Would the contents of your bookshelf get you burned as a witch in the past? Throughout history, women accused of being witches and put to death by burning, stoning, hanging, or drowning were women who were smart, educated, healers, single, widowed, old, overly social, confident, too beautiful, too ugly, sexual, subversive, and deviant. Witches have been most often portrayed as evil, living solitary lives in the forest, eating children, and communing with the devil. But in recent years, women have been reclaiming the word “witch” to symbolize female empowerment. This excites us very much and makes us wonder what stories about witches and the Canadian Prairies could be told!

In “Herbalista,” Cordelia Kelly writes of a mysterious magazine which materializes at Hester’s work, filled with recipes that speak directly to her. Suddenly, she can deal with issues she never found a voice for before. But will she have the strength to stand up to the enemy living in her own home?