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WesternSFA


The Orphan Witch
by Paige Crutcher
St Martin's Press, $16.99, 352pp
Published: September 2021

Persephone May has been alone her entire life. Abandoned as an infant and dragged through the foster care system, she wants nothing more than to belong somewhere. To someone. However, Persephone is as strange as she is lonely. Unexplainable things happen when she’s around—changes in weather, inanimate objects taking flight—and those who seek to bring her into their family quickly cast her out. To cope, she never gets attached, never makes friends. And she certainly never dates. Working odd jobs and always keeping her suitcases half-packed, Persephone is used to moving around, leaving one town for another when curiosity over her eccentric behavior inevitably draws unwanted attention.

After an accidental and very public display of power, Persephone knows it’s time to move on once again. It’s lucky, then, when she receives an email from the one friend she’s managed to keep, inviting her to the elusive Wile Isle. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. However, upon arrival, Persephone quickly discovers that Wile is no ordinary island. In fact, it just might hold the very things she’s been searching for her entire life.

Answers. Family. Home.

And some things she did not want. Like 100-year-old curses and an even older family feud. With the clock running out, love might be the magic that saves them all.

Persephone May has had a hard life, shunted from foster home to foster home, never able to make a lasting connection, never able to plant roots or make a home for herself. Weird things happen around her, things she cannot control, things that frighten others making her move on frequently even as an adult. She has a power she cannot control and does not understand. When an incident at the coffee shop where she works drives her to leave yet another job and town Persephone is not sure where to go. Then, an email pops up on her phone from Hyacinth Ever asking her to visit her home, Wile Island. Hyacinth was one of the few, maybe the only friend Persephone had, having met a year ago and formed a friendship online. The invitation seemed fortuitous and so, knowing she can always leave if things do not work out, off to the island Persephone goes.

Once on the island Persephone dares to think maybe she is home, the island crackles with power and, for the first time, she meets someone whom she can look directly in the eye without dangerous results. At Ever house she learns many things  - she’s a witch, a cousin of the Ever sisters, possibly the key to break a century-old curse and maybe she has found a  place to call home. As she learns more about herself, the island and the curse, she has to ultimately decide if she is willing to pay the price to save what, and who, she has come to love.

This was a fascinating read. The world, the people and the situation all draw one in. I read this over the course of two days, resenting each time I had to leave Persephone’s world for our own. The conclusion was satisfying while leaving no loose ends for a follow-up book. I do, however, look forward to more of Paige Crutcher’s work. Recommended ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

For more titles by Paige Crutcher click here

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