The Near Witch

About the book

The tale of The Near Witch is merely an old legend used to scare the young ones.

Should the breeze beckon in the darkness, ignore its call. The wind is solitary, always in search of companionship.

And in the village of Near, there are no outsiders.

These are the beliefs that Lexi has been told her entire life.

However, when a stranger - a boy who appears to vanish like a wisp of smoke - materializes outside her doorstep on the moor during the night, she realizes that one of these maxims may no longer hold true.

Soon after, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and suspicions fall upon the enigmatic boy. Nonetheless, he insists on aiding Lexi in their search. There is something about him that evokes trust.

As the quest for the missing children escalates, so does Lexi's curiosity - about the possible existence of the witch that might not just be a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to communicate through the walls after dusk, and about the past of this unnamed boy.

A blend of folklore and romance, Victoria Schwab's first novel is entirely unique yet hauntingly familiar: a melody from the past, a murmur carried by the breeze, and a reverie that will linger in your thoughts.