Overview

Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and The Lager Queen of Minnesota- a coming-of-age novel following three generations of witches in the 1960s, this enchanting and heartwarming debut explores the importance of family and the delight and heartbreak of discovering who you truly are. Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and The Lager Queen of Minnesota- a coming-of-age novel following three generations of witches in the 1960s, this enchanting and heartwarming debut explores the importance of family and the delight and heartbreak of discovering who you truly are. It's 1968, and the Watry-Ridder family is feared and respected in equal measure. The local farmers seek out their water charms, and the teenagers, their love spells. The family's charms and spells, passed down through generations of witches descending from the Black Forest, have long served the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota. Eldest daughter Elisabeth has just graduated high school-she is expected to hone her supernatural abilities to take over for her grandmother, the indomitable Magda. She's also expected to marry her high school sweetheart and live the rest of her life in Friedrich. But all she can ask is, why her? Why is her path set in stone, and what else might be out there for her? She soon discovers that magic isn't the only thing inherited in her family. That magic also comes with a great price-and a big family secret. The more she digs, the more questions she has, and the less she trusts the grandmother she thought she knew. Who is Elisabeth without her family? She must ultimately decide what she's willing to sacrifice for her family, for their secrets and their magic, or risk it all to pave her own way. Navigating the bittersweet tension between self-discovery and living up to familial expectations, What We Sacrifice for Magic is a touching look at coming into one's own.

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9781639108756

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Reviews

Praise for What We Sacrifice for Magic: “For fans of magic, of sisters, and of the unexpected, What We Sacrifice for Magic is the book you want. It is charmed, charming and a poignant and compelling coming-of-age story.” —Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love and White Houses “What We Sacrifice for Magic beautifully captures the tension between the legacies we inherit and the courses we chart for ourselves. DeWerd sacrifices nothing artistically for magic, convincingly weaving in the warp and weft of the Vietnam War-haunted ‘60’s. This book is as much about sibling rivalries and loyalties, the chrysalis that pulses between adolescence and adulthood, bearing up under the expectations of parents, the foreclosed possibilities of small-town life, and the weight of a potentially tragic destiny, as it is about any incandescent magic. The most impressive spell here is the one DeWerd casts through her scrupulous storytelling. DeWerd nails the ambivalence in growing up with talents perfectly suited to a family business while yearning to know the wider world. The drama of generations clashing is brought to life in the most fiery ways imaginable, and the reader gapes on with a shiver of helpless excitement, like the transfixed onlookers in DeWerd’s intensely gripping story, wondering with ferocious interest what is going to happen next, and delighting in the book’s conclusion that we are stronger together than alone. DeWerd’s plot summons our attention, and enchantment thrums in every direction.” —Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves “What We Sacrifice for Magic is a high stakes coming-of-age story with a heroine you’ll root for and a deep dive into one girl’s dilemma over just what it means to wield her own power. Elisabeth Watry-Ridder has always known she was different, but can she truly embrace all that makes her unique—and defy her family’s expectations—in order to define her own future? This is an exuberant debut; Andrea Jo DeWerd writes with obvious love for her own craft, and readers will look forward to more from her.” —Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller “Beneath the gossamer veil of Andrea DeWerd's enchanting debut is a steely examination of power and its consequences on the magic-wielding Watry-Ridder family. Tenderly written, with spot-on period details, What We Sacrifice for Magic is a beautiful book about the courage it takes to change, if not the stars of our lives, the constellations we make of them.”  —Sally Franson, author of A Lady's Guide to Selling Out and Big in Sweden

Praise for What We Sacrifice for Magic: “What We Sacrifice for Magic beautifully captures the tension between the legacies we inherit and the courses we chart for ourselves. DeWerd sacrifices nothing artistically for magic, convincingly weaving in the warp and weft of the Vietnam War-haunted ‘60’s. This book is as much about sibling rivalries and loyalties, the chrysalis that pulses between adolescence and adulthood, bearing up under the expectations of parents, the foreclosed possibilities of small-town life, and the weight of a potentially tragic destiny, as it is about any incandescent magic. The most impressive spell here is the one DeWerd casts through her scrupulous storytelling. DeWerd nails the ambivalence in growing up with talents perfectly suited to a family business while yearning to know the wider world. The drama of generations clashing is brought to life in the most fiery ways imaginable, and the reader gapes on with a shiver of helpless excitement, like the transfixed onlookers in DeWerd’s intensely gripping story, wondering with ferocious interest what is going to happen next, and delighting in the book’s conclusion that we are stronger together than alone. DeWerd’s plot summons our attention, and enchantment thrums in every direction.” —Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves

Praise for What We Sacrifice for Magic: “For fans of magic, of sisters, and of the unexpected, What We Sacrifice for Magic is the book you want. It is charmed, charming and a poignant and compelling coming-of-age story.” —Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love and White Houses “What We Sacrifice for Magic beautifully captures the tension between the legacies we inherit and the courses we chart for ourselves. DeWerd sacrifices nothing artistically for magic, convincingly weaving in the warp and weft of the Vietnam War-haunted ‘60’s. This book is as much about sibling rivalries and loyalties, the chrysalis that pulses between adolescence and adulthood, bearing up under the expectations of parents, the foreclosed possibilities of small-town life, and the weight of a potentially tragic destiny, as it is about any incandescent magic. The most impressive spell here is the one DeWerd casts through her scrupulous storytelling. DeWerd nails the ambivalence in growing up with talents perfectly suited to a family business while yearning to know the wider world. The drama of generations clashing is brought to life in the most fiery ways imaginable, and the reader gapes on with a shiver of helpless excitement, like the transfixed onlookers in DeWerd’s intensely gripping story, wondering with ferocious interest what is going to happen next, and delighting in the book’s conclusion that we are stronger together than alone. DeWerd’s plot summons our attention, and enchantment thrums in every direction.” —Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves “What We Sacrifice for Magic is a high stakes coming-of-age story with a heroine you’ll root for and a deep dive into one girl’s dilemma over just what it means to wield her own power. Elisabeth Watry-Ridder has always known she was different, but can she truly embrace all that makes her unique—and defy her family’s expectations—in order to define her own future? This is an exuberant debut; Andrea Jo DeWerd writes with obvious love for her own craft, and readers will look forward to more from her.” —Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller

Author Information

Andrea Jo DeWerd is a writer, a speaker, and the founder of the future of agency LLC, a book marketing and publishing consulting agency. Andrea received her MS in publishing from New York University and BA in English from George Washington University. Born and raised in Minnesota, Andrea now lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. What We Sacrifice for Magic is her first novel.

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