The Witches of New York

“Printed matter […] soon crept across the rose-patterned wallpaper, replacing blossoms and stems with headlines, illustrations and odd bits of news.”

The decorations on Beatrice’s wall both predict her eventual commitment to writing her book, A Census of Astonishments, and reveal how she differs from traditional gender roles. Rather than being a literal wallflower, her interests are in investigative work.

“Lydia believed the only path to a woman’s betterment was through making her own way.”

This passage implies a generational attempt at moving away from traditional domestic gender roles. By encouraging her niece’s personal development, Lydia is actively disrupting women’s expected lifestyles. Throughout Beatrice’s childhood, Lydia normalizes women’s ability to choose different paths for themselves.

“Once the spell’s complete, its magic will be stored in the charm forever. So long as the ladder remains whole, so too will the magic.”

This passage is the watershed moment in which Eleanor believes Beatrice acquired her powers. Though the charm is said to contain the magic forever, the passage also highlights the possibility that Beatrice’s magic might disappear should her ladder somehow be destroyed.

“Always needed, ever hunted.”

Eleanor’s family motto highlights their longstanding commitment to helping their community but also relays the persistent persecution her ancestors have suffered. Their motto, therefore, becomes a memento by which to recall their family’s suffering and a call to persist in their endeavors.

“In all her life, Eleanor had never met anyone who could peer so thoroughly into the minds and hearts of others as Adelaide could, yet remain so oblivious to the truth in her own.”

This excerpt showcases the symptoms of Adelaide’s unresolved past. Though she is a strong woman with great abilities, much of what would make her more powerful is sealed away because of her inability to reconcile herself with her difficult childhood.

“How distracting the sparkle of their false lights was at night, their world barely fit for anything, most especially dreaming.”

This passage gestures to how the city is becoming an environment inhospitable to older traditions, reflected in the juxtaposition of “sparkle” and “false.” As it strives for innovation and scientific advancements, old magic and supernatural creatures like the Dearlies struggle to adapt.

“Bright didn’t understand much about the Devil, and believed him to be more invented than real, but she understood quite a lot about demons.”

In this instance, McKay problematizes the predominance of religious ideas of God and the Devil. Though many humans adhere to this belief system, supernatural creatures have lived long enough to remember the pre-monotheistic world, casting doubt on the credibility of its teachings.

“He’s no bird.”

Along with the ring Perdu bears, this declaration is one of the first clues that imply Perdu is more than a clever familiar to the St. Clair family. Though his lost identity is never formally confirmed, it is also hinted at by his name (“perdu” is French for “lost”). Perdu’s circumstances point toward a life of repentance for the trickery he pulled over Princess Odoline.

“Holding her breath, she waited for the memories that came along with the sound to pass, knowing they wouldn’t leave until she’d relived them.”

McKay parallels Adelaide with Brody in this excerpt to showcase the persisting and costly emotional effects of physical trauma. As both Brody’s loss of limb and Adelaide’s disfigurement are coded with post-traumatic stress disorder, McKay implies a similar pain and vulnerability in both characters that only they can fully understand. This paves the way to an emotional and, eventually, romantic relationship.

“She was a New York woman through and through, rather than a lady.”

McKay points out how life in the city necessitates a resilience that isn’t part of a “lady’s” education. New York, with all of its chaotic progress and innovation, depends on its people—including women—to adapt to new demands and expectations that cross traditional gender expectations.

“Sometimes Eleanor wondered if her mother’s sayings mattered anymore. The world was changing at an alarming pace and the city right along with it. Perhaps all these changes called for a new sort of magic, one divined not from teacups and spoons.”

Eleanor’s comment foreshadows her realization that her powers are waning, and McKay implies that old magic is fading away just as its history is also being erased. Though old magic is maladapted to the new world, she also indicates that it is all the more important for it to persist.

“In return for his gift she gave him a gold ring inscribed with the words, “All my trust.’”

Through this ring, McKay reveals that Perdu is, in fact, Sev, the handsome prince and the sage who counseled the king in Odoline’s story. Later, the ring becomes a symbol of his repentance and an indicator that Eleanor is a descendant of Odoline, a daughter of royalty.

“Time and again the press had referred to the widowed Mrs. Stevens as “a woman of lowly beginning,” but Adelaide regarded her as a woman to be revered.”

Here, McKay exposes how many layers of social obstruction women face to succeed on their own terms. In addition to patriarchal values that demean women’s work and constrict them to a domestic environment, internalized misogyny also contributes to the hostile environment women face. Adelaide works outside the confines of traditional gender roles, so she can see Mrs. Stevens for who she truly is rather than how her social station defines her.

“At first, [Paran Stevens] thought it might be a small punishment for his indifference to them when he’d been alive, but over time they’d kept refusing, all the while growing more alike than different in movement and appearance.”

Paran Stevens’s thoughts expose society’s dismissive attitude toward working women in general. The author implies that even in death, these women are not recognized as individuals, only as “the Marys,” even though some of them do not have the name Mary.

“What the doctor hadn’t mentioned was whether there was a cure for the condition or how long it might last. His only advice had been, “Don’t let it make you less of a man.’”

This excerpt showcases how men are also mistreated under patriarchy. Traditional gender expectations expect men to show no emotion and remain stoic, even when faced with illness, pain, heartbreak, or horror. This perpetuates a reductive and dismissive attitude toward men’s pain and feelings.

“A man who believes women.”

This statement from Judith Dashley reveals how women persistently face dismissive attitudes when speaking of their thoughts, interests, and feelings. It showcases how pervasive the attitude is, as a man like Brody who believes women and listens to them appears remarkable.

“Caught in Satan’s web at such a tender age. Don’t you know this place is designed to lead women astray?”

This dialogue between Sister Piddock and Beatrice reveals how women can also be complicit in propagating misogynistic ideals. While not as violent as Townsend, Sister Piddock is nevertheless just as determined to see sin and evil in any person who doesn’t adhere to religiously sanctioned lifestyles.

“‘This isn’t about love,” Eleanor retorted. “It’s about liberty.’”

This quote demonstrates the strength in Eleanor’s character and her commitment to helping women. Though she is pained and heartbroken over Lucy’s choices and the end of their affair, she nevertheless can put her feelings aside in fellowship with another woman. This speaks to feminism as a political philosophy motivated by liberation and solidarity over personal gain.

“It’s simply not in me to be brave.”

McKay highlights the social costs of pursuing a life outside of normalized social expectations. Though Eleanor and Adelaide lead independent lives, Lucy’s character is a reminder that they are an exception—and not an easily attainable one at that. To be independent is to risk social ostracization, and many are not able or willing to pay such a cost.

“The days of witchcraft and sorcery may be happily past, but man is not above believing in magic when science is so convincingly turned to spectacle.”

In this instance, the author suggests that part of the power behind magic and scientific innovation is its performance. To be able to awe an individual is to push them to suspend their disbelief, regardless of whether or not true magic is being performed.

“Still, he thought it a better choice than swilling a bottle of laudanum or getting piss drunk.”

This passage demonstrates Brody’s striving character. Though he has lost his family, his arm, and his initial passion (surgery), he still does not succumb to his demons or allow himself to fall under darker influences. The reference to laudanum here creates verisimilitude—the opium and morphine tincture was commonplace in the Gilded Age, and its distribution only became restricted in 1914.

“This realm of the living is a palace of forgetting. Birth gives us life, but leaves us blind to all other worlds. We witches, we wise-women seek to touch all that’s been forgotten.”

This piece of dialogue recharacterizes witches in the role of living memories— that is, as individuals who embody and maintain a history that would otherwise be lost by time or design. Were it not for their ability to retain information from the dead, McKay intimates that history would lose many of its pages.

“It’s a risky thing for a girl to admit she’s witnessed a miracle.”

Beatrice’s comment gestures toward a long-standing history that would see women as capable only of the ordinary and the negligible. Allowing women to witness and perform the exceptional and the marvelous would equally allow them to claim a higher social standing on equal footing with men. This poses danger for those who uphold a patriarchal system.