THE WEAVER AND THE WITCH QUEEN by Genevieve Gornichec
A delicious historical fiction novel for the season
This is the second book by author Genevieve Gornichec, and it is rather good! The story centres around three young girls - Gunnhild, and sisters Oddny and Signy. After a seeress refuses to tell them their fortune, beyond it being bound together for the three, they make a blood oath to each other. Shortly thereafter, however, Gunnhild runs away with the seeress to learn the ways of witchcraft.
The timeline is Norway in around the 10th century, a time where witchcraft was not necessarily seen as a bad thing, and women stepped into their power in this way. It remined me of The Witches of Vardø, which I read a while back (and also loved).
The girls are reunited years later when raiders go to the farm of Signy and Oddny’s family and Signy is kidnapped. Gunnhild and Oddny pair up to find Signy before it is too late, along the way working alongside unlikely types of friends and foes. The story features the strength of female friendships, overcoming trauma and cruelty, acceptance of those first thought to be enemies and, of course, witchcraft.
The story is told through predominantly Gunnhild and Oddny (alternating chapters) and I thought the writing was great - I was often thinking about this story when doing other things and I was awake until 1:30am this morning finishing it - I needed to see what happened and wouldn’t sleep until I knew!
Regular readers know I’ve been on a witchy bent this year and this addition to the list of withcy books has been a good one! The Weaver and The Witch Queen was one I picked up based on the title (I am a weaver for fun!) and I am so glad I grabbed it. I loved the imagery conjured through the descriptions of the land and of the activities of the three young women, particularly Gunnhild as she develops her witchcraft skills and uses her powers (to varying degrees of success).
There is a lot to like about The Weaver and the Witch Queen. One to look for and enjoy!
