Witchbane by Deborah Carr, set in 1640 on the Isle of Jersey, follows Rue Underwood – a suspected witch – and the man expected to hunt her for her alleged crimes, Theo le Cerf. Witchbane opens with Rue as a child witnessing her mother being put to death for witchcraft, having being hunted and convicted by Witchfinder, Elias le Cerf. Le Cerf’s young song, Theo, is also present at the execution.
Several years later, Rue and Theo meet without knowing each others’ identities. Before their flirtatious feelings can go any further, however, Rue finds out Theo is the son of the man who killed her mother. Alternatively, Theo finds out Rue is the woman being accused of witchcraft, for which his hardliner father has compelled him to hunt down and question.
While I’ve read many witchcraft-centered historical fiction novels, Carr leans into the fantastical. Rue comes from a family of witches and actively practices in a coven. The magical rules of Carr’s world are not really explained, but nor do they need to be, as Rue’s story is self-contained. Carr has written Witchbane in a way that these fantastical circumstances could fit into the reality of misogyny, othering, and sexism actually being the root cause of historical witch trials. Carr even blends in these themes with Elias le Cerf being previously rejected by Rue’s aunt Sorrel, which leads him and his entitled nature to want to punish Sorrel by executing her sister (Rue’s mother.) As I mentioned before, since I’ve read a lot of witch stories, I thought at first this one would pan out more or less along the same lines and hit the same beats. It defied my expectations, however, by leaning into the magical elements as well as centering the enemies to lovers storyline (lovers of this trope will love the dynamic between Rue and Theo.) Does Rue do some things that don’t really make sense to serve this would-be romance….sometimes, yes, but Carr has written the narrative in a way that we can suspend our disbelief. Theo is meant to be the enemy, but he’s just too sheltered and good-hearted to hate out right, so the reader feels as conflicted as Rue about him.
While Witchbane was an entertaining read, I found the ending to be really abrupt. I honestly thought there would be more and then it just ended, which was disappointing because I was wanting to see more between Theo and Rue. That said, I wonder if the author plans to make this story into a series?
Witchbane will be released August 27, 2026
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