Let me just get this out of the way – I love this book! The Mid Witch by D. J. Bowman-Smith is a delight to read with a heroine to root for and laugh out loud situations, all wrapped up with pathos and honesty. Lilly Turner feels like a stranger in her own life and is convinced that middle age has made her invisible and disposable. She and her horrible, cheating husband are in the midst of a messy separation, she’s on the verge of losing her home, and her children are grown and living their own lives. While trying to regain control of her life, Lilly careens from one mishap to another until she chances upon an old suitcase belonging to her late mother. In it, Lilly discovers a book of shadows and other interesting paraphernalia. Soon, unusual things begin to happen to Lilly, along with some wonderful changes and opportunities. Lilly gains in confidence and her fortunes improve, but are all the changes as good as they seem? Lilly will have to trust in her newfound strength to figure it all out.
As a “woman of a certain age” who loves to read witchy stories, it’s gratifying to see a rising number of books where the main character is someone I completely get. The Mid Witch is a worthy addition to this group, as it will appeal to any woman dealing with the trials and tribulations of menopause and other mid-life upheavals. There are touching scenes as Lilly struggles to navigate all the changes in her life. It would have been easy for the story to get bogged down in the difficulties, but Ms. Bowman-Smith balances the bleaker situations with brilliantly funny scenes that had me belly laughing (a particularly hilarious scene of Lilly playing fetch with her dog, Ink, comes to mind.) The story comes into its own as Lilly begins to understand her legacy and learns who she really wants to be.
This is a quick read, which, in some ways, is a detriment. I gave the book four stars because I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth in parts of the story. I feel that more time was spent on Lilly’s human story and her witchy awakening was glossed over. I hope in future books we learn more about her family history. Note – there are a couple of explicit sexual scenes, so if that’s not your thing, just skip those pages, because you don’t want to miss the rest of the story. Overall, there is much to recommend, and if you like books like Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series or Ami McKay’s Witches of New York, you’re going to love The Mid Witch.