Week Five: A Discovery of Witches (5 pts)

Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches plays with mythological figures and magic in a strangely grounded way. This novel has a certain passion towards conventional figures that I think other books like it lose in exchange for an overly grand plot. Whereas other novels within the same genre focus on saving the world or other macro level conflicts, most of the conflict in this book arises from Diana’s struggle to accept herself as a witch and find her place in a community she has ignored for so long. The meat of this novel doesn’t lie in the mystery of Ashmole 782. Instead, Harkness makes room for Diana to grow as a person and mature into her relationship with both Mathew (the resident vampire) and the magical world at large.


The mystery of Ashmole 782 is a catalyst for Diana to grow. It doesn’t force her to change. In fact, up to a certain point, she actively avoids it. However, once it exposes her to the magical world, she has to take it within herself to grow into her powers and relationships. If she wants to understand Matthew, the other witches, and the daemons on campus, then she has to make the decision to seek out those answers. She has the power to say no, but chooses instead to go out with Matthew, attend yoga classes with other creatures, and, eventually, take on the responsibility of her time walking powers. There’s an almost unprecedented amount of agency given to Diana. Matthew doesn’t necessarily push his own agenda onto her, and even opts to protect her from the witches stalking and harassing her while she tries to do work unrelated to Ashmole 782. Diana, even before she chooses to grow into her witch identity, makes it evident to the reader that her life is in her own hands - something integral to the witch as a feminine figure in western culture. 


Diana remains a strong character throughout the novel, making the romance and other elements of the plot engaging and fun to read. She’s no push over even when encountering creatures substantially more powerful than she. That’s where she differs from other contemporary characters in the urban fantasy genre like Bella from Twilight. The world is not spoon fed to her. She has to make the effort to empathize with the people who are “other” than her using the tools she’s garnered as a researcher. I greatly enjoy and appreciate Harkness’ move to make Diana her own person with her own takes on how her world works.


That makes this novel for me. The historical notes within the novel are just fun set dressing- albeit well researched and beautifully described.

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