The Bewitching
Horror, Suspense, Paranormal, Historical
Del Rey
July 15, 2025
E-book, Audio, Hardcover, Paperback
368
Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
“In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s sure hands, every uncovered secret is fraught with intrigue and creeping horror.”—Tananarive Due, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of The Reformatory
“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.
In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.
Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Haunting and harrowing The Bewitching will captivate you and not let you go soon after finishing. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has penned a horror to curse your summer TBR and demand your attention.
The Plot
The Bewitching shows us three different women in certain stages of their life, and a horror that has chased all three of them. First we meet Minerva a graduate student basing her thesis on Beatrice Tremblay, who is a little known horror author. Beatrice is our second character of interest in this book. Third is Nana Alba who is Minerva’s great grandmother in which would tell all sorts of folklore stories to Minerva growing up, no doubt being the original source of passion for horror.
As Minerva gets a cool opportunity to dig into Beatrice’s works and long kept-away possessions, Minerva begins to feel an eery and dark energy follow her, just like Beatrice began to write about in her journals.
Just like Nana Alba once cautioned Minerva about in one of her stories growing up…
My Experience
The Bewitching creeped me out so deeply that I had to strictly read during daylight hours. The amount of detail that Silvia Moreno-Garcia wove into this book is so spellbinding. Each creek of a wooden floorboard, each gust of wind, all those little scary details gave me such goosebumps and made me feel so deeply immersed in this story.
The culture of witches, the love for witches, and being weary of witches is a big theme in The Bewitching. I devoured the Mexican Folklore and Nana Alba’s POV. I also felt completely invested in the writer, Beatrice Tremblay, all those journal entries and unfinished story still reside in my head. I of course cheered and emotionally gravitated toward Minerva.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master in character and world building. So many times I found myself wanting to Google the characters to see if they were real people. This read was a harrowing and all consuming experience.
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is out now grab your copy here!
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The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Carla is a born-again bookworm originally from Puerto Rico. Becoming a mom is what drove her back into the love of reading. Starting with the love of Romance books but now she enjoys any epic tales that are well written. She’s a mom of three, a wife, and resides in Central Florida. Hurricane news doesn’t scare her but finding out a second book in a series doesn’t come out for another year will send her into a real panic. Sending her chocolate and another great book works best to support her through such times.
