Stubborn, plainspoken, and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, with Hitler’s army rampaging across Europe, the witches of Britain have joined the war effort, and Lydia is key to the cause: she must use her magic to track down magical relics before Hitler and his sycophants can. Then a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences, leaving the coven shaken, exposed, and divided. The elder British witches have no interest in further loss of coven life in service of a government that has forced them into hiding for generations. But with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent.
Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia makes her way to the heart of occupied France, where she finds allies in Rebecca Gagne, a fierce French resistance fighter with a secret, and Henry Boudreaux, a handsome Haitian American art historian with a little magic of his own. Together, they traverse the country, stalked by the natural and supernatural alike, in search of the grimoire. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle the Grimorium Bellum itself has a dark agenda. Lydia must subdue it before the witches of the Third Reich can use it—but she’ll have to survive the book herself first.
Sometimes you just want to read about some witches beating the shit out of nazis. As a treat. This is a well-written historical fantasy novel where witches exist, but are known about by the general public. When a coven of British witches discover that Hitler is hunting for supernatural artifacts, Lydia sets out to get a dangerous book before they can, stumbling across a coven of nazi witches. Lydia is a great character though my heart stays with a French resistance fighter who joins her on her journey and is AWESOME. The book mixes French, Haitian, and Jewish lore in a really interesting way. It’s on the darker side, with a lot of turmoil and violence, but it is all handled well.
