Book Review - The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Moreno-Garcia's Epic Time Jumping Witch Tale is Yet Another Winner for Her

I have read Moreno-Garcia’s last four books now (Mexican Gothic, Silver Nitrate and The Seventh Veil of Salome before this one) and it is becoming increasingly clear that she is one of the master of genre-bending fiction, bringing in topics close to her and her heritage, while being exquisite historical fiction with elements of horror and romance. The Bewitching, her latest, is probably the best since Mexican Gothic and ends with some of her most horrifying set pieces ever.

The Bewitching follows three characters in three different timelines. One in 1908, Alba, one in 1934, Betty, and 1998, Minerva. All three of these characters are absolutely fantastically drawn, three-dimensional women, and they are all also very different from one another. Alba lives on a farm in the countryside of Mexico, where tradition and superstition keep her from living the life she truly believes she deserves. Betty, an aspiring writer and closeted lesbian also is not able to live her truth even though she is in love with her roommate in college. Finally, Minerva, who is Alba’s great-granddaughter who happens to be writing her thesis on the life and work of Betty, is fighting against the stereotypes of a foreign student at a prestigious school in wealthy New England.

There have been a few other recent books that follow this three timeline structure, and I was a little disappointed when I saw this book was going to do the same thing, but as soon as I began, I knew that my anxiety was all for naught because this book is fantastic. Moreno-Garcia is simply a fabulous writer. Her descriptions, characters, settings, are all beautiful with just a hint of Gothic Drama without ever tipping over into parody or melodrama.

You know reading it that these three stories are going to intersect, but the way that they do is so satisfying, so clever, and I absolutely loved it. A lot of times in a book with multiple timelines, I’ll have a favorite that makes me a little irritated when it switches to one of the other two, and while Minerva is probably my favorite of the three characters (she’s a 90’s rocker so I very much felt like we would be friends), all three stories have an urgency to them, and each chapter ends with a great cliffhanger that leaves you happily upset that you’re moving on to another timeline before you get sucked into the new one.

One thing that I found really interesting in this book, and sent me to a friend more versed in the traditions of witches in Mexico (Thanks, Abby!) is that the witches in this book are no joke. These are not misunderstood or wrongly accused women standing in as symbols of the way women are treated by the patriarchy as a whole. These witches are gnarly and their intentions are anything but good.

The climactic moments of this book are the closest to gory, no-holds-barred horror that Moreno-Garcia has ever gotten, and it is awesome.

Overall, this is definitely a book to add to your TBR and adds to the list of fantastic 2025 books.