THE GREAT WITCH OF BRITTANY by Louisa Morgan – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan
Published by Redhook on February 15 2022
Genres: Adult, Historical fantasy
Pages: 448
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Mesmerizing storytelling, history, and magic combine in this stellar multigenerational saga.

Back in 2017, I read my first Louisa Morgan book, A Secret History of Witches, and now with her latest, The Great Witch of Brittany, I feel as if I’ve come full circle. Brittany tells the story of Ursule Orchière, the character who dies at the beginning of A Secret History of Witches, and I adored reading about Ursule’s long and eventful life. You could say this is a prequel to the earlier book, so if you haven’t read Louisa Morgan yet, might I suggest that The Great Witch of Brittany is the perfect place to start!

The story is a multigenerational, historical saga that takes place in Brittany, France and follows Ursule from 1763, when she’s thirteen years old, to the time of her death in 1821. Morgan splits up her story into four main parts, each set at a different time in Ursule’s life as she grows into her powers, gives birth to a daughter, and gets to see her family line continue though the years. In the first section, we meet Ursule and her mother Agnes, who live with a Romani traveling caravan. Agnes pretends to tell fortunes whenever they stop in a new town, but it turns out that Ursule is the one with true power, as she’s able to see visions of the future when she touches the family crystal that Agnes keeps carefully hidden. But it’s a dangerous place and time to practice witchcraft, and Agnes is afraid that witch hunters will find them and burn them at the stake. When Ursule makes a grave mistake during a fortune telling session, the inevitable happens and the women are forced to flee for their lives.

The second part begins ten years later in 1773. Agnes and Ursule have found a safe place to live on Kerjean Farm and work as laborers for the owners, Madeleine and Remy. It is during these years that Ursule meets a blind musician and becomes pregnant with her only child, a daughter she names Léonie.

When the third section begins, Léonie is nine years old, and they have lived on the farm for so long that they’ve become part of the nearby community. Ursule wants her daughter to embrace the Romani faith and learn witchcraft one day, but Leonie wants nothing to do with her mother’s “gypsy ways” and gravitates towards the Catholic church, eventually meeting and marrying a boy in town. Ursule is hopeful that Léonie’s children will one day carry on the family traditions, and indeed she ends up giving birth to six daughters.

Finally, in the wake of tragedy, Ursule travels back to her old caravan with her six granddaughters in tow, and finds purpose in bringing happiness to the women and children she finds there, who are barely surviving with little food and no men to protect them after the French Revolution has taken its toll. By now an old woman, Ursule finds solace in the fact that her granddaughter Nanette, the youngest of Léonie’s children, has the gift just like she does, and will be able to continue the family traditions.

Interspersed between sections, we meet the “grand-mères,” the women who came before Ursule, who have reached mythological status and whose stories are passed from one generation to the next. I loved this sense of history and the fact that one grand-mère named Violca often speaks to Ursule and guides her in making difficult decisions. As in many stories involving magic, all spells have a price, and Ursule knows this even if she doesn’t always heed the warning.

I was not expecting this book to hit me so hard emotionally, but Morgan’s epic story of Ursule’s life was both beautiful and heartbreaking. At the heart of it is the wonderful relationship between Ursule and Agnes, which grows and changes over the years but always remains steadfast. Ursule never leaves her mother’s side. In fact they live together until Agnes’ death, their bond made even closer by a horrible event that takes place early in the story. Even though Agnes doesn’t have the gift, she’s nurtured Ursule’s talents and kept the crystal safe for years, ensuring that the Orchière line will always flourish. 

Other relationships were finely drawn as well. Ursule forms an unusual friendship with the owners of Kerjean Farm, Madeleine and Remy. Madeleine is a prickly woman who has never been able to bear children, but once Léonie is born, her personality softens. I never really liked her, but I felt sorry for her situation. Remy is a kind-hearted man who keeps to himself but is always looking out for Ursule and Agnes. But the best relationships, in my opinion, were the ones Ursule had with the animals on the farm. I can tell that Louisa Morgan is an animal person, because they play important roles in all her books. In this story we get to meet the dairy cows and goats that Ursule cares for, as well as a horse named Andie who lives a long life and ends up following Ursule from place to place. My favorite, though, was Drom, a raven with a touch of magic himself, who befriends a young Ursule and protects her throughout the years.

I also loved the historical aspects of the story, particularly the way women are portrayed. It’s not an easy time to be female. Girls are expected to marry as young as thirteen, only to spend the best years of their lives bearing children. They can also be trapped into marriage by being raped, and even Ursule has an uncomfortable brush with this particular horror (but don’t worry, she’s rescued before anything can happen). Ursule and Agnes spend their entire lives hiding their craft, fearful of being targeted as witches, which is sad because so much of the magic they do is for good. And while we’re on the subject, the witchcraft element is subtly done and doesn’t overwhelm the story, so even if you aren’t interested in speculative fiction, The Great Witch of Brittany reads more like a decades-spanning, historical family saga. And readers who appreciate stories that focus on strong female bonds and resourceful women characters will love any of Louisa Morgan’s books, I’m quite sure!

Morgan infuses her tale with so many emotional moments, especially in the last section of the book. I found myself in tears more than once, and as you might guess, a story that spans decades involves the inevitable death of beloved characters. It’s hard not to get emotional when you’ve become so invested in the characters, after all.

The author closes her story just before the beginning of A Secret History of Witches, and I have to say I’m tempted to go back and reread it, if only to stay in Louisa Morgan’s world just a little longer. I’ll be anxiously awaiting her next book!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.