"Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble."
There’s no better way to summon a reading list than by borrowing a line from the original trio of literary troublemakers. Whether you like your witches wise, wild, or a little wicked, this coven of spellbinding novels will cast a charm on even the most skeptical reader. Forget broomsticks; these pages transport you through portals, past lives, and occasionally, a Pratchett-shaped pun vortex.
These books aren’t your average Halloween costume with a pointy hat. From Circe’s island exile to Weyward’s lineage of defiant women, these witch tales stretch across centuries and genres: mythic retelling, fantasy epic, feminist reclamation, and philosophical musing. One moment you’re knee-deep in The Fifth Season's apocalypse magic system, the next you’re sipping tea with Practical Magic’s Owens sisters, pretending you don’t secretly want their kitchen.
For readers who like their spells stirred with social commentary, Year of Wonders and Lolly Willowes brew up historical enchantments with a feminist twist. Meanwhile, The Bone Clocks and The Ten Thousand Doors of January remind us that magic, like good literature, loves a mystery tucked inside another mystery. Terry Pratchett’s Witches Abroad will make you laugh until your wand wilts, while Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane reminds you that sometimes the most powerful magic is childhood imagination (and maybe a bit of pond water).
So light a candle, pour something darkly delicious, and prepare for a literary séance. These witches aren’t here for your soul; they want your attention span. And trust me, they’ll have it enchanted before page three.
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett (Discworld Series)
Awards: Author received World Fantasy Life Achievement Award (2010), Carnegie Medal, multiple honorary doctorates
In this hilarious Discworld adventure, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick travel to the distant city of Genua to prevent a servant girl from marrying a prince. Pratchett masterfully deconstructs fairy tale tropes while exploring deep philosophical questions with his signature wit.
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Awards: World Fantasy Award Nominee (2015)
Mitchell's ambitious novel spans decades and continents, weaving together multiple narratives that include immortal beings and magical conflicts. The complex structure and themes make it ideal for in-depth book club discussions.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Awards: Goodreads Choice Award for Fantasy (2018), Athenaeum Literary Award, Kitschies Red Tentacle Award, Indies Choice Book Award for Adult Fiction, Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist
Set in the house of Helios, this luminous retelling follows Circe, the scorned daughter of a Titan who discovers her power of witchcraft and is banished to the island of Aiaia. There she encounters legendary figures, including Odysseus, while learning to harness her magic and forge her own destiny in a world dominated by gods and men.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Awards: New York Times Bestseller #2, International Bestseller (UK, France, Germany)
This bestselling debut asks, "If there really are witches and vampires, what do they do for a living?" Scholar and reluctant witch Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted manuscript in Oxford's Bodleian Library, drawing her into a dangerous world of magic, vampires, and ancient secrets. The novel launched the beloved All Souls Trilogy and was adapted into a successful British television series.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Awards: Audie Award for Fantasy (2020), Hugo Award Finalist, Nebula Award Shortlist, World Fantasy Award Shortlist, Multiple First Novel Award Nominations
This critically acclaimed debut follows January Scaller, who discovers a mysterious book that leads her through magical doorways to other worlds. The novel explores themes of belonging, magic, and the power of stories while showcasing Harrow's gift for lyrical prose.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Awards: World Fantasy Award Nominee (2016), Multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards for series
While featuring orogenes with earth-magic powers rather than traditional witches, Jemisin's groundbreaking novel revolutionized fantasy fiction with its innovative narrative structure and powerful exploration of oppression and resistance.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Awards: Hugo Award for Best Novel (2005), World Fantasy Award (2005), Locus Award, British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year
Set in 19th-century England during the Napoleonic Wars, this alternative history explores the return of English magic through two very different magicians. Clarke's debut novel is a masterful pastiche of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, complete with nearly 200 footnotes creating an entire fictional corpus of magical scholarship.
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Awards: Prix Femina Award Shortlist (1926)
Published in 1926, this groundbreaking novel tells the story of Laura "Lolly" Willowes, a spinster aunt who breaks free from her suffocating family life and moves to a small village where she discovers her true vocation as a witch. A feminist masterpiece that predates Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, exploring women's liberation through the lens of witchcraft.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Awards: World Fantasy Award Nominee (2014)
Gaiman's haunting tale features the Hempstock women, mysterious beings with powerful magic who protect a young boy from supernatural danger. The novel blends childhood memory with dark fantasy in Gaiman's signature style.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Awards: New York Times Bestseller, New England Booksellers' Award (The Third Angel, same author)
For over two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that goes wrong in their Massachusetts town. Sisters Gillian and Sally struggle to escape their family's legacy of witchcraft, dark magic, and the whispers that follow them, only to discover they cannot run from the bonds of magic and sisterhood.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Awards: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2019), Alex Award (2019), Audie Award for Fantasy (2019), Hugo Award Finalist, Nebula Award Finalist
Loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin, this spellbinding novel weaves together the stories of three women whose fates become intertwined through magic, debt, and dangerous bargains. Novik creates a rich world inspired by Slavic folklore where a Jewish moneylender's daughter must navigate treacherous magical politics.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Awards: Nebula Award for Best Novel (2015), Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2016), Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature (2016), British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel (2016), Hugo Award Finalist
Based on Polish folklore, this enchanting tale follows Agnieszka, a village girl who is chosen by a powerful wizard for her hidden magical talents. Together they must battle the sentient, malevolent Wood that threatens to consume their land in a story praised for its sophisticated worldbuilding and strong characters.
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Awards: Caledonia Novel Award Highly Commended 2021;
Indie Book Awards Britain Shortlist Fiction 2024; Goodreads Choice Awards Winner Historical Fiction 2023; Goodreads Choice Awards Winner Debut Novel 2023; HWA Crown Awards Longlist Debut 2023; Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award Longlist 2024
Weyward by Emilia Hart is a multi-generational novel that intertwines the lives of three women—Altha in 1619, Violet in 1942, and Kate in 2019—each confronting abuse and societal constraints while discovering an empowering connection to nature and the Weyward family legacy. Through its shifting timelines, the novel explores themes of female resilience, solidarity, and the enduring struggle against oppression, rooted in the mysterious and symbolic Weyward Cottage.
The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston
Awards: Waverton Good Read Award Longlist 2009
This engaging historical fantasy follows Bess Hawksmith, a true witch discovered by the Witchfinder of Wessex in 1628. The novel spans centuries as Bess uses her powers to survive through different historical periods.
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Awards: Locus Award for Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel 1990; Winner of the Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel category at the 1991 Knopf awards
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice is a sprawling supernatural saga that traces the dark, seductive history of the Mayfair witch family across centuries, as neurosurgeon Rowan Mayfair discovers her mysterious inheritance and confronts the haunting spirit Lasher. The novel blends historical drama, gothic horror, romance, and the occult in a richly layered tale set primarily in New Orleans.
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones (Chrestomanci Series)
Awards: Part of acclaimed Chrestomanci series; author was multiple award nominee
Set in a parallel world where witchcraft is illegal and punishable by burning, this middle-grade novel follows students at a boarding school where someone has left a note saying "Someone in this class is a witch." Jones masterfully blends humor, magic, and social commentary.
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Awards: International Bestseller, New York Times Notable Book; Author won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2006) and 2025 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Based on the true story of the village of Eyam during the 1665 bubonic plague outbreak, this debut novel follows Anna Frith, a widow who ministers to her quarantined village using herbal remedies learned from the village herbalists, women suspected of witchcraft. Brooks masterfully explores themes of faith, science, and survival.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Awards: World Fantasy Award Nominee (2014)
While not exclusively about witches, this magical novel explores themes of folklore, magic, and belonging through the stories of a golem and a jinni in turn-of-the-century New York. The novel was nominated for the prestigious World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
If witches have taught us anything, it’s that wisdom often comes wrapped in a little mischief, and sometimes a cat. The books on this list prove that broomsticks and bubbling cauldrons aren’t just for Halloween; they’re enduring symbols of independence, rebellion, and that glorious gray zone between good and evil. Whether your favorite witch lives in a swamp, teaches night classes in necromancy, or just makes a mean herbal tea that can hex your ex, one thing’s for sure: they remind us that power—especially feminine power—never quite fits neatly inside anyone else’s spellbook.
But now that we’ve danced around the fire and toasted the coven, it’s time to admit something: witches don’t have the patent on trouble. Because lurking just beyond that tree line are the creatures even witches whisper about, the monsters. You know the ones. The fanged, the furred, the misunderstood, and occasionally the ones who need a good dental plan.
So while you’re brushing the broom bristles out of your hair and pondering which witch you’d most like to have on speed dial, prepare yourself. Our next stop in this supernatural syllabus trades spells for snarls in “The Monster Manual for Grown-ups: Books that Bite Back.”
It’s the perfect guide for readers who think they’ve outgrown ghost stories—until something in the dark reminds them otherwise. Bring garlic, silver, and your reading glasses. You’ll need all three.
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