The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis5/25/2023 I remember the first time I read it, growing up in the North Yorkshire Moors, and I was almost made breathless by this story. Aunt Alice, the children and their friends, must make a stand against the darkest of evils. And so is Whitby.īut the thing about secrets is that they insist on being discovered and so, eventually, awfully, things begin to occur in the Whitby. She is 92 years old, insists on climibg the 199 steps before breakfast every day and is holding a secret of her own. They have been fostered by Alice Boston (Aunt Alice), a redoubtable woman of redoubtable talents. Jennet and Ben, orphans, are off to Whitby. It's a beginning, yes, to this story, but also a response to Dracula and to the Hand of Glory and the Barghest and to the sea and to the storied history of Whitby itself. The Whitby Witches is of Whitby and responsive to Whitby and in dialogue with the story of Whitby and all of the stories of Whitby. But how to review this dark and powerful and wildly fantastic book, oh where to begin with such a book that is the first in a trilogy but not, somehow. Upon the decision that I wanted to use this book in my PhD (and how, oh how could I not.), I knew it was time to fix that. I've written about The Whitby Witches before but never quite in the guise of a formal review.
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