And returning to the fray this month is one of the most beautiful of the genre, A Discovery of Witches. From The Crown to Bridgerton to Outlander, television has been giving us the goods of late, with an abundance of productions that have amply-funded costume and production design departments. In fact, I was impatient for the sequel.This review originally published January 4, 2021įor those of us who love to indulge in richly-appointed period piece adaptations, we’re living in heady times. By the book's rousing end, I didn't even miss the cackling. It's a shrewdly written romp and a satisfying snow-day read for those of us who heartily enjoyed the likes of Anne Rice and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Harkness tucks in bright plot twists and details based on her studies of the history of science and of really, really good wine. There's a fine story here, centered on Bishop's discovery of a manuscript that promises to unleash all sorts of magical mayhem. She's described as an 'extraordinary' actress and a disciplined athlete, and she's constantly rowing or jogging.īut against all odds, A Discovery of Witches becomes increasingly charming as it goes along. Her amazing intellect is aided by 'a prodigious, photographic memory.' That's not all she has going for her, either: Bishop is a Yale professor spending a year at Oxford.

'What got me away from Madison was my intellect,' heroine Diana Bishop smugly pronounces. That the witch and vampire are really into doing yoga? Did not help.Ī Discovery Of Witches is certainly annoying at the beginning. a unicorn in a Depression-era traveling circus run by a vampire!' 'Oooh, how about a vampire who's chased by members of a secret Catholic cult through Italy, India and Bali, learning valuable life lessons along the way?' 'Nooo, a politically incorrect vampire who was horribly abused as a child rescues a lovable vegan Labrador from Swedish Nazi sympathizers!') This book seemed like that. I darkly suspected author Deborah Harkness of just following through on the dinner-party game of ginning up ideas for zeitgeist-button pushing bestsellers. What, other than cynicism, could draw such a book out of a respected academic who studies the history of science and medicine? while uncovering radical secrets that a small, conservative cabal is determined to protect. For Pete's sake, it's a book about a witch who falls in love with a vampire. Not only did the cackle shortage suggest a certain humorlessness, but something about A Discovery of Witches seemed contrived.

That's what I tweeted about 25 pages into A Discovery of Witches, the fantasy romance that became the number one bestseller in hardcover fiction yesterday before it was even officially released, thanks to terrific buzz and humongous presales.

A discovery of witches based on book