WINNER of Kindred Spirit magazine's WRITER OF 2024 AWARD (mind, body and spirit)    "A remarkable blend of comedy and compassion ... full of unexpected things, entirely charming and well worth your time." Nimue Brown, author of numerous books on Druidry and Paganism. Moira Box, with not a lot going for her, legs it down to Cornwall to join a cantankerous coven of stroppy women. Shapeshifting poor Mogs back to The Burning Times, when women's role in the lingering rural folkways was disappearing from Merrie England. But today, wild women wrapped in cloaks pop up amongst the Cornish standing stones on a full moon basis! Wriggling out of the closet woodwork, giggling and garnished with glitzy-witchy fashion accessories, still stubbornly non-compliant and undoubtedly up to mischief... Witches and Wisewomen, reclaiming female spirituality, unearthing our buried pagan roots. Put down and put upon, but underfoot is where to find the soul. An outside-the-box book, a feel-good tale, a pick-me-up for the perpetually put-down, a bag of comforts for the comfort eater. Sweep away the acceptable respectable and jump on your broomstick! Fly past perimeters, transcend our taken-for-granted reality and hang on tight for a windy ride! This is a thoroughly entertaining novel that doesn't stand on its pedestal and claim to be Great Literature. It tells the story of an ordinary person who makes a big decision in her life and ends up having an extraordinary life. It's rooted in spirituality and esoteric practices and it's written from the inside so it treats Wicca and spirituality with the greatest respect. Moira Box gives up on her deeply unfulfilling Home Counties life where she is treated as a second-class citizen and decamps down to Cornwall, to its furthest edges, where she gathers around her a coven of like-minded ladies and plunges deeply into the past. The locations in Cornwall feel real and familiar. The book is lightly humorous and it's uplifting because it describes someone's personal empowerment and because it's a positive advert for hands-dirty having-fun witchery. And there is mystery there too. - Cygnus Review Spring 2024 ​ Witches have traditionally been outcasts, from the old woman living in her cottage on the outskirts of the ancient village to the young woman in this story, brought up in the seedier end of an already seedy suburb of London. This book is the story of that young woman and her life - her adventures, if you will - in finding herself. And what she does find turns out to be pretty witchy, with a large dollop of humor. Her name, Moira, evokes fate goddesses of ages past. And her modern story frames a much older tale which is also hers. Actually, two much older tales, both of which weave deeply into the tapestry of her current life and the people she meets in the here and now. I really enjoyed the point of view of this novel. We follow dumpy, dowdy, unpopular Moira from her beginnings in London to her break for freedom in Cornwall, all the while hearing her stream of consciousness narration about how she deals with the unpleasantness that life heaps on her because she's neither pretty nor socially adept nor well-to-do. She moves from hopeless to hopeful and discovers that she has both a sense of humor and some real depth, aspects of her being that no one is interested in until she finds a handful of witchy like minds near the Cornish coast. Moira is one of the most realistic characters I've ever read: honestly flawed and genuinely herself, with a sense of humor that helps her deal with all the crap life throws at her. Even the retellings of her past lives are believable. And the way she comes into her own is both satisfying and authentic: it takes years, often with two steps forward and one step back, with the members of the local Pagan moot boosting her morale and helping her find meaning as she meanders through a myriad of witchy and New Age ideas and practices. In the end, she's still an imperfect human being, but one who finally feels connected to others and valued for herself, for her innate magic and her sense of humor and her earnestness. While the official book description leans more toward the humor - which there is plenty of - I think it shortchanges the depth of this tale and the extent to which it will resonate for a lot of readers the way it did for me. The final takeaway: maintain your sense of humor, be there for the others in your life, and allow yourself to be yourself. That's where the magic ultimately lies. - Laura Perry, Laura Perry's substack A cleverly written book that weaves together the historical and modern view of witchcraft and living as one. In this highly observant tale, we follow the main character Moira on her own witchy journey in contrast to a discovered past through Moira's meditations. The historical aspect was a great addition and added extra interest and insights. More than just a story, deeper questions lie within about society and life which are