A review by serendipitysbooks
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais

emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is delightfully satisfying and subversive, ideal for when you want to see the patriarchy get what it deserves. The plot involves men named Cotton Mather, Will Stoughton and John Hathorne (recognise those names from your history class on the Salem Witch Trials?) trying to illegally seize the home of six eighty year old witches who are in the gin distilling business, and turn it into a theme park called Men’s World. In other words don’t go into this book looking for subtlety and nuance. That’s very much not the point.

I love a positive depiction of older women and these six are total badasses, the sort of woman I want to be when I grow up. I love their sense of sisterhood and the way they began to mentor the younger generation. There are some serious threads woven into this book including dementia and the trans journey of one witch. But these are balanced by elements of pure fun, like a magical heist and a flaming spectacular variation of billiards.

If the rise of anti-woman ideas and policies has you fuming this story will be a welcome catharsis. Read it. And then join Ursula, Queenie, Ivy, Ruby, Jezebel, Tabitha and Persephone by doing your bit to dismantle the patriarchy.
 
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