Sunday, October 9, 2022

Cackle


I was in the mood for something a bit more frivolous and this book by Rachel Harrison certainly filled the bill. But there is also a strong flavor of feminism here. This is the review from Booklist:

"Annie's boyfriend was her world; then he dumped her. She can't afford to live in New York City without him paying half of the rent so she moves to a small town to teach. Right away, nothing is quite right. The town is magazine-perfect, but there are persistent spiders everywhere. Before she meets and befriends Sophie, Annie has no one, but then she quickly realizes there is something off about Sophie. The townspeople are terrified of Sophie, who talks as if she has lived quite some time. After she curses a boy in Annie's class, it is clear that Sophie is a witch. Still, Annie is not comfortable in her own company; if she's alone, she seeks solace in alcohol, texting her ex, and later on, a friendly spider. Annie is, at times, annoying, whiny, frustrating, endearing, and interesting. But she doesn't stay that way, with Sophie's help. Sophie's attention toward Annie is a psychological cat-and-mouse game as Sophie wants a witch friend. Annie's evolution from lonely teacher to witch will hypnotize readers." For an additional review, check out Publishers Weekly

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