Witch Romances: The Cosy and Concerning with Pauline Suwanban

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This talk serves as an introduction to British and US ‘witch romances’ published from 2020 to date. Expanding on my paper from the 2023 Romancing the Gothic conference, I firmly uphold that the figure of the witch is a significant romance hero, rather than a variant of the genre. Back then, I explored how witch romances were on the rise. Now, they make an expected appearance in the book market as soon as autumn arrives.

I argue that witch romances perpetuate the witch as a popular culture figure - from the 1960s suburban wife (Murphy: 2009) to the everyday teenager of the 1990s (Corcoron: 2022) and now the working woman of 2020s. Therefore my talk focuses on two main themes: career and family. Firstly, witches are usually small business owners (ie. bakers, mechanics, innkeepers). Their goal in finding love aligns with being financially independent. Is this theme a simple rejection of a corporate office and a return to ‘traditional’ ways of earning money?

Secondly, the witch is also estranged from their family, especially the matriarch. They suffer a lack of confidence in their abilities and shame for not belonging in both the mortal and magical worlds. This troubling displacement can be interpreted in many ways: cultural, racial, sexual and generational.

Books I will include: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches & A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna, Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi, Witch Please by Ann Aguirre. I also want to reference the connection to ‘cosy witch video games’ such as Potionomics but will confirm closer to the time if there is enough space to include.

References:

Corcoran, Miranda. (2022) Witchcraft and Adolescence in American Popular Culture: Teen Witches (University of Wales Press: Cardiff)

Murphy, Bernice. (2009) ‘Conjure Wife: The Surburban Witch’ in, The Suburban Gothic in American Popular Culture (Palgrave: London)