Witching Hour

Liz Parker’s Witches of Honeysuckle House explores the often harsh and unsavory realities of generational trauma and its reverberations through one family’s relationships as they try to build and maintain intimacy. Parker herself notes that she has complex PTSD, and the book’s dedication reads, “For everyone who can never go home.” In essence, Witches of Honeysuckle House is a love letter to anyone who was forced to cut ties with loved ones for self-preservation, a fraught theme that creates an emotional reading experience.

In 1947, Helen and Christopher Caldwell’s car crashes into a tree in front of their house as they return from a vacation. Helen and Christopher die on impact, but their two daughters, Violet and Regina, survive. Thus begins what the town refers to as the Caldwell Curse. Every 13 years, on the anniversary of Helen and Christopher’s deaths, another Caldwell or someone close to them dies mysteriously on the East Tennessee property.

For descendants Evie and Florence Caldwell, who know the curse has claimed seven victims and spanned nearly a century, it holds an almost mythical status in their lives. The sisters differ, however, on their interpretations of how to end the curse, causing a seemingly irreparable rift between them.

Parker divides the book into 13 parts, each named after a tarot card related to the story. For example, part two is titled, “The Lovers,” with a description that reads, “A reminder to follow your heart. Often represents a solid relationship — either romantic or platonic.” Within the parts, each chapter is set in a different point of view, switching between the present main characters of sisters Florence and Evie, as well as Evie’s daughter Clara and even Honeysuckle House itself, and previous generations of the Caldwells, now passed, such as sisters Violet and Regina and Regina’s daughter Linda (mother to Florence and Evie).

As we become familiar with Florence and Evie’s tenuous relationship in the present, we also slowly learn the truth about their ancestors and their role in attempting to fix the Caldwell Curse — or aid it. As Florence and Evie continue to learn the truth about the women who came before them, they must also try to protect their loved ones and the community from the unpredictable curse.

Florence runs a bookshop in town, Ink & Pages, where she also lives. The bookshop has become enchanted, as happens with all buildings a Caldwell witch calls home. Florence, seeing the curse as an ill omen, has resolved to stop using her magic, isolate herself, and shield her heart from any attempts at romantic love, hoping to lessen the radius of the curse and its potential victims when the next anniversary arrives. Her sister Evie, on the other hand, believes that the answer to stopping the curse is to share their witchcraft with the entire community, so she uses her magic to dip candles for the local business owners and even opens Honeysuckle House as a bed and breakfast, leaning into the curse’s renown to attract patrons and encourage discussion of her ancestry.

As Florence and Evie struggle to communicate, they find themselves growing closer to those around them, relying on longtime friends who have stood by them despite the risk of the curse. Clara, meanwhile, concerns herself with finding a way to get her mother and aunt on good terms; however, she is also motivated to save Honeysuckle House from any danger since she sees the enchanted house as another member of the family.

Each generation of Caldwell women must navigate the merry-go-round of responsibilities and relationships that come with being witches in a small town and stopping a threat they know little about. Though the weight of the mistakes of the women before them — as well as the trauma of surviving the curse as children — threatens to crush their spirits, they lean on the support system around them, banding together to fight the curse before it claims yet another victim. Liz Parker delivers a riveting tale of overcoming generational trauma and forging a new life built on love, trust, and acceptance, despite all the pain and heartbreak and death that came before.