What We Sacrifice for Magic
A Novel
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and The Lager Queen of Minnesota: a coming-of-age novel following three generations of witches in the 1960s, this enchanting and heartwarming debut explores the importance of family and the delight and heartbreak of discovering who you truly are.
It’s 1968, and the Watry-Ridder family is feared and respected in equal measure. The local farmers seek out their water charms, and the teenagers, their love spells. The family’s charms and spells, passed down through generations of witches descending from the Black Forest, have long served the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota.
Eldest daughter Elisabeth has just graduated high school—she is expected to hone her supernatural abilities to take over for her grandmother, the indomitable Magda. She’s also expected to marry her high school sweetheart and live the rest of her life in Friedrich. But all she can ask is, why her? Why is her path set in stone, and what else might be out there for her?
She soon discovers that magic isn’t the only thing inherited in her family. That magic also comes with a great price—and a big family secret. The more she digs, the more questions she has, and the less she trusts the grandmother she thought she knew. Who is Elisabeth without her family? She must ultimately decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for her family, for their secrets and their magic, or risk it all to pave her own way.
Navigating the bittersweet tension between self-discovery and living up to familial expectations, What We Sacrifice for Magic is a touching look at coming into one’s own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this homespun debut, set in 1960s Minnesota, DeWerd serves up a hefty portion of comfort food and witchcraft. Eighteen-year-old Elisabeth Watry-Ridder longs to escape from her dysfunctional family, the insular immigrant community she's grown up in, and the boy she dated through high school, but a spell cast by her grandmother Magda has locked half her heart in the family's mysterious cedar chest. Magda has been tutoring her protégé in the dark arts since childhood and demands Elisabeth continue the family tradition of witchcraft, insisting that neither Elisabeth's younger sister, Mary, nor her mother are gifted enough to do the job. Elisabeth starts to question this when she learns about a falling out between Magda and her mother that happened when Elisabeth was still a baby and witnesses Mary magically shield her paternal grandparents from a road mishap. Will Elisabeth be able to break away from her family—and if she does, will she be able to live without their magic? Though the plot slows to a snail's pace as Elisabeth dithers over what to do with her life and how to free herself from Magda's spell, there's enough summer sausage, seances, and '60s scene-setting to charm even the least nostalgic of readers. DeWerd should certainly win some fans.
Customer Reviews
A treat
Loved it! Wonderfully done