ProseWise

A secret history of witches

by Louisa Morgan, 2017 · 484 pages

This reads like a long, unhurried family saga with magic woven quietly into the everyday, moving through decades at an even, deliberate pace. The prose favors emotional texture and domestic detail over spectacle, and the generational structure gives it a steady, almost ritualistic rhythm as it passes from mother to daughter. It is immersive and melancholic rather than thrilling, rewarding patience more than urgency.

historical fantasy · atmospheric · wistful · intense

What A secret history of witches feels like to read

• Page-turner: 35%
• Darkness: 45%
• Emotional intensity: 60%
• Humor: 10%
• Romance: 30%
• Complexity: 45%

Reading age: 16+ (adult)

Spice: 1 out of 5. mostly closed door, occasional light romance

A secret history of witches tropes

• hereditary magic
• secret society of witches
• found family vs blood family
• coming into one's power
• war as backdrop

Books like A secret history of witches

• Circe by Madeline Miller: Both trace a woman's long relationship with her own power across a sweeping timeline, told in lyrical, interior prose.
• Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow: Similar blend of historical setting, hidden magical tradition, and women bound together by sisterhood and sacrifice.
• The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: Shares an atmospheric, folk-rooted sense of women's magic and persecution rendered in quiet, lyrical prose.
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Comparable immersive, slow-building atmosphere where magic feels woven delicately into the texture of everyday scenes.