Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith - Available

The Witch Haven

by Sasha Peyton Smith
Piper Goodeve
Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 2 copies available
A New York Times Bestseller

The Last Magician meets The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this "spectacular, singular, and spellbinding" (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue) historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.
In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she's attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can't explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn't a sanitarium at all: it's a school for witches. Within Haxahaven's glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she's been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances's newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 31, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797135120
      • File size: 389772 KB
      • Duration: 13:32:01

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 28, 2021
      Grief and empowerment lace this engrossing duology opener as it careens from boarding schools to basement pit fights in a casually diverse 1911 New York. Since her brother William’s murder, sweatshop dressmaker Frances Hallowell, 17 and presumed white, lives in poverty and has closed off her heart. But when an assault by her drunk employer wakes her inborn magic—and ends with him dead—she’s swept away to the overgrown, walled Haxahaven Academy: a school for female and nonbinary witches that’s disguised as a tuberculosis sanitarium. Soon, hints about William’s murder appear in Frances’s room, and his Irish friend Finn, part of a magical gentleman’s club, offers to teach her a spell to speak with the dead. But as the students’ ambitions surpass learning to dampen their magic, dreamwalker Finn haunts Frances’s sleep, and more boys die, Frances must stop the murders—and find a way to own her magic. Devotees of Libba Bray’s The Diviners will enjoy debut author Smith’s affectionate group of witches breaking through straitlaced expectations in a historical New York whose grittiness never tips into horror. Ages 14–up. Agent: Hillary Jacobson, ICM Partners. (Aug.)■

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This first-person story requires narrator Piper Goodeve to portray the wide array of emotions experienced by its teenage protagonist. Months after her brother's murder, 17-year-old Frances is attacked by her employer, an act that unleashes her hidden magical abilities. Whisked away to a secret school of witchcraft, she learns how to use her new skills. But mysterious messages soon lead to her brother's friend, Finn, who offers to teach her real magic. Goodeve brings Frances to life, capturing the young witch's personality and placing listeners in the setting of 1911 New York. When conflicts arise, Goodeve's narration highlights the action without sacrificing Frances's emotional reactions. This bewitching production will have listeners hoping for a sequel. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now