In the course of her research, Diana Bishop, a history of science American professor, calls out an alchemical manuscript from the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. When she opens the cover of the Ashmole 782, Diana immediately understands that the manuscript is bewitched. Wanting nothing to do with witchcraft, as she rejected her magic abilities after a tragic event that occurred in her childhood, she sends the book back to the library stacks. However, it is too late. The appearance of Ashmole 782 has captured the attention of daemons, vampires and witches alike who all seek its knowledge for their own purpose. Among them, Matthew Clairmont, a scientist and vampire, who believes he can find answers to his origins. But can Diana really trust him?
When I chose Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches, it had been a while since I had read an urban fantasy with sorcery and vampires, and after reading the book’s premise, I decided it would certainly end up being an amazing read. For some reasons, I believed this book would be some sort of urban fantasy mystery whose main focus would be to pursue, investigate and try to locate the bewitched alchemical manuscript (Ashmole 782) through the actions of Diana Bishop, a witch, and Matthew Clairmont, a vampire, two ‘species’ who are not supposed to have contact with one another. However, it became rapidly clear that finding Ashmole 782 was not a priority neither for the author nor for the main characters as the plot turned into a forbidden romance.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the romance genre and/or the forbidden romance trope. But I do have issues with romanticizing toxic relationships and, in my opinion, Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches is doing that in this book. To examplify my point of view, I will now talk about the characters and their evolution throughout this novel. Let’s start with Matthew Clairmont. At the beginning of the book, he respects Diana’s work, her intelligence, her capability of making her own decisions which leads him to trust her with information on his scientific researches. However, as soon as he and Diana starts being involved romantically, he changes into a possessive and authoritative man who refuses to acknowledge Diana’s opinion on various subjects (which he justifies as being for her “own good”) and ends up treating her as a fragile little thing. I must say that I found that quite tragic for Diana who went from being a clever and independent woman with defined professional goals to the complete opposite as her life now revolves only around Matthew.
But to be fair, Diana’s character’s evolution was not entirely negative. In fact, I was glad to see her slowly making her way toward accepting her magical abilities, understanding them and starting her witchcraft training from scratch though it did not necessarily feel completely earned.
Having read all of that, you must think that I did not enjoy A Discovery of Witches, and yet, I must say that I did. There were many elements within the novel that kept me engaged during my reading. I particularly enjoyed Deborah Harkness’ writing style and pacing which I found delightful especially the description of places, such as the settings (the Bodleian, Oxford, and Sept-Tours as well as the Bishops’ house) but also her depiction of the culture and lore that surrounds witches, vampires and daemons in the world of the All Souls trilogy.
It was also a pleasure to spend time with secondary characters who are intelligent, sensible and have personality as well as some form of complexity. I wish I could have spent more time with them rather than mainly following Diana and Matthew.
To conclude, despite its flaws, I plan on finishing the series as I cannot wait to discover more about Ashmole 782 and get answers regarding the secrets it contains. However, I hope that in Shadow of Night, book two of the All Souls trilogy, the story will focus on Diana’s training and the search for Ashmole 782 instead of the unhealthy forbidden romance.
Harkness, D., A Discovery of Witches, London, Headline Publishing Group, 2011.