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A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

In the course of her research, historian Diana Bishop requests Ashmole 782, while working at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. She is unaware that it is an enchanted manuscript which has been missing for more than a century.  A descendant of the Bishop witches of Salem fame, Diana realizes that the manuscript is magical as soon as she holds it in her hand – but she has spent her whole life trying to ignore her magic and live a “normal” life.  Completing her work, she sends the manuscript back into storage.

Within days, the library is teeming with “creatures” i.e. witches, vampires and demons, who believe the lost manuscript holds the secret to their existence – and destruction. 

Diana is threatened from all sides, reminded of her parents’ tragic example of what happens when witches keep secrets.  Diana flees Oxford in the company of Matthew Clairmont, scientist and vampire, and their travels take them to the French countryside and Diana’s home in rural New York. Not only is Diana’s life in danger from the creatures who seek the manuscript, a romance between a witch and vampire is forbidden, placing Diana and Matthew in extreme peril.

This book is engrossing and beautifully written, interweaving history, magic and love. The author, a history professor, references Darwin, the Bible,
Shakespeare and more with equal aplomb.

Join us at the Northern Tier Library on Thursday, October 11, at 7:00 PM as we discuss A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.