Content levels
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE “The Witch is Marie NDiaye at her most dazzling. In this simple, startlingly powerful novel, NDiaye lays out her central themes: familial secrets, power, shame, and liberation. NDiaye is one of the greats—her novels are mesmerizing, wholly singular, completely unforgettable.”—Katie Kitamura, author of Audition In a small French town, a mediocre witch trapped in a cruel marriage cries watery tears of blood as she passes on her gifts to her twin daughters, who soon must make a choice: stay close to the nest and the mother who nourished them, or soar away from the dead-end claustrophobia their selfish father has imposed? Lucie comes from a long line of witches, with powers passed down from mother to daughter. Many of them have hidden or repressed their gifts to appease disgusted or fearful men. But against the wishes of her controlling husband, Lucie initiates her twins into their family’s peculiar womanhood when they reach the age of twelve. In a few short months, Maud and Lise are crying rich crimson tears, their powers quickly becoming more potent than their mother’s, opening them to liberation and euphoria beyond what Lucie and her foremothers ever considered. Equal parts dreamlike and disquieting, The Witch tells a tale as old as time, with a dark twist: Without looking back, children fly the nest, laying bare the tenuous threads of family that have long threatened to snap. With simmering tension and increasing panic, NDiaye’s latest novel in English captures the terror and precarity of motherhood and marriage, and the uncertainty of slowly realizing that your progeny are more dangerous—to the world and to your heart—and freer than you ever could have dreamed.
Is The Witch appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This literary fantasy explores themes of domestic control, maternal sacrifice, and female empowerment through a witch family's story. Contains disturbing imagery (crying blood tears) and emotional abuse within a marriage, but minimal violence or sexual content.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include domestic violence, emotional abuse, and control (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens interested in dark fairy tale retellings and stories about breaking free from family expectations will find this atmospheric and thought-provoking.