October witches

October witches

Jennifer Claessen: The October Witches (Uclan Publishing 2022)

There’s so much to love about October – for example Halloween, pumpkin flavored food and drinks, the cozy things, and of course, the magic that permeates it all. But for Clemmie and her family, the magic is the main reason they look forward to this month. For Clemmie this October, the stars can give her magic for the first time for a whole month. Until now, she had just watched her family take advantage of the only one month of the year they could use their powers. However, there are those who want to possess their magical powers all year round, putting Clemmie and her family in mortal danger. Is magic worth that much?

The story is a surprisingly new adaptation of the Arthurian legend centered on the descendants of the two first witches, Morgan and Merlyn. The two families blame each other for only being given a single month of the year when they have magic. It doesn’t even matter to Clemmie that she has magic or not, because she knows that what she creates in October will be gone by November, along with the magic. The main message of the book for me was to learn to distinguish between things that are temporary and things that last.

Jennifer Claessen was born in Reading and naturally became a bookworm when she grew up. She studied literature and theater at the university. She currently teaches drama and creative writing and holds workshops. The story of the October witches continues in two more volumes, in which we can get to know the events of the months of November and December.