The Bewitching

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia tells the story of 3 women in 3 timelines, connected by Minerva in 1998 who recalls stories her great-grandmother Alba told her and whose story we hear from Alba’s point-of-view in 1908, and the writer she’s doing her thesis on,  Beatrice Tremblay, whose story is told through Minerva’s research, in 1934. 

Alba’s story in 1908 was a strong gothic tale of a 17-year-old girl (with some witchy tendencies) who lived on her family farm in Mexico which her brother Tadeo was struggling to keep going after their father’s death, being lightly courted by her brother’s friend Valentin while being infatuated with her mother’s brother Arturo, a “gentleman”. 

I couldn’t find any confirmation on the interwebs whether avuncular marriage was normal for the place and time, but their flirtation felt icky to me, though I got no indication from the text that this was an issue. 

Minerva’s character was one I could easily relate to; I was also obsessed with horror from childhood, and I also went to college in the ‘90’s, and the details of her daily life there - even down to watching Pinky and the Brain - were like a walk down memory lane. 

For her graduate thesis, she is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, a horror author whose one novel, The Vanishing, was supposed to be based on the disappearance of her friend Virginia. In her search, she connects with a local family who knew Beatrice and even had an autobiographical manuscript of hers, through which we get the 1934 segment of the novel. 

Through the manuscript, we learn about Betty, as Beatrice was called, her relationship with Ginny - the girl who vanished - and others in her social circle, which included Caroline - the woman who gave Minerva the manuscript- and her husband Edgar. Although her story takes place in 1930’s New England, it is another gothic tale , and a beautiful story of unrequited love as Betty watches Ginny, her roommate and best friend - and object of that love - in a relationship with Edgar then disappear. 

In the final pages, we see how what Minerva learned from her great-grandmother connects to what she’s reading about Betty and ultimately to her own experiences. 

Though Minerva is the primary protagonist and I liked her character, her story was the weakest of the three, perhaps because it does feel like a connecting thread whereas both Alba and Betty’s could stand alone as complete, beautiful stories on their own, but, as a whole, The Bewitching is possibly my favorite from Silvia Moreno-Garcia so far.

Note: I listened to this on audiobook from libro.fm, and the production and narration from Gisela Chipe were perfect. 

Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.