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Witches of East End
2011
Availability
Librarian's View
Fiction/Biography Profile
Characters
Joanna Beauchamp (Female), Witch, Mother, Divorced, Comes from a family of witches; has two daughters
Freya Beauchamp (Female), Bartender, Witch, Engaged, Joanna's daughter; engaged to a wealthy man, but is in love with his brother
Ingrid Beauchamp (Female), Librarian, Witch, Joanna's daughter
Genre
Romance
Fiction
Fantasy
Topics
Magic
Witches
Mothers and daughters
Spells
Family histories
Small town life
Engagements
Love
Betrayal
Brothers
Small town secrets
Witchcraft
Setting
New York - Mid-Atlantic States (U.S.)
Time Period
2000s -- 21st century
Large Cover Image
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
Fans of de la Cruz's YA "Blue Bloods" series about a group of Manhattan vampires will be enchanted with the author's move into the adult market with this series launch that promises delight and surprise and some appearances by familiar faces. Settled in the quiet town of North Hampton, NY, three outcast witches gently begin working magic again for the first time in centuries: a little something extra in a cocktail, a small knot to carry in a pocket. Joanna Beauchamp and her daughters, Freya and Ingrid, begin taking small steps to help their neighbors and friends. Suffering from the restrictions that had banned them from their craft for so long, the women revel in the return of their powers. But when a strange evil comes in with the tide, they will have to combine their most powerful magic to keep their world from being torn apart. Verdict Rich with archetypes, powerful gods, and strong women, this great summer read will leave you eager for the next installment! [Promotion and giveaways at BookExpo America 2011 and the 2011 American Library Association conference in New Orleans.-Ed.]-Jennifer Anderson, Texas A&M Univ. Lib., Corpus Christi (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
De la Cruz leaves Manhattan and her popular YA Blue Bloods series to start fresh on Long Island. Freya Beauchamp, a 19-year-old bartender engaged to a Hamptons society beau but in love with his brother; her sister, Ingrid, a single librarian; and their mother, Joanna Beauchamp, are all witches living together in relative harmony, as they have for several centuries. They have significant powers-raising the dead, flying-all of which they have been forbidden to use by the White Council after a debacle in 17th-century Massachusetts. As compensation they have gained immortality, but as the story opens, the restrictions placed on them have begun to fray, and they are all "leaking" magic, prompting them to rebel and live true to their natures. The citizens of East End find themselves cured of writer's block, infertility, and skin infections, and generally profiting from the benevolent attentions of the Beauchamps. Then small disturbances become large ones, otherworldly creatures show up, and humans disappear. De la Cruz is a formidable storyteller with a narrative voice strong enough to handle the fruits of her imagination. Even readers who generally avoid witches and whatnot stand to be won over by the time the cliffhanger-with-a-twist-ending hits. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
In YA novelist de la Cruz's adult debut, the Beauchamp family witches mother Joanna and daughters Freya and Ingrid have lived in the coastal North Hampton, Long Island, for centuries, forbidden to practice magic. Tired of hiding their true natures, all three eventually slip. Freya magically spikes a cocktail to save a marriage, Ingrid does a spell to help a friend conceive, and Joanna makes toys come alive to entertain her housekeeper's child. Soon they're practicing magic as in the old days. When dead animals, missing people, unexplained sickness, and toxic ocean sludge beset their town, however, they face judgment as in the old days, too, unless they discover how the evil is linked to the Gardiner brothers, Bran and Killian. De la Cruz combines witches, vampires, zombies, and Norse mythology in a twisting, fast-paced urban fantasy. Necessary parts of the Beauchamp family's backstory come too late, making some elements of the timeline confusing, but de la Cruz knots the myriad elements together in time to successfully set up what should be a popular series.--Hutley, Krist. Copyright 2010 Booklist
Kirkus Review
First in de la Cruz's debut adult series about the adventures of a family of Long Island witches.The author, known for her Blue Bloods YA series featuring undead Manhattan debutantes, again does not have to stretch for likely settingsthe Hamptons are the ideal home base for the Beauchamps, a mother and two daughters, longtime residents. Quite a longtime in factever since Salem witch hunters hanged the two daughters, Ingrid and Freya, who were later reborn to their mother, Joanna. After Salem, witchly higher-ups restricted the open deployment of magical powers. The Beauchamps are so deep undercover that the community they inhabit, "North Hampton," does not appear on any map. This Hampton is refreshingly devoid of rich people until two brothers, Bran and Killian, arrive to restore Fair Haven, their ancestral mansion. Freya, a bartender, recognizes an ancient soul mate in Bran, and they announce their engagement at a lavish Fair Haven party. Nevertheless, she can't resist shagging preternaturally handsome Killian in the bathroom during the party. Public librarian Ingrid is chafing at the magic banwith a simple incantation, she could easily cure a distraught co-worker's infertility. Soon Ingrid is exchanging salutary spells for contributions to the library fund. When she's not torn between two lovers, Freya lapses back into her own peculiar brand of magicher aphrodisiac cocktails perform as advertised. Most daringly of all, Joanna raises a local artist from the dead. But once unleashed, the white magic provokes dark retribution: An undersea miasma is killing off fish and wild life, children are contracting a deadly influenza, vampires (vacationing Blue Bloods?) are infiltrating and the police are "liking" the witches for homicide. But this is secular 21st-century New York, not puritan colonial Massachusetts. Things have changedhaven't they? A decidedly weird mishmash of mythologies, a serpentine plot and a thicket of back stories intertwine as de la Cruz sets up the continuing saga, but it all gels magnificently.Fantasy for well-read adults.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Summary
It's September in the fictional Hamptons town of East End, a self-contained community that seems to be stuck in time. A fantasy world, East End is torn apart by a rivalry between the resident warlocks and witches. Witches of East End follows the Beauchamp girls - Joanna, Freya and Ingrid - after their arrival in East End. Everything seems to be going smoothly, until a young girl turns up dead. One by one, the town's residents begin disappearing and everyone seems to have the same suspects in mind: the Beauchamp girls...
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