech mogul husband, the group renounces the outside world in pursuit of purity, fashioning their own rules about what to eat and how to live.
Everything seems perfect in Bellinas: food is abundant, flowers are always in bloom, and nearby wildfires leave the town remarkably unscathed. While Guy is happy in their new lives, Tansy becomes more and more suspicious of the community and increasingly desperate to save her already-fragile marriage. And as lonely women have throughout the ages, she wants to believe in what may only be a beautiful lie.
The Witches of Bellinas unfolds as a confession from Tansy, filled with anguish over the life, and sense of self, she’s surrendered in her desperation to belong. In J. Nicole Jones’s clever reimagining of cult power and groupthink, the question isn’t why join, but rather, what happens when you understand the danger, but can’t conceive of a way out?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jones (Low Country: A Memoir) conjures a Northern California cult in her beautiful and eerie debut novel. The story takes the form of a written statement by Constance "Tansy" Black, who's locked herself into a schoolhouse in the unincorporated coastal village of Bellinas to document how her husband, Guy, came to die there not long after the couple arrived from New York City. Her account begins with Guy announcing he'd finally like to have a child, Tansy's greatest wish, while on a visit to Bellinas in June, and talking her into staying there with him at his cousin Mia's guest house. When the couple return the following month, they're welcomed warmly by Mia's wellness influencer husband, Manny, and initiated as members of his "high-vibe" Bohemian Club. The next morning, Tansy can't remember what happened at the ceremony. It turns out life in Bellinas is far from idyllic: Mia warns Tansy not to go into the forest alone; her relationship with Guy becomes strained after he reneges on their plans to have children; and she feels taunted by the strong nightly winds that cause her to have insomnia and nausea. By late August, while on a drive outside town, Tansy remembers that Manny raped her during the initiation. Back in Bellinas, she discovers that Mia and the other women are witches who can manipulate the wind. Jones's lyrical yet ominous prose affects a bewitching vibe of its own ("Don't believe those who say that the fog is just fog... that the thunderheads worn by nearby mountain peaks are merely weather"). Readers will find this haunting tale is tough to shake.
