This is dual timeline/POV story is told by two women, Margaret and Augusta, who live in Tynemouth, MA centuries apart. Their story intersects when Augusta finds her dream job at Harlowe House as an archivist.

This was definitely an enjoyable read that had me interested throughout the book. Margaret was born into a wealthy family, the Harlowes, in the late 1800s. She always felt a little different from others. She loves nature and the outdoors and its while she is out there that she discovers she has "powers" that a witch might have. She works to hone her skills without the help of a mentor. She uses these powers to help women from the town, in secret, handle situations that can't be handled elsewhere. As payment, she collects their stories and adds them to her book. She falls head over heels for Jack and it isn't until she sees him with another woman in town, and finds out that he is engaged that she understands that their relationship was never meant to last or be more than a fling..

Augusta is living a stable, albeit boring and routine life. She has been at a job she doesn't enjoy for 2 years, and in a relationship with a guy, Chris, that she is not sure she still loves for over 4 years. She finally acts on an impulse to apply for a job doing exactly what she wants to do and fitting in perfectly with the information she gained from college. She gets the job and begins to experience hallucinations and dizzy spells while at the house. She feels a pull toward a photo of a young lady in the house, but she can't find any information about her. She sets out on a quest to find out as much as she can about who she may have been. She meets a fellow employee, Leo, and finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him. When Chris becomes jealous, she realizes that this may be the time to finally own up to the gaps in their relationship and break up.

In an effort not to divulge too much of the plot, I'll keep this part short. Augusta finds out parts of her past that have been a secret up until now, and Margaret does as well. Margaret reaches out to Augusta, and everything changes from that point on. There were some parts of this story that were frustrating to me - like Augusta's obvious eating disorder. The author points out her issues with eating several times, but it is never fleshed out. It's just there, and never examined. Also the quickness with which Augusta moves on with Leo. But all in all, I found this book to be an interesting look into the darker side of a witches' magic. The story definitely nhad a gothic feel.

I rated this one 3.5, but bumped it up to 4 stars since the story kept me interested throughout. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin trade for the ARC to read and review.

Wow! What a beautiful, chilling and addictive tale! A LULLABY FOR WITCHES is the story of two women over the course of two different timelines. Margaret grew up always feeling like an outcast. There was a reason behind it - she has unexplainable powers and it is not long before whispers of “witch” start following her. 150 years later, August takes a job at Margaret’s old house, which now is in the process of being turned into a museum. Its not long before Augusta becomes entranced by the story of the Harlowe family, so entranced that she cannot stop digging.

I highly recommend this book. It is a beautiful gothic and historical story filled with twists and turns. If you are a fan of witchy novels I think this book could be a nice fit.
CW - Disordered Eating.

This is a dual-timeline paranormal historical fiction novel. Present day we have Augusta, whose ambition is to one day be a museum curator of a small private museum. Her wish is about to come true when she is hired by Harlowe House. Almost at once Augusta begins to have frightening hallucinations that seem to take her back in time and are so real she can smell the difference. Not knowing what these forays into the past mean, she sets out to try to make sense of it. She becomes encaptured in the story of the only woman Harlowe who seems her very existence has been wiped from history. Augusta sets out to find out what she can about the mysterious Margaret Harlowe.
The past: Margaret Harlowe is the black sheep of a wealthy family in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. Margaret is apart from her family, never quite fitting in, she is more interested in her herbs and healing potions and instead of making friends or socializing she spends all of her free time in the woods, with her potions. Town ladies come to her in the dark of night for spells and remedies when all else fails. But Margaret makes a fatal mistake when she falls for the son of the local shopkeeper, believing he is in love with her also.
I enjoyed this story, but I must say I was more partial to Margaret's side than to Augusta's but I find that with me this is usually the case. I tend to like the side of the past much more than the present in all the dual timeline books I read.
This book is well written and cleverly transports the reader to a somewhat mystical place in the past, filled with ephemeral forests, and hidden spells. I highly recommend.
Thank you to the Harlequin Trade Publishing and Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

I saw this book and I knew that I needed to read it. I find anything with a witches theme fascinating. They just draw me in and I get lost in them. It wasn’t until I started to read the book that I realized that I had read a book by this author in 2020 and really really liked it!! I knew that this book was going to be amazing just by that factor.

Augusta is at a dead-end job as a tour guide at a jail in Salem. She even is in a dead-end relationship. She is in it for comfort and that is about it. One day she is looking through jobs and finds one that is right up her alley and right in line with her degree from college. On a whim, she applies and she gets it. What happens once she enters the house is something that she could have never seen coming. The resident ghost Margaret sees to that. I loved this book. Every night when I turned on my kindle I was excited to read it. The beginning is a little slow but it is still exciting. I really liked the character of Augusta, I could see myself in her. The shy awkward person who settles because it is something comfortable. She really blossoms as the book goes on. My jaw dropped when “the big event” happened. I never saw that twist coming at all!

I loved the banter that Leo and Augusta have. I am so glad that things ended well for them. I was shocked when things happened with Margaret and Leo. I hated that she drew him into her whole crazy world. However, at the same time, I could feel for her. Her life was cut short by someone that she thought loved her and I guess that was not the case. The character development was really good. I didn’t realize that Margaret was supposed to be the evil character in this book. I kind of enjoyed her story and honestly enjoyed her. I will certainly be keeping this author on my radar for future reads from him.

I'll admit that historical fiction can go either way for me, depending on the subject and location. That said, the cover, blurb, and title for this one completely hooked me, and I've read and enjoyed some of this author's other work, so I was hopeful. As it turns out, I quite enjoyed A Lullaby for Witches, and if I had to pick one word to sum it up, I'd say captivating because this book certainly captivated me. The story is told from dual POV and timelines, and I enjoyed both timelines equally, which is surprising in itself - I usually will lean toward one or the other, but I was pulled into the lives of both Margaret and Augusta. Fox writes a compelling tale here with wonderful descriptions and a gothic feel. This is one that will appeal to readers of historical and women's fiction or even someone who enjoys tales of witches.

A Lullaby for Witches was a short yet intriguing read as it focuses on two women who are affected by the power of witches. Margaret and Augusta were both very strong female characters and one of them certainly has a dark side. I really liked that this book went into detail but not so much that I was bored with the storyline. It was also neat seeing how the present day events and history connected and how the two women did as well. I personally found Augusta to be a bit dull and liked Margaret's story better but the two stories definitely came together well to make an intriguing read! I of course loved the historical New England setting with the old buildings. If you're looking for a super magical read though, this book probably isn't what you're looking for. There's definitely magic but more in an empowering sense instead of magical.

I enjoyed the story of this book, though the writing was a little weak and didn't feel like it was complete. (Did read an ARC but believe it's close to publishing date) The Margaret storyline was good but I didn't quite understand how she turned vengeful so quickly and I would've liked a little more about her. The Augusta storyline was good too, I liked how you could tell she had some issues without being told she had issues but the fact that she wouldn't eat food was a little overdone and then never fully realized. Leo was a good character but also a little too idealized. Overall a great book, I just wish it had a bit more.

Margaret Harlowe never fit in with her wealthy New England family, cultivating the powers of nature and giving in to her darker nature. A hundred and fifty years later, Augusta Podos lands a dream job at Harlowe House, a museum in Tynnemouth, Massachusetts. When she discovers vague references to a daughter that was nearly completely erased from the historical record, Augusta can't resist digging into the mystery, even when it's clearly something not of this world.

I've liked other books that Hester Fox wrote, all featuring witchcraft in 1800's New England. The shoutout to Pale Harbor, Maine made me smile with familiarity. This one starts off with Margaret's thread, seen in flashbacks and dreams as well as her spirit lingering in Harlowe House. Augusta is going through a lot in her own thread, from upheaval and family distance as well as general unrest. She's happy to be at Harlowe House, and then especially when she finds clues leading to Margaret and starts having hallucinations that teases parts of Margaret's past. What we think is the ultimate plan is ultimately very different from what happens, but we get to see the truth of the past and the way forward for Augusta. I really enjoyed this, and couldn't put the book down until I finished it all in one sitting.

A Lullaby for Witches follows a two time period narrative, with a connection from past to present. The chapter alternate perspectives between two women. Many parallels emerge - the discord within family, the betrayal by a man, and the sense of not belonging. Yet, at the same time, the two women could not be more different. The climax of this book brings the two stories crashing together about as I expect yet the melodramatic conclusion keeps me turning pages to see if it turns out the way I expect it will.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/02/a-lullaby-for-witches.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Winter 2022 historical fiction blog tour.

Another of those "women who are strange are outcast" books, with some very mild witchcraft going on. There is a deep connection between Augusta and the Harlowe House "aura", some thing (person? creature? spirit?) that clearly is part of the house and Harlowe family history. Working as an archivist there and this connection greatly influence Augusta's life, particularly as she delves deeper in the "missing" Harlowe, a daughter that has been written out of history. We also get to know Margaret, that daughter, and why she may have disappeared from the written Harlowe record.

This could be a good introduction to this genre for younger readers, but older ones may hope for something more regarding the history (or historical record and research).

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

4.5 Stars

A spine-chilling Gothic tale of two women divided by time, but united by a powerful supernatural bond, Hester Fox’ s A Lullaby For Witches will weave a hypnotic spell on readers everywhere.

Margaret Harlowe chafed at the claustrophobic shackles society and her well-to-do New England family imposed upon her. Being a biddable proper young lady held no appeal for Margaret who never could resist the call of the wild cliffs and tangled woods that surrounded her family estate. Far from the burdensome conventions of polite society, Margaret wanted to harness her inner power and broaden her spiritual horizons. Only Margaret’s eccentricities had begun to invite gossip and rumors all around circulated that the Harlowe girl is a witch….

One hundred and fifty years later, an elated Augusta Podos comes to Harlowe House for her dream job in this historic New England home that has been transformed into a museum in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. As Augusta begin to settle into her new role, the past begins to call to her in the most startling and unexpected of ways. Augusta becomes intrigued by Margaret Harlowe, the daughter of this influential family, who seems to have been completely and utterly expunged from all historical records. Augusta is immediately intrigued and begins looking into the life of Margaret Harlowe. But is she prepared for what she is about to uncover about this enigmatic member of the Harlow family?

As the past and the present begin to intertwine, Augusta finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into Margaret’s secrets. What is it that binds these two women across the centuries? As danger and darkness begin to take root, Augusta finds herself forced to choose between malevolent forces and her own life…

Can Augusta resist its wicked allure? Or will succumbing to temptation end up costing her everything?

Hester Fox is the queen of Gothic suspense and having devoured her previous releases, my expectations for A Lullaby For Witches were pretty high. Yet, this talented storyteller managed to exceed every single one with her latest novel. A Lullaby For Witches is a spooky and creepy tale packed with tension, menace, intrigue and foreboding that kept me absolutely riveted to the page.

A creepy, captivating and enthralling tale from a very talented writer, Hester Fox hits all the rights notes with her latest novel, A Lullaby For Witches.

Augusta is tired of her job as a guide at the historical jail. When her dream job comes open at Harlowe House, she jumps at the chance. Harlowe House was once owned by a shipping magnate. He had a daughter named Margaret. But, as Augusta begins to delve into her life, she discovers a very strange history indeed. Augusta begins to find herself pulled into some strange visions and she discovers a shared past.

Augusta is a character I adored. Basically because she comes into her own in this book. She develops a backbone and discovers what she wants. But Margaret has some sinister plans. Is Augusta strong enough to fight this off??? You need to read this to find out!

I am a huge fan of Hester Fox! She never disappoints! And this book is one of my favorites! I am not a big fantasy reader. But give me a ghost story or a witch story and I am all over it! This book has both! Add in the historical aspect and you have a winner!

Need a good witch/ghost story to keep you reading well into the night…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Read if you like: The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton.
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Going back and forth between two perspectives. Augusta works and lives in Salem as a tour guide, but when she gets a job at Harlowe House in Tynemouth, things change significantly. Then we have Margaret, who is a witch in Tynemouth in the 1800s. Margaret gets into some trouble that will have negative consequences.
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The book focuses on the mystery of what happened to Margaret and Augusta becomes entrapped in this mystery.
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I really loved reading from Margaret's perspective. Felt like the drama that happened with Augusta was added for shock value and I really just wanted more of Margaret.
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CW: toxic relationship, domestic abuse, minor sexual content, sexism, ghosts, and possession.

I loved this immersion into a historical mystery!

It was Gothic and intruguing and the perfect ambience and escape on a bleak wintry day.

Augusta is still searching for her place in the world when she lands a job at Harlowe House as an archivist. She is immediately drawn to the story of Margaret Harlowe.

Margaret disappeared over a hundred years ago. The family records have only one oblique reference to her existence, and Augusta feels compelled to uncover her story.

Margaret has been waiting for someone just like Augusta, but she wants more than words on a page or a recorded death.

Augusta's compulsion leads her on a journey of self-discovery, personal growth and new love. And it forces her to claim her own power.

A Lullaby for Witches is a book set in dual time periods. We travel between the late 1800s until the modern day in this witchy and suspenseful gothic tale.

Augusta has recently gotten her dream job working at Harlow House, an historic home turned into a museum in Tynemouth, Ma. Suddenly, she is having visions of a woman from the past. Who is she and why is Augusta the only one experiencing the odd occurances? Margaret also lives in
lives in Tynemouth but more than a hundred years in the past. The daughter of a wealthy family she has never belonged and is known in the community as the local witch. What connects and binds these two women across centuries?

This was a fun read. The dual timelines worked well. It was the perfect vehicle with which to tell this story of two women living in the same place but centuries apart. Fox does a good job of making each of the women compelling characters in their own right. I will admit that I was more drawn to story set in the past. There is real atmosphere and suspense created as we learn the truth of Margaret’s story. The supernatural elements were well handled although a bit predictable. And of course there is the element of witchcraft which is always a big draw for me. While this book is not groundbreaking, it made for a fun and easy read. I have read all of Fox’s books and enjoyed each of them. This is what I would call a cozy historical fiction gothic. It is not horror but has enough atmosphere and supernatural elements that it can fit into the gothic genre. A fun and witchy winter read!

Thank you to @netgalley and @graydonhousebooks for this ebook in exchange for a fair review.

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Graydon House/HarperCollins for this ARC!*

*Thank you so much for asking me to be a part of this blog tour!! I love Hester Fox’s books (you can check out my reviews for The Witch of Willow Hall, The Widow of Pale Harbor, and The Orphan of Cemetery Hill here!)*

I have been a fan of Hester Fox’s books since her first one was released. I have always described her writing style as a modern day Bronte. She has a lot of gothic and paranormal vibes in her writing. This book was a bit of a departure from her previous works, as she had a storyline that was set in the modern era.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines and dual perspective of this book. I felt that the timelines played off of each other well, providing information that was illuminating to the other timeline whenever they switched back and forth. I was a bit dubious about the modern storyline, but I ended up being very intrigued by it. I liked the fact that Augusta was a museum curator, so even though she was in the modern era, she was firmly rooted in the past as well.

Speaking of Augusta, I really enjoyed her character. I liked that she grew as a person as the story went along, but that she also kind of devolved as well. Her obsession with Margaret led her down a bit of a destructive path even as she was trying to find herself and become more independent. It created a fantastic tension that I really enjoyed.

Margaret was a fascinating character. I couldn’t tell for a long time exactly what her aim was, so when it came down to what her goal was I was completely surprised. I’m not surprised by books all that often, so this was an exciting experience for me!

Getting to see the house and the town from both the modern and historical perspectives was really fun! I love a good feeling of nostalgia, I guess that’s the romantic in me, and this book provided it in spades! I really enjoyed the dual timeline more than I was expecting.

If you are a fan of historical paranormal fantasy with some romance tossed in, then this is the book for you!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave A Lullaby for Witches 4 Stars!

This is an engrossing historical fiction following two timelines and two strong protagonists. While they differ in age they are both coming into their own and trying to find the path they want to be on. Fox weaved these two storylines together seamlessly and managed to balance them perfectly within the framework of the overall story. Since I am a character driven reader this book really worked for me and I enjoyed being so firmly entrenched in our character’s heads. I did find that Margaret is written a lot stronger than Augusta and as the book progressed I was turned off by certain aspects of Augusta’s story.

My biggest issue with Augusta is that there were a lot of great ideas and important topics brought up but most of them never felt fully realized. A lot of her story is told to us rather than shown and it took away a lot of the impact and often times felt rushed. And I don’t think a lot of the ideas were even necessary to the story and Augusta’s character would have been a lot stronger without forcing all these things into her half of the story. I was also very disappointed by the use of disordered eating when it came to Augusta because it didn’t end up turning into anything other than a plot device for something that happens at the end and is only briefly mentioned. I don’t think something as serious as disordered eating should be used so frivolously and if that is something that is triggering for you than you might want to pass on this book.

If you are someone that enjoys stories about witches then this is one that you would probably really enjoy. Margaret is a character that will stick with me for awhile and I highly enjoyed her story. Augusta was vital to the story and despite the weakness in her part of the book she had some of the most atmospheric moments. Overall, this was a fun read that completely captivated me and I flew through it in only a couple of sittings. I am looking forward to reading more from Hester Fox because her writing hooked me from the very first page and she created one of my favorite characters I have read in awhile.

One hundred and fifty years ago Margaret Harlowe tired of dressing up and attending parties. She preferred instead to wander in the woods or along the cliffs of her family's estate. She knew she was different and had a strange affinity for nature and natural cures. Of course the women from the village, who would ignore her during the day, would come at night to Margaret for cures and spells. Then she meets the handsome man who works in the general store and their passionate romance begins, but ends badly. One hundred and fifty years later Augusta Podos finds herself in a dead end job and a unfulfilling relationship. A job at historic Harlowe House opens up and Augusta fulfills her dream of curating exhibits and investigating history. As she delves into the records of the house and discovers the little know Harlowe daughter, Something, or someone calls to Augusta across the ages, pulling her further into the mysteries of the house and changing, maybe even threatening, her life forever. I enjoyed reading A Lullaby for Witches very much. It was creepy enough to give me goosebumps but not enough to give me nightmares. Fans of Susanna Kearsley and Shannon McNear will enjoy reading A Lullaby for Witches as will anyone who enjoys a well-written suspenseful novel. Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read an ARC.

From the author of The Witch of Willow Hall comes a deeply atmospheric new novel about a young museum worker, Augusta, who stumbles across a mysterious woman written out of the historical record. When this woman begins to call to Augusta across the centuries in strange and impossible ways--and may have dark intentions--Augusta must solve the mystery of the woman's identity, and her fate, before it's too late. Perfect for fans of The Once and Future Witches, and The Clockmaker's Daughter.

This is a story that spans 150 years, and alternates between two women; August Podos, and Margaret Harlowe. Augusta is tired of her job as a tour guide for a historic old city jail in Salem, Massachusetts as well as her pitiful relationship with her boyfriend which seems to be going nowhere. When she sees a job posting for Harlowe House, a once historic house turned into a museum, she leaps at applying. Augusta can't believe her luck when the position is offered to her. She is finally going to have the museum job of her dreams.

From the moment she sets foot at Harlowe House, she's drawn to a portrait of a young woman that hangs in the dining room. The portrait is said to be the mysterious Margaret Harlowe whose life story has been lost to the sands of time. Nothing much is known about Margaret and many question if she actually existed at all. There's no true record of her. Augusta chooses to do a little investigation into Margaret hoping to bring to light the plights of the women of the past. The more research Augusta does, the more she feels a strong connection to the past. Strange occurrences begin to happen, which spurs Augusta even more.

In 1876, Margaret Harlow is the daughter of a wealthy New England family in Tynemouth, Massachusetts, a town not terribly far from Salem. Margaret isn’t like all the other girls. She does not want to do needlework all day and raise a passel of children. Margaret likes to roam the cliffs and the nearby woods. She learns about plants and their natural healing powers...both positive and negative. In fact, many of the women who shunned her in the streets during the day would visit her under the cover of darkness, seeking help for their problems.

Increasingly drawn to the darker, forbidden practices of her craft, Margaret finds herself caught up with a local man, Jack Pryce, and the temptation of these darker ways threatens to pull her under completely. Margaret truly believed that she was invincible and nothing could harm her. The town thought she danced with the devil which was clearly a way to make her life a living hell. Her own family has no use for her. She has three older brothers, and none of them have the same coloring as she does. So, where did she come from?

In contemporary times, as Augusta digs deeper into Margaret's story she begins to have disturbingly vivid hallucinations in which it seems as though she is Margaret. Could Margaret be trying to communicate with her? Augusta begins to lose control and as past and present come crashing together, it seems some history really should be left well enough alone. Along with her new friend, Leo, will Augusta be able to make it out of Harlowe House unscathed!? For readers, we already know what's eventually going to happen to Margaret thanks to the prologue, but the surprise is how it happened and why?

Augusta Podos is in an unhappy relationship, working a dead-end job. But then she lands her dream job at Harlowe House, the historic home of a deathly family that is now a small museum.

As Augusta learns more about the Harlowe family she comes across references to a Margaret Harlowe, a mysterious family member who seems to have been dismissed from the family history over the years. Augusta is determined to find out more about the mysterious Margaret, which leads her to awaken a dark power that defined Margaret's life and could now take over hers.

I really enjoyed this witchcraft and mystery that spans generations.

As Augusta learns more about Margaret, she also learns more about herself, her family and find the strength to protect herself and those she loves from a darkness that threatens them all.