The Bewitching, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches . So says Minerva's great-grandmother, Alba. Minerva will learn that witches are still around her. This is actually three stories, occurring in three different eras and features incredibly strong female protagonists. We are introduced to Minerva first, in the year 1998, at a small New England university near Boston. She's traveled from her native Mexico to study at Stoneridge and to write a thesis focused on Beatrice Tremblay, who has authored of a novel based on the real-life disappearance of a young woman she knew who went missing from Stoneridge in 1934. The earliest story contained in this novel focuses on Alba, in 1908, in Mexico. I found Alba's account to be the most intriguing part of this book, though also the most triggering, in the creepiness and gore departments. It is she who has given Minerva the curiosity and fascination with witches and the horror genre, in general. There are obvious parallel...