Five novels featuring witchcraft

Emilia Hart grew up in Australia and studied English Literature at university before training as a lawyer.

Weyward is her debut novel.

At CrimeReads Hart tagged five novels featuring witchcraft, including:

Circe by Madeline Miller

Witch lit blends beautifully with mythology in Miller’s lyrical novel about the infamous sorceress from The Odyssey. Circe, child of a god and a nymph, is lonely and unloved from birth (her parents wanted a son, but concede she might be traded in marriage for “something better”). An encounter with Prometheus sparks her curiosity of mortals, and through her transformation of fisherman into a god (he later leaves her for the nymph Scylla, who Circe turns into a monster for revenge)— she discovers that she is a pharmakis. A witch. The gods punish her for the possession of a “power greater than their own” and she is banished to live alone on an island, Aiaia. There, she hones her craft. By the time Odysseus and his men wash up on her shoes, she is at the height of her powers—but their union will have devastating consequences. Miller imbues the old story of Odysseus’ marooning on Aiaia with new magic, crafting an unforgettable heroine in the process.

Read about another entry on the list.

Circe is among Brittany Bunzey's top ten books centering women in mythology, Mark Skinner's twenty top books in witch lit, Hannah Kaner's five best novels featuring gods, the B&N Reads editors' twenty-four best mythological retellings, Ashleigh Bell Pedersen's eight novels of wonder and darkness by women writers, Kelly Barnhill's eight books about women's rage, Sascha Rothchild's most captivating literary antiheroes, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's eleven top unexpected thrillers about female rage, Kat Sarfas's thirteen enchanted reads for spooky season, Fire Lyte's nine current classics in magic and covens and spells, Elodie Harper's six top novels set in the ancient world, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's seven best books about islands, Zen Cho's six SFF titles about gods and pantheons, Jennifer Saint's ten top books inspired by Greek myth, Adrienne Westenfeld's fifteen feminist books that will inspire, enrage, & educate you, Ali Benjamin's top ten classic stories retold, Lucile Scott's eight books about hexing the patriarchy, E. Foley and B. Coates's top ten goddesses in fiction, Jordan Ifueko's five fantasy titles driven by traumatic family bonds, Eleanor Porter's top ten books about witch-hunts, Emily B. Martin's six stunning fantasies for nature lovers, Allison Pataki's top six books that feature strong female voices, Pam Grossman's thirteen stories about strong women with magical powers, Kris Waldherr's nine top books inspired by mythology, Katharine Duckett's eight novels that reexamine literature from the margins, and Steph Posts's thirteen top novels set in the world of myth.

--Marshal Zeringue