A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches

By Deborah Harkness

 

 

The (a) story follows Diana Bishop, a young academic working in Oxford in an alternate reality where humans unknowingly live and work alongside creatures such as vampires, witches, and daemons. Diana herself is a descendant of witches, with a powerful lineage dating as far back as the witch trials of Salem. However, she wants nothing to do with magic—choosing, instead, to dedicate her time to researching ancient alchemical manuscripts in the Bodleian Library in preparation for an upcoming conference.

But Diana cannot run from her power forever, especially not once she unearths a long-lost manuscript that has been bound with a mysterious enchantment. Now, a horde of witches, vampires, and daemons alike have flooded Oxford, each hoping to get their hands on the book. One interested party in particular is Matthew Clairmont—a vampire full of closely guarded secrets and an intense interest in the manuscript…and in Diana.

 

The (A) story is about being true to who you are. This lesson is most obviously expressed through Diana, who begins her story extremely hesitant to acknowledge her magic and her family’s history. Throughout the book this hesitancy is tested once opposing forces seek to destroy her. But her desire to be “normal” is also challenged by those closest to her, and those who grow close to her over the course of the novel. Her aunts, for example, encourage her to celebrate Mabon and interact with her fellow witches on campus; Matthew, who has seen centuries pass—and philosophers and scientists alike pass with them—tells her resisting “the lure of magic” will eventually destroy her, as it has others before her. And as Diana’s newfound enemies begin to close in on her, Matthew’s mother Ysabeau is adamant that she learn to fight like a witch, because a witch is what she is. But we also see this message conveyed through Matthew’s utter refusal to turn—or let others turn—Diana into a vampire, consistently stating that neither he nor his family will make her into something that she simply is not.

But this story is also very obviously about prejudice as well as forbidden love. Diana and Matthew are caught in a Romeo and Juliet-esqe society where witches, vampires, and daemons are separate houses standing against each other. The only sense of unity between them comes from the Congregation—a governing body of three vampires, three witches, and three daemons who oversee the fragile peace between races. However, it is by their law that creatures should not intermix, and they uphold this law through threatening and violent means. Between the races, words like “witch,” and “vampire,” and “daemon,” are used derogatively. As Diana’s narrative explains when a fellow witch continuously refers to Matthew as “the vampire:” “When creatures refused to use proper names, it was a way of denying that those who were not like you were your equals.” This tension between the races is brought to a head once Diana and Matthew’s lives begin to intertwine. But their union may also be one of hope, as their determination to be together prompts other members from all three races to join forces in opposition to the Congregation.

This sense of unity between our main characters brings to light another recurring theme within this story: family. We see the importance—and frustration—of family from the beginning, when Diana’s aunt Sarah and her partner Em consistently call and check in with her at the slightest hint of trouble. But we also see this sense of family strongly within vampire culture as well: Matthew and his kin are in no way biologically related, only having been “reborn” through the drinking of a vampire’s blood. Yet Ysabeau is, through all intents and purposes, Matthew’s mother. Her husband was his father, and their other children are his siblings. And as soon as Diana walks into their lives, Ysabeau also accepts her as one of her own, regardless of the tensions between vampires and witches.

The concept of surrogate families is even further explored through their “shadow Congregation,” once a number of daemons, witches, and vampires come together under one roof to fight toward a common goal. And in spite of their earlier tensions and the squabbles that frequently occur along the way, when it comes time for our characters to say goodbye to each other, the respect and the love that has bloomed between them is clearly visible.

 

I kind of went on a bit of a roller coaster ride with this book. I actually purchased a copy of it several years ago from the used bookstore I used to work in, but it wasn’t until recently (when I discovered it was now a television series) that I really felt the need to pick it up and have a look.

If I have to nitpick, the beginning was a bit of a slow start for me, mostly due to the author’s writing style. Within the first few pages, Harkness goes on a bit of an exposition dump. For instance, when Diana first encounters the bewitched manuscript she experiences somewhat of a “magical shock” which launches her narrative into her personal dilemma of wanting to stay away from magic, which prompts her to recall memories from childhood, which prompts her to think about her academic history, which prompts her to think about what her aunt Sarah would think of the situation, etc. By the time we got back to the manuscript itself, I had forgotten what she was looking at. And while I understand the need to introduce your character early on within the book, I just feel that some of this information could have been unearthed through dialogue somewhere, or else during a different scene. Basically, for the first several pages I felt very much like I was reading a book, instead of being drawn into a story.

However, as the plot began to unfold I was able to get more into the characters and the world. And it is pretty fascinating world-building, actually. For those who aren’t already aware: I’m not big on romance books. At least, if there’s going to be romance in a story it had better be subtle, or else paired with a highly interesting plot. The romance in A Discovery of Witches is not subtle at all, but it is definitely paired with an interesting plot. And it’s not just the whole “star-crossed lovers” thing; this book gets strangely scientific within its fantasy, bringing in genetics, evolution, and a fear of extinction among the creatures that inhabit this invisible world. On top of the mystery of the bewitched manuscript and the prejudice between races, there is a common struggle for survival and looking to the future of their species. And, for the most part, the characters driving the plot are so real in their conflicts and their struggles and their humor that, as the story nears its end, you feel just as much a part of this strange, unconventional family as the characters themselves.

That being said, there did come a point where I questioned whether or not I liked our main characters, and this point occurred right after the romance took off. I know that fantasies are fantasies, and they are designed to help people escape from their realities in different ways—but Twilight and adulthood have made me incredibly wary of books romanticizing the “hott, but temperamental and prone to possessiveness killer vampire” character. While Matthew is charming and intelligent, he is also quick to anger and likes to take control of everything—and everyone—around him (although, I should point out that he did warn her about vampires and possessiveness early on in the book, and she consented to it. So, there is that…). Plus, throughout the book Diana continues to unearth dark secrets about his past—secrets he is choosing to keep from her. And every time this happens, they tell each other “no more secrets…” And then she unearths more secrets. She even kind of admits this to herself near the end of the book and chooses to shake it off—which, at the very least, prompts Em to tell her: “You can’t ignore them… The parts of Matthew you don’t like and don’t understand are going to find you, too.”

Diana also goes through the motions that, unfortunately, I have found quite common in romantic female leads: as soon as she falls in love with Mr. Hott but Temperamental and Prone to Possessiveness Killer Vampire, she suddenly becomes a helpless moron. First of all, do you really think expressing curiosity over how you might taste right in front of a blood-sucking vampire is a smart idea? Second of all, people are threatening you; you were told not to go outside alone. You went outside alone. Oh, what’s that? You’ve been kidnapped? What a surprise.

I think what irks me the most about this is everyone around her is calling her “brave” for the reckless choices she’s making. But for me there’s a big difference between bravery and stupidity—and the things Diana does through much of the middle of the book are just plain stupid.

And yet—and let me remind you at this point that this book was a roller coaster for me—once the families started coming together and began working toward the bigger picture, I slowly started to like her again. The recklessness was toned down, and some of the things she said, particularly about uniting the races and staying together, seemed more wise and meaningful in comparison to her earlier behavior.

So, what do I think of the book overall? It’s a very interesting and intricate world, and while the characters either frustrate and annoy me or else make me wary of the message they might be sending to readers at one point or another, I still feel connected to their journey, and I especially feel connected to the little surrogate family they have created for themselves. For me personally, this might just be one of those books that demands a second reading. Plus, I was at least intrigued enough to go out and get the next two books in the series—so, the rest of the trilogy might further help solidify my feelings and/or clear up some things from the first book for me.

My conclusion? Give the book a read, and decide for yourself.