The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

I will admit freely, I love stories about witches and the supernatural. With The Witches of New York, I was enthralled from the moment I opened the book and began reading. Author Ami McKay delivers a page-turning story filled with gorgeous detail about the city these people inhabit so well, I felt like I was walking the streets along with them. This tale’s theme (at least, from my perspective) is about the strength and resilience of women and the fear of men who feel threatened or overshadowed by women who do not fit into the precise box they have been forced into. 

The characters, even the secondary cast, have been given wonderfully comprehensive backstories that give each their own clear and unique voice, and the reader will feel like they have met them in real time. The use of herbs, spells, and magic combined with some authentic history of the suffragette movement and those who vehemently opposed it felt more than believable and served to draw me further into this story. When I reached the last page, I was sad for it to end. I hope there is a sequel.  

Short summary: It is 1880 and high society is enthralled with spiritual pursuits, with seances often the entertainment of choice. Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St. Clair are two women possessed of true intuitive powers who work as mediums, rendering their services from their teashop, Tea and Sympathy. Here, they gift women with a safe place for confessions they are afraid to utter anywhere else, and they offer special cures and spiritual guidance for this select group of ladies, who know the correct questions to ask and words to say. When seventeen-year-old Beatrice Dunn arrives from her small village to answer to an ad seeking a respectable and dependable shop girl and enters the lives of Adelaide and Eleanor, all things change. Beatrice, as it turns out, possesses great spiritual gifts that place not only herself but her two new mentors in grave danger as they tutor Beatrice to take control of her powers. What they don’t know about is the evil hiding and waiting around and about the corners of the city that will take all of their courage to face and defeat.  I highly recommend this book. Click HERE to purchase this book on Amazon.