by Erin Bow
First published 2011
Plain Kate shapes wood into lucky charms with her carving knife. The villagers call her Witch-Blade, though she knows nothing of real magic. She works alone in a world where people fear witchcraft and burn suspected witches alive. When crops fail and livestock die, the villagers need someone to blame. They turn their suspicious eyes toward Kate and her unusual talent. Fear drives her to accept help from a strange man who appears in her village. He offers protection, but his price seems impossible. He wants her shadow in exchange for his assistance. Kate agrees to his bargain, desperate to escape the growing danger around her. She soon discovers that losing her shadow means becoming part of something far more sinister than village suspicion. The stranger has drawn her into a scheme that threatens more than just her own life. Kate must navigate a world where magic carries deadly consequences and her survival depends on choices that will haunt her.
Genres: historical-fiction, fantasy, magical-realism, young-adult
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: bargain-with-the-devil, found-family
Setting: Village
Period: 19th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Chicken House
Content warnings: violence