She requests a book called Ashmole 782 and, as she holds it in her hand, she realizes that she has unlocked something previously hidden within the book. The story begins with Diana in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University doing historical research on alchemy. Matthew Clairmont is a vampire who knows his lineage and his powers Plus… vampires need to feed on blood, and witches don’t like to be filling stations for other species.īut you’ve heard of the concept called “soul mates,” I’m sure, and this is what Diana and Matthew discover about themselves and their relationship. Now, typically, vampires and witches are like oil and water. Equally important in the story is a 1,500-year-old vampire named Matthew Clairmont who, against his better judgment, falls for the young professor. This book is not just about witches, however. And as she discovers, she has very powerful potential, if she learns to use it. Diana has repressed her witch powers to the point where she cannot wield them effectively. Most of the first book in the All Souls Trilogy revolves around this basic problem. Pretty powerful credentials for a woman who does NOT want to be a witch. Diana’s ancestor, Bridget Bishop, was executed for witchcraft in Salem. And a sentient house with a mind of its own. Aunt Sarah most definitely uses brooms for magic. Diana comes from a powerful witch lineage, including her late mother and her very lively aunt. The witch in A Discovery of Witches, Diana Bishop, looks like – and is – a college professor, who is more likely to be carrying a briefcase than a broom. How a reluctant witch begins exploring her witchy heritage (And eventually, the third book.) This is a complex, conceptually intriguing trilogy of books that I’m already wishing would go on longer. I’ll talk about why I was so engrossed in the story that I flew through book one and ended up buying the second book, too. In my review of A Discovery of Witches, I’ll give you a short synopsis of the story and my thoughts on the subject matter: an inter-species relationship between a witch and a vampire. Right up my alley (but that’s another story). I left the shop with a new book to read – about witches. And beside it… paperback copies of Book 1, with the words “New York Times Bestseller” emblazoned across the top. The author’s new book, Shadow of Night, had just been released, with a prominent display in the bookstore. I first “discovered” A Discovery of Witches in Barnes and Noble one Friday evening in July 2012 when I was desperate for new reading material… and the library was closed. I’m still wondering how I missed hearing about the book when it was released in February 2011.
In A Discovery of Witches, author Deborah Harkness presents a plausible story of the relationships between the three (sub)species of witch, vampire and daemon… including their battles and their loves.
“A Discovery of Witches” – Book 1 of the All Souls Trilogy