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Title details for A Spell for Change by Nicole Jarvis - Wait list

A Spell for Change

by Nicole Jarvis
ebook
Pre-release: Expected May 6, 2025
0 of 1 copy available
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In this sumptuous, atmospheric historical fantasy set in post-World War One Appalachia, three outcasts with misunderstood magical gifts search for their place in the world while battling the dark forces that circle their community.
Perfect for fans of Katherine Arden and Susanna Clarke.
Kate Mayer has always been troubled by visions of the future. No matter what she does, her disturbing premonitions come to pass—often with terrible consequences. But Kate has a secret: swirling, romantic dreams of a strange boy, and a chance meeting in the woods.
Oliver Chadwick Jr. returned from the Great War disabled, disillusioned, and able to see the dead. Haunted by the death of his best friend, Oliver realizes that his ability to communicate with spirits may offer the chance of closure he desperately seeks.
Nora Jo Barker’s mother and grandmother were witches, but she has never nurtured her own power. Always an outsider, she has made a place for herself as the town's schoolteacher, clinging to the independence the job affords her. When her unorthodox ideas lead to her dismissal, salvation comes in the form of a witch from the mountains, who offers her a magical apprenticeship. Yet as she begins to fall for another woman in town, her loyalties pull her in disparate directions.
Rumors of a dark force stalking the town only push Kate, Oliver, and Nora Jo onwards in their quest to determine their own destinies. But there are powers in the world stronger and stranger than their own, and not all magic is used for good...

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    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      March 1, 2025

      In a small Appalachian town, a seer, a medium, and a witch are drawn together by the burdens of their gifts. Kate's visions of the future wrack her body with seizures. Oliver, recently returned from the Great War, can attract the attention of any ghost--except the one he most desires. Witchcraft may give Nora Jo the power she needs to live her chosen life, but it draws her away from her community and loved ones. Chapters switch between POVs, creating a leisurely character-driven, atmospheric novel that makes sure to remind readers about important info from prior passages. It's a novel perhaps best savored, rather than binged, so readers can marinate in the slowly rising tension that pulls them from Southern magical realism to the sudden folk horror of the final breakneck chapters. Amid the magical troubles are two forbidden romances, as well as explorations of the misogyny and racism of the time period. VERDICT Jarvis (A Portrait in Shadow) offers a heftier version of Paul Cornell's "Witches of Lychford" series, exploring witchcraft in the United States similarly to Ami McKay's The Witches of New York or Alix E. Harrow's The Once and Future Witches.--Matthew Galloway

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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