Book Review – A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it’s an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she’s kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana’s discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels…

I was drawn to this book for a number of reasons: firstly, the early part of the book is set in Oxford and more specifically the Bodleian Library. The Bodleian holds a special place in my heart as I worked there for a year as a trainee librarian. Secondly, it’s a book about books, libraries and history which are three of my absolute favourite subjects and finally, it promised a combination of all of these elements with a good dose of paranormal romance involving vampires, witches and daemons so I was itching to get my hands on a copy and start reading!

A Discovery of Witches is a tome in itself at almost six hundred pages long and I’ll admit it has taken me longer than I expected to read it. This isn’t for any negative reason but purely because once I started reading I wanted to take my time over it and enjoy every word. With rich descriptions, both modern and historical, an intricate layered plot and characters that are not only strong and intelligent, but have truly well thought out back stories, this is a book to take your time over and enjoy as events unfold.

The story starts as Diana Bishop discovers a bewitched manuscript, Ashmole 782, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; a manuscript that has been ‘lost’ for centuries and soon has a whole host of witches, daemons and vampires trying to get their hands on it. I love that the story of Ashmole 782 has a footprint in fact – the book is actually missing from the Bodleian library and this just adds to the feeling of authenticity that the book gives. The descriptions of the library itself, the books and manuscripts held within it and the mechanisms of historical research are spot on and the attention to detail shows that Harkness is both author and scholar.

We learn that Diana is a witch with a rich lineage but has firmly put the magical elements of her life to the side – or so she thinks. As she draws the attention of mysterious and reclusive scientist and vampire, Matthew Clairmont and witches and daemons begin to congregate in Oxford to try to discover how she was able to access Ashmole 782, she finds that she can no longer ignore her heritage or the magical world she was born into.

Throughout the book, Diana is narrated in the first person which lets the reader get to know her fears, desires and abilities very well. As Diana is forced to come to terms with the power she has, I really enjoyed watching her develop and change.  Her character is incredibly brave and strong willed. She has no hesitation in standing up to Matthew and a number of other powerful creatures that cross her path or in fighting for those she loves.

Diana’ s attraction to Matthew is instant but being a witch and warned from a young age that vampires are dangerous creatures not to be trusted, she initially fights against the feelings she has. Matthew is as complex a character as Diana, perhaps more so because of the numerous ‘lives’ he has lived. His experiences are recounted throughout the book and as his detailed history is revealed so are his true feelings for Diana. The love story between Diana and Matthew will  appeal strongly to those looking for a grown up dose of paranormal romance and the ‘forbidden’ element to their relationship will have readers gripped as the couple are forced to flee a series of safe havens to protect themselves.

As you would expect with a book of this scale, there is an impressive supporting cast of characters to both aid and thwart Matthew and Diana. I was impressed with the depth of back story that Harkness has given each of her charaters. Amongst my favourites were housekeeper and singer of bawdy songs, Marthe; Diana’s aunt Sarah and the Bishop family house which is a fantastic and surprising character in its own right!

Further mysteries are revealed as the story progresses and I thoroughly enjoyed the way events slowly unraveled and layer upon layer of plot built up as elements are intricately linked together so that seemingly insignificant or straightforward details suddenly become a key clue as a new light is shed on them.

As I reached the end of the book I was relieved to see the foundations laid for the next part of the story and I’m so pleased this is only the first in a trilogy. Highly recommended!

A Discovery of Witches was released today and I’d like to thank Caitlin at Headline for sending me a copy to review.

5/5

You can find out more about Deborah Harkness and A Discovery of Witches at: http://www.adiscoveryofwitches.co.uk/ and http://deborahharkness.com/