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1880: A trio of women navigating the glitzy and grotesque aspects of Gilded-Age New York by any means possible, including witchcraft…
The Witches of New York
Travel Guide
New York
“New York had become a city of astonishments”
New York City in the late 1800s, is a city going through rapid change. It’s a time of social and political change and “men involved themselves with the business of making miracles. The city is abuzz with the excitement of the great Egyptian obelisk – Cleopatra’s Needle – and the Brooklyn bridge is going to become the Eight wonder of the world!
This is also the time of suffragists, oppression and prejudice in a male dominate world and a world afraid of witches and witchery. Women would group together and help each other in a world where no-one protected them. They made health remedies for each other and in a world where there was no female healthcare and where abortion was as dirty a word as contraception.
Those who feared women and wanted to keep them down would show how they were witches and dabbling in controversial issues. Religion also helped spread alternative views.
Salem
The story resonates with and takes it cue from the Salem Witch Trials and to recreate the story and time, a visit to the famous Salem Witches museum is a must. The nearby Salem Witch House is an historic home offering guided & self-guided tours about 17th-century life & the Salem Witch Trials. Spooky but if you’re brave enough – very interesting.
Streetview Maps
A) NYC - Egyptian Obelisk
C) NYC - Madison Square Park (tea shop near here)
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
This was a feast for the eyes, ears and everything in between. If I wasn’t fully immersed in the gritty, dirty streets of New York, the buzz of the city and its gothic looking architecture, I was mesmerized from the very beginning by the world of witchery and witchery goings on. I don’t think it would be too much of a cliche to say I was spellbound would it? Well, I make no bones about it – I was. So much so I spent far too much time researching and looking at the information the author provides at the end of the book. Madison Square Park is noted for witchery goings on and there are tunnels under the city? This story captivated me and I was so destitute when it was finished that I rushed out and bought James Morrow The Witchfinder and am going to reread Ami’s book again just before Halloween to make me feel all mystical.
There’s lots of magic in the book but the relationship between the three women and the troubles they faced in a city controlled by men , and at such a iconic moment of its history really grabbed my attention. This was a true literary journey back to the day of New York in its gilded heyday, but where behind the glitz and glamour, women were being persecuted for essentially being women
Highly recommended – Go and watch Practical Magic and then wish for a movie entitled The Witches of New York
Maybe cast a spell to make it happen….
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Witches of New York
Author/Guide: Ami McKay Destination: New York Departure Time: 1880
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