3.5 stars... this was okay. I'm not sure why it won so many awards to be honest. It's not amazing. It has a unique narrative style I suppose; and the interviews are well positioned to give details to the story without experiencing each instance inside the core narrative. But overall I was a bit underwhelmed by Every Knows Your Mother is a Witch given how much praise I've heard for it.

I think I expected a bit more horror to be involved. It's possible I've just read too many witch trial books over the years (which could easily be true); or maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the time I read it. I'm not totally sure what it is about this book that didn't hit it for me. It could even be that it got over hyped and I am sooo late to the party that my expectations were far too high. Whatever the reason I can only barely give this four stars.

It's worthy of a read; but if I were to have missed out on it in the end that would not be a tragedy. The unique letter/interview format is what elevates Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch past a banal, meh three star level. I certainly do not understand why it was so hyped and given so many awards. That said, I would check out future books by Rivka Galchen if the plot/story was my thing. It wasn't the writing that was subpar but more that I just didn't care about the story or the characters really. Maybe that is the downfall of the interview script and letter writing used here is that you don't have the voice of a main character(s) or even a narrator to tie it all together.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This book was so obviously well researched and beautifully written. I liked the idea of rumours spreading like wildfire even without social media. It is at times laugh out loud funny and is always a deeply penetrating look at what makes people do what they do.

With a name like Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch, you can be certain that you are in for some tongue-in-cheek storytelling. And that is definitely what you get with this novel!

The story is told from various viewpoints, court documents, etc. All part of the files that make up the accusation of Katharina Kepler being a witch. The story is initially told from Katharina’s point of view as she is telling the story to a scribe. The story reads very much like verbal language and I think the audiobook for this is going to be fantastic.

That said, brace yourself, because Katharina is an old woman and prone to old-lady storytelling (a style I’m very familiar with from my grandmother). Her stories meander, get distracted, go into far too much detail, and bring up people you had no idea were even involved, just to name a few. In that sense, I feel like the author is VERY thorough and I think many readers will get a kick out of this all-too familiar style.

Katharina’s story is also peppered with testimonies from her neighbours told in interview style, ranging from outlandish, to hilarious.

The story itself is dark, but the style brought to it brings some levity to the seriousness of the accusations and the long lasting effects on the community and the accused. This is historical fiction afterall, so there are certainly going to be some dark times.

Much as I agree that there is a certain level of accuracy required when it comes to Historical Fiction one thing I wasn’t a fan of was the use of the word G*psy (a very serious slur), instead of the name Roma, for the Romani people that were discussed briefly. I will be sending a note to the publisher requesting this be examined before the publication date. Additionally, there are some instances of antisemitism that were not entirely necessary to the plot and could have been done without or at least challenged on page. I understand the difficult balances when it comes to accuracy in historical fiction, but I still think there are ways to do it better.

Overall, I found Galchen to be a very talented and entertaining writer and I’m honestly very curious about how the audiobook is going to turn out to be. I think the narrator is going to have a great time with this material!

CW: Racial Slurs, Antisemitism, Body Shaming

*Thank you HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley for the ARC*