For Adults
Harriett de Mesquita’s stand out debut The Magickal Summer of Evie Edelman is a character study of a Yorkshire-lass-come-witch. Exploring neurodivergence and what it means to belong, this heartfelt novel will be popular with readers of Ruth Hogan and Sarah Addison Allen.
People at Synagogue say she is weird. A psychiatrist says she has Asperger’s. But Evie knows she is a witch.
1982 in an affluent Jewish suburb of Leeds. Twenty-one-year-old Evie pursues her practice of magick from the bedroom of her parents’ house alongside her Adam Ant posters and collection of china rabbits. Her parents call her exasperating, the other girls at the Synagogue call her weird, and a friendly psychiatrist with a pet dragon lizard calls it Asperger’s. Lonely, sheltered and bored, Evie is certain of one thing: she is a witch.
The sudden, untimely death of her eccentric Aunt Mim leaves Evie with a sizeable fortune, a chihuahua and a yellow Alpine Sunbeam. Evie can finally break for freedom. She moves to a cottage in a Yorkshire village, and her witchcraft soon attracts the attention of the Dark Lord himself – or rather, a property developer named Malcolm. But Evie’s first love Alex moves nearby with his cold, beautiful wife, bringing the claustrophobia of her old Jewish community with him. Evie soon finds herself torn between magick and reality, the local aristocracy and the villagers, her past and present.
How individual it is possible for a woman to be? How does society treat a woman who does not fulfil the typical roles assigned to her? How much tolerance is there for true divergence from the norm? Evie is one of the first women to be diagnosed with what is now understood to be autism. Her determination to stay true to herself whilst also yearning to be loved and accepted is a timeless struggle in this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel about identity: female identity, Jewish identity, and the effect that neurodivergence has upon identity.
If you fancy winning one of five sets of 10 copies of The Magickal Summer of Edie Edeleman for your Book Club, please email uclanpublishing@uclan.ac.uk with the subject header ‘Reading Agency – Magickal Summer’ and include the following:
- Name of your reading group
- Name of local library authority (if applicable)
- Name of your main group contact (your name)
- Email address of main group contact (this is so that we can contact you on whether your pitch is successful or not)
- Full address of library (best address to send the books if your group is successful)
- Tell us more about your group (how often you meet, the type of books you like to read etc.)
- Please tell us why your group would like to take part in this offer.
- If your group is selected, how will you promote excitement about this book with your group?
- Is your group happy to read, discuss and review the book?
- Will you be able to share some images with your group (these can be without faces), of your display or your reviews on social media?
The deadline is 15 June.
The books will be delivered to you by the beginning of August and you will have six weeks after you receive the book to send back individual reviews. We anonymise your applications and share with the publisher to help select the clubs.
Please only apply if you will be able to send the club’s feedback six weeks after receiving books. If you do not send in feedback in return for the free books you will not be able to apply for other opportunities.
We also welcome photos and screengrabs of any social media posts.
