Author | Rivka Galchen |
---|---|
Audio read by | Natasha Soudek |
Country | United States |
Genre | Fiction, Historical novel |
Set in | 17th-century Germany |
Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | June 8, 2021 |
Media type | Hardcover, E-book, Audio book |
Pages | 288 |
ISBN | 9780374280468 |
OCLC | 1269024553 |
LC Class | PS3607.A4116 E94 2021 |
Preceded by | 'Atmospheric Disturbances' |
Website | Macmillan |
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is a historical fiction novel written by Rivka Galchen and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on June 8, 2021. [1] [2] The book is a fictionalized version of true events. [3] Part of the historical background of this story is that "between 1625 and 1631, under the Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, the Holy Roman Empire saw one of the biggest mass trials in European history, with an estimated 900 people executed in the Würzburg witch trials." [4]
This story is set in the 17th century in the Holy Roman Empire during the beginnings of the Thirty Years War and the plague. In this fictionalized version of the illiterate Katharina Kepler's later life, she is accused of witchcraft. Part of the reason for the accusation is because she lives into old age when most people die around the age of 30. Other reasons are related to her personal quirks. Also, the label of "witch" comes at first from Ursula Reinbold and then snowballs into many in her community accusing her of the same. Her son Johannes Kepler was compelled to absent himself from the royal court to defend his mother. She is also aided by two of her other children as well as her sympathetic legal guardian, scribe, and neighbor, Simon. [4] [3] [5] [6]
According to the online review aggregator website Book Marks, the book received mostly positive reviews. [7]
Kirkus Reviews says, "There is so much in this novel to consider—the degree to which we make monsters of one another, the way that old age can make of femininity an apparently terrifying, otherworldly thing—but it is also, at every step along the way, an entirely delicious book." [2] Publishers Weekly says, "Galchen portrays her characters as complicated and full of wit as they face down the cruelties dealt to them...[t]his is a resounding delight. [6] According to Rhianna Walton of Powell's Books, "It's relatable, in a way I didn't think possible...[a]nd it's poignant and philosophical, an examination of motherhood, neighborhood, science, magic, and culpability that I knew possible only because I've read Galchen before and was prepared for her singular ability to breathe life, logic, and beauty into the absurd. [8] Writing for The Washington Post , Ron Charles describes how "the comedy that runs through 'Everyone Knows' is a magical brew of absurdity and brutality. Galchen has a Kafkaesque sense of the way the exercise of authority inflates egos and twists logic." [9]
The novel was long listed for the 2022 Canada Reads contest. [10]
A Hat Full of Sky is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of the books in the Discworld series. First published in 2004, the book is set two years after The Wee Free Men, and features an 11-year-old Tiffany Aching.
Leonard Michaels was an American writer of short stories, novels, and essays.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an American novel published in 1995, written by Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is the first in The Wicked Years series, and was followed by Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. In 2003, it was adapted as the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Wicked. The musical is in the process of being adapted into a feature film.
The Devil's Arithmetic is a historical fiction time slip novel written by American author Jane Yolen and published in 1988. The book is about Hannah Stern, a Jewish girl who lives in New Rochelle, New York, and is sent back in time to experience the Holocaust. During a Passover Seder, Hannah is transported back in time to 1941 Poland, during World War II, where she is sent to a concentration camp and learns the importance of knowing about the past.
Nathan Englander is an American short story writer and novelist. His debut short story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, was published by Alfred A. Knopf, in 1999. His second collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, won the 2012 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Marcus Sedgwick was a British writer and illustrator. He authored several young adult and children's books and picture books, a work of nonfiction and several novels for adults, and illustrated a collection of myths and a book of folk tales for adults. According to School Library Journal his "most acclaimed titles" were those for young adults.
Katharina Kepler was a woman from Stuttgart, Württemberg, who was the mother of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. She was accused of witchcraft in 1615, but was defended by her son and released.
Rivka Galchen is a Canadian-American writer. Her first novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, was published in 2008 and was awarded the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She is the author of five books and a contributor of journalism and essays to The New Yorker magazine.
The Private Patient (2008) is a crime novel by English author P. D. James, the fourteenth and last in her popular Adam Dalgliesh series.
Where the Streets Had a Name is a young adult novel by Randa Abdel-Fattah. It was published in April 2008, shortly after the death of the author's grandmother. The book won a 2009 Golden Inky Award.
Shane Jones is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He has published three novels, two books of poetry, and one novella.
Among Others is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published originally by Tor Books. It is published in the UK by Corsair. It won the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the British Fantasy Award, and was a nominee for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
Ottessa Charlotte Moshfegh is an American author and novelist. Her debut novel, Eileen (2015), won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a fiction finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Moshfegh's subsequent novels include My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Death in Her Hands, and Lapvona.
Sally Green is a British fantasy author. Her work includes the Half Bad trilogy, related short stories, and The Smoke Thieves trilogy. The Half Bad trilogy was adapted into the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself.
McGlue is a 2014 novella by Ottessa Moshfegh. It was Moshfegh's debut. Originally published by Fence Books, it was reissued by Penguin Books in 2019.
Tracy Deonn is an American author. Her debut novel Legendborn (2020) was a New York Times bestseller and received a Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent and the 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Young Adult Novel. The sequel novel Bloodmarked was published in 2022 and also became a New York Times bestseller.
Or What You Will is a 2020 metafictional fantasy novel by Jo Walton, about immortality and creativity. It was first published by Tor Books.
One Last Stop is a 2021 LGBT romance novel written by American author Casey McQuiston. The novel is about a woman named August Landry, a cynical pseudo detective, who finds love in a woman she meets on a subway named Jane Su, a punk Lesbian from the 1970s who has been misplaced in time and is trapped on the subway.
Witches Steeped in Gold is a 2021 young adult dark fantasy novel by British Jamaican writer Ciannon Smart. Smart's debut novel inspired by Jamaican mythology was published on 20 April 2021 by HarperCollins and follows two enemy witches who must enter an alliance to fight a common enemy. It will be followed by a sequel, Empress Crowned in Red scheduled for release on May 10, 2022.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a 2022 novel by Gabrielle Zevin. Amazon named it the best book of 2022.