Now She is Witch: ‘Myth-making at its best‘ Val McDermid

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This beautifully, dark story sees Lux go through her darkest moments, with parts of the novel being written with no punctuation, as Lux talks to Else about her past, her trauma and what led her to where she was at the beginning of the book. This book has no defined setting, or defined period, and yet it feels so incredibly atmospheric, steeped in folklore and hand-me-down stories. Evicted from a monastery, where she didn't want to be Lux has to find her way in the world, Accused of being a witch she travails the. Now She is Witch has me sleeping easy again in the knowledge that I can keep my self-appointed position as chair of the unofficial Kirsty Logan fanclub.

I was so looking forward to reading that book and unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Among many things, probably one of my favourite aspects of the story was the main character; Lux’s evolution throughout the story. It’s definitely manipulative but it’s also brooding and nicely atmospheric and I liked Lux as a character. Kirsty Logan became one of the authors whose work I would definitely follow in the future and catch up on her past.

Irgendwo zwischen magischem Realismus, historischem Roman, literary fiction und ein klitzekleines bisschen Fantasy.

Her work has been optioned for TV, adapted for stage, recorded for radio and podcasts, exhibited in galleries and distributed from a vintage Wurlitzer cigarette machine. I must admit that I skipped through Lux's story part of the book as to me it didn't flow very well, a very different writing style. The book also has enough action to keep you on your toes, while the other chapters; where the author takes the reader to reminisce about her characters’ past are long enough to slow your speeding heart rate a little. Mothers and daughters, witches and herbalists, masked mummers and cursed rabbits as hauntings all inhabit the pages of this dreamlike novel that reads like a dark European folktale.

The plot in general is quite mysterious, strung together in a way that means you can’t quite tell what is truth and what is metaphor. Men do awful things not because they're men and men are inherently selfish and horrible, but because society puts them in a position where they can do these things (albeit to a varying degree depending on their societal status) and get away with them. The chapters were perfect length-wise for me; someone who always checks where the end is when I start to read a new chapter. Scottish author Kirsty Logan blends historical fact with folklore and fairy tale to construct an unusual variation on a ghost story and queer, coming-of-age narrative.

to the right of their own function and the choice and forge of their own fate and future with their wisdom that comes from the biggest goddess of all; Mother Earth. On a technical level, she keeps getting stronger and stronger with every release, and Now She is Witch is near perfection. But the one that I felt in my bones every time when she said; ‘If the owl is screeching under your window it means somebody is going to die. It was equal parts haunting, whimsical and lyrical prose as it was dark, sensual and full of feminine rage. In the harsh world of Now She Is Witch, which would seem to be some version of medieval Europe, most girls and women are possessions for men either to harm or play with.Like phantom whispers and long cold busy little fingers who are always watching but don’t belong to the same reality as the main characters. It’s the perfect image – life atop icy precarity; festive warmth upon unforgiving cold – to set the stage for a tale whose protagonist will be confronted by many perilous contrasts. I was looking forward to sinking into her newest novel, but I found myself distanced from it throughout. There’s also a folkloric nature to the whole thing, particularly the recurring motif of the players.