The Witches of New York: A Novel Paperback – July 11, 2017

I loved, loved, loved this book! But to quote the main characters “those averse to magic need not apply.” This was the perfect thing to read as the dry leaves swirl on the ground and the temperature gets brisk. I was thoroughly caught up in the characters, story, and place. This book reminded me of being a child and pretending to be a witch; the kind of witch who gathers herbs to make magic potions and casts (mostly) helpful spells.This book takes place in New York City in 1800. This is historically a time when people were captivated by seances and science. The world was progressing at a quick pace, but not in all areas. Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St. Clair are the proprietors of Tea and Sympathy. Society women come to share their secrets, drink special teas, and receive help and guidance from Adelaide and Eleanor. They are also midwives and help with conceptions and terminations. The witches place an ad for a shop girl. Enter Beatrice Dunn, a powerful young witch who needs help understanding and developing her powers. But all is not well. Mr. Palsham, a creepy presence who is not what he seems, wants to destroy the witches. He enlists the help of Reverend Francis Townsend, who is easily influenced to do evil. Fancying himself as a savior and reading way too much about the Salem Witch Trials, Reverend Townsend captures young girls and tries to rid them of the devil. This does not bode well for Adelaide, Eleanor, and Beatrice.There are a lot of layers and so much good stuff in this book. Science and mysticism are equally important in the 1880’s. The mysterious and magical Cleopatra’s Needle is arriving in New York City. The temperance movement is in full swing at the same time that women are beginning to fight for rights. Ms. McKay does a nice job of setting the stage for this story. I found this book hard to put down. I think that she left a hint of a sequel. I hope she left a hint of a sequel! My copy of the book contains an excerpt from The Virgin Cure. This is a prequel and is the story of young Adelaide Thom. I will happily read more of Ms. McKay’s work.

This was a very pleasant read. It took me no time to dive into the story and be enchanted. The writing is very detailed and diverse. There are different storylines but they all eventually connect beautifully. Each character has her own voice and isn't just a side character. The author shows the strength and fortitude of each lady which is great. I so enjoyed the fact of historical happenings and thought process was intertwined with the plot.

Moth has renamed and re-purposed herself from an 1880s New York courtesan (The Virgin Cure) to Adelaide Thom, a reader of futures in business with another witch, Eleanor St. Clair. Their little shop off Madison Square in New York City is watched by their enemies from the Church of the Good Shepherd and the demons assigned from Hell to find the witches and have them killed – burned or hung – by the superstitious people of the time. Reverend Francis Townsend and Mrs. Penelope Piddock of the Good Shepherd are diligent, but controlled by the demons. Into this plot comes Beatrice Dunn, a 17-year-old woman curious, bright, somewhat naïve, who wants to find out the secrets of healing herbs and curative spells. She, however, soon learns that her ‘gift’ is the ability to see and converse with ghosts. The city comes alive in this book, with characters charming, attractive, frightening, and fierce. And the reader learns some curative herbs as well as a few spells like the witches’ ladder. “By knot of one, my spell’s begun . . . “ and on through “by knot of nine, what’s done is mine,” a spell to bring the caster what she wishes for. A great gathering of lore readers will want to highlight again and again.

This book is well written, and became a page turner. The only con is there are SO many characters. If you are someone who takes a while to read a book, it may be difficult to keep up or remember all the characters.

If you haven't already figured it out, I am a huge fan of witches, books set in the 19th century (or any historical setting, if we're being honest), sharp writing, and incredible detail, so combining all of that together into this one book is one big 'yes please!' from me. The Witches of New York is a novel that showcases the strength and tenacity of women and the great lengths to which some men will go to in order to shut down anything that they fear or feel threatened by.There is a lot going on in this book, but McKay proves her brilliance by making every minuscule aspect of this story simply glow with charm and an engaging storyline. McKay's writing itself is incredibly sharp and full of wit, not to mention the sharp feminist themes that simply propel this book into being even more captivating and relatable than I thought possible.Adelaide, Eleanor, and Beatrice are our three leading ladies, and they are a force to be reckoned with. I was so impressed at how detailed and unique each one was. Not only does McKay give each woman a voice to be themselves, she also provides intricate backstories that bring so much life to each character. I also loved the range of additional characters that McKay included, from the skeptics to the believers to everyone in between. This, of course, includes characters who vehemently abhor witches and anything to do with witchcraft, whom McKay crafts to be so repulsive that it's almost difficult to read their chapters.Eleanor and Adelaide are the owners of their tea shop (and perhaps a bit more), Tea and Sympathy and are both established witches. Beatrice is a young newcomer to the big city and is taken under their wings to build up her own abilities. Eleanor is a firm woman whose loyalty and steadfastness are incredibly admirable; Adelaide has many of the same qualities, but she is ever so slightly more outspoken and prone unpredictability than Eleanor. Beatrice, being young and unused to large cities, is a rather shy, polite young woman who is thrust into an entirely new life and world--and she seems to handle things fairly well, if I may say so. The POV remains third person limited throughout the book, but various chapters switch between Eleanor, Adelaide, Beatrice, and a variety of other characters, both big and small.This book is fairly long, and there are so many chapters and scenes that feel like they should be removed in an abridged version of this, but as the story progresses it becomes more and more apparent how each seemingly meandering chapter or seemingly unimportant character ends up playing an extremely important role. There were times when I started to feel a bit impatient with these moments and i often wished that there weren't so many, but at the same time I liked the extra detail and how much it added to the story, so I'm afraid I have rather contradictory feelings on that front.One of the most prominent places where this book shines is the sheer detail and authenticity of the usage of spells, herbs, and other witch-y aspect. McKay weaves this incredibly believable and fascinating usage of magic that truly brings everything to life. Every little note or comment about the usage of various herbs or the specific tasks that must be undertaken to perform a certain spell was just so much fun and completely drew me in. McKay clearly enjoys writing and taking her time to make the entire atmosphere perfect.There is a lovely incorporation of real history in this book as well, such as the inclusion of the suffragette movement, the movement of Cleopatra's Needle, and other notable elements of the period.Overall, I've given The Witches of New York four stars!

Excellent narrator, great characters that you grow to care for. Definitely want more of the characters. Definitely an original storyline.

This book was so well written I loved the characters so much they were diverse in personalities but you could see how they would become close friends. I loved the Perdu character so much! The descriptives in the story were really good but still left enough to the readers' own imagination. Visually the book design was lovely and enjoyed all the adverts/pictures/clippings/drawings (great for those of us who enjoy having an actual book, not sure how this would be for kindle readers) History was cleverly interlaced throughout the story some of which I hadn't known about and enjoyed finding out more through internet searches. I hope these characters are in some future books or perhaps revisited in some way. This was one of those books you want toget to the end of to find out what happens but you're a bit sad when it's finished.

full of magic, i super enjoyed the book and completely recommend itNew York City 1880. Highly enjoyable. Three witches that become the target for a fantatical member of the clergy and demons all around.

shipping was quick, I recieved it well, nothing went wrong and the story is really good, Love It !

This is a beautifully written book. Characters are well developed and easy to fall in love with, or hate as the case may be. Loved the historical homilies. I personally felt inspired reading this book.