Witches and Vampires

Summer book #13: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I guess it could be said that my interest in witches began with the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz.  For the most part, this included dressing as a witch for Halloween.  When I was a junior in high school, the first bit of literature we had to read for the year was Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. After that, I was hooked. I read and watched everything I could about witches and witchcraft.  I even went to Salem, MA, to see the place where the witch scare took place.  Needless to say, when the Harry Potter books came out, I was over the moon. While I don't believe witchcraft actually exists, it's the possibility of its existence that holds so much interest for me.

Vampires. We live in a society today where everything is vampire related, thanks to the Twilight saga.  Don't get me wrong, there was a time, not so long ago, that I was a Twi-hard.  I like to think I am way over that.  Additionally, there are better vampire books out there that are worth my time more than Twilight: Anne Rice's vampire novels, and Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. Even PC and Kristin Cast's House of Night novels surpass Twilight (though they are more witchy than vampire-y, in my opinion).

I had no idea what A Discovery of Witches was going to be about when I bought it; it had witches in the title, and that was enough for me. 

The book is about Diana Bishop, who is descended from Bridgett Bishop, one of the "witches" executed in Salem in 1692.  Diana is a scholar, whose parents were powerful witches, and subsequently killed when she was seven.  Diana has spent her life trying not to use her powers.  One evening while doing reserach in the Bodelian library at Oxford, Diana calls up an enchanted text.  Somehow word gets out that Diana found this book that has been missing since 1859.  Daemons, witches, and vampires begin coming out of the woodwork to get her to find the book again.  One of these vampires is Matthew Clairmont.  Diana is now in danger because of this book, and Matthew protects her.  Matthew and Diana fall in love, which is a huge no-no. They also find out that Diana is possibly the most powerful witch ever, which is also a danger because other witches are trying to harm her to find out her powers.

I won't give away too much, but toward the end, Matthew and Diana decide it is safer for themselves and those around them to travel to a time where Diana can learn from a powerful witch to control her powers. 

There is a sequel that just came out in stores today, so I will be running out to buy it tomorrow.