Name: Megan Leprich's review of A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox
Item: A Lullaby for Witches
Rating: 5
Author: Megan Leprich

Hester Fox

Two women. A history of witchcraft. And a deep-rooted female power that sings out across the centuries. Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin. Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding her family’s estate, Margaret Harlowe grew both stranger and more beautiful as she cultivated her uncanny power. Soon, whispers of “witch” dogged her footsteps, and Margaret’s power began to wind itself with the tendrils of something darker. One hundred and fifty years later, Augusta Podos takes a dream job at Harlowe House, the historic home of a wealthy New England family that has been turned into a small museum in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. When Augusta stumbles across an oblique reference to a daughter of the Harlowes who has nearly been expunged from the historical record, the mystery is too intriguing to ignore. But as she digs deeper, something sinister unfurls from its sleep, a dark power that binds one woman to the other across lines of blood and time. If Augusta can’t resist its allure, everything she knows and loves—including her very life—could be lost forever.

A Lullaby for Witches

Anita Rut Kristjansdottir

Two women. A history of witchcraft. And a deep-rooted female power that sings out across the centuries. Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin. Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding her family's estate, Margaret Harlowe grew both stranger and more beautiful as she cultivated her uncanny power. Soon, whispers of "witch" dogged her footsteps, and Margaret's power began to wind itself with the tendrils of something darker. One hundred and fifty years later, Augusta Podos takes a dream job at Harlowe House, the historic home of a wealthy New England family that has been turned into a small museum in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. When Augusta stumbles across an oblique reference to a daughter of the Harlowes who has nearly been expunged from the historical record, the mystery is too intriguing to ignore. But as she digs deeper, something sinister unfurls from its sleep, a dark power that binds one woman to the other across lines of blood and time. If Augusta can't resist its allure, everything she knows and loves--including her very life--could be lost forever.

Megan Leprich

I'm so excited to now have a new favorite author in a genre I really never expected to have one in.

This story is told in two different timelines with two different characters, Margaret and Augusta. Margaret Harlowe is from a very wealthy family and is the only daughter with older brothers who are also successful and have found their way in the world. Margaret never feels like she has fit in with her family and has a very special connection with nature that gives her powers, powers that would get a woman shunned in her day and age.

One hundred and fifty years later Augusta is working as a tour guide in a jail but has just landed her dream job at Harlowe House. While working there Augusta starts to feel a very strong connection to Margaret and starts to have what she thinks are hallucinations, hallucinations where she is Margaret and is viewing everything through her eyes. Are they really hallucinations or are these works of magic?

This was my first book I've ever read by Hester Fox and I'm immediately smitten. Her writing style is amazing and kept my attention throughout the entire book which is pretty hard to do when historical fiction is thrown into the mix, it normally would bore me to tears but I could not put this book down. I'm known to love any story that has any inkling of witches thrown in but this was by far one of the best ones I've read.

I also wasn't expecting there to be romance in this book but I was pleasantly surprised when there was and it wasn't overly detailed. The romance flowed very nicely and I loved the two characters and how sweet they were.

Hester Fox also does a fantastic job of putting domestic abuse, rape, and eating disorders into her work but take that as a trigger warning if any of these topics are off limits for you. It is done so well though that I barely noticed them for the most part and it wasn't a main focal point of the story.

I have now purchased every other book written by Hester Fox and I can't wait to dig into those as well!

*Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Graydon House for the gifted copy for my honest review!*

Renee Delcourt

This isn't my favorite Hester Fox. I think some parts of the story just don't make much sense to what's going on: like the fixation on her not eating enough but absolutely  no elaboration on how this effects her or why this is so important and then Augusta and Leo's relationship  is kind if instaneous and it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Like at all. Over all it was an okay story but just mediocre overall to me.

Heather Harrington

I’ve been taken with Fox’s writing style ever since her debut, and this quickly became one of my favorites. I thought the story flowed super well despite the dual timeline/POVs. Typically, when we’re following two different characters, I always tend to favor one over the other, but I liked both Margaret and Augusta equally. Both were so interesting, and I loved seeing how they were intertwined. The way they were connected was predictable, but I still liked it. As always, Fox weaves in magical elements beautifully, and though I found some bits a little too far-fetched and the conflict resolution too easy, I thought it was highly entertaining. If you enjoy historical fictions that have a dash of mystery, fantasy, and romance elements or are looking for something with a darker atmosphere, I can’t recommend her books enough.

erin s

A Lullaby for Witches is a great new twist on both haunted house stories and split-timeline historical fiction. It follows Augusta, a mild-mannered museum worker yearning for more meaning in her life, as she begins to unravel the secrets of her new workplace and finds herself entangled in a 150-year-old quest for revenge. 

In 1870s Tynemouth, the beautiful and tempestuous Margaret Harlowe, the only daughter of a wealthy Massachusetts shipping dynasty, seeks solace in nature and hones her hidden skill for magic. She runs an underground operation distributing herbs, advice, and occasionally spells to local women, but longs for more meaningful companionship. She falls fast and hard for a local shopkeeper, but their love story is doomed from the start. 

In the present-day, Augusta Podos finds herself stuck in a dead-end relationship and wasting away at a mind-numbing tour guide job in Salem. When the opportunity to work at a historic house in Tynemouth arises, she jumps at the chance. As she combs through the archives, pages through local history books, and wanders through the creaky house, she begins to glimpse flashes of the past. The longer Augusta spends in the house, the greater Margaret's power grows, and soon the two women are irreversibly intertwined. 

[4/5: A spooky story about womens' agency, legacy, and tenacity. Would appeal to fans of classic witchy stories as well as those looking for a fresh take on the genre.]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Anita Rut Kristjansdottir &
A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox

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A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox