Infinite Books

The latest novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a dark, atmospheric horror/mystery, consisting of three clearly defined storylines. Minerva, a young Mexican woman, is a student at a New England college, writing her thesis. It’s 1998, and strange things happen. She often feels a sense of foreboding, as if she has been watched. At one point, she is almost crushed to death by a sliding bookshelf at the library. Regardless, Minerva is determined to conduct thorough research for her thesis about a forgotten writer, Beatrice Tremblay. She is delighted to find a connection: Beatrice Tremblay attended the same college, and her friend at the time was Carolyn Yates, a wealthy woman who now lives in a nearby mansion and owns the entire collection of Beatrice Tremblay’s letters and notes.

In the second storyline, we follow Beatrice Tremblay, whose first-person narrative describes the terrifying experience of having her close friend Ginny disappear. The third storyline takes place in 1908, in rural Hidalgo, where Alba lives on a farm, dreaming of a better life, as represented by her handsome and charismatic uncle, Arturo. However, unexplained accidents occur after Arturo’s arrival, and Alba is afraid that she has been bewitched or is about to be charmed by a powerful creature.

I enjoyed reading “The Bewitching” very much. Each of the three women, Minerva, Beatrice, and Alba, is skillfully described, and we can relate to them very well. There is a feeling of something lurking in the dark, and that hidden creature is not someone whom our protagonists may easily overcome with suddenly discovered powers of their own. Witches and warlocks are out there looking for blood.

Minerva’s great-grandmother, Alba, says,” Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches.” Minerva concludes that these words are still relevant, and the witches are not extinct. She will have to gather the same courage as Alba did to fight for her life.

THE BEWITCHING, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey,2025