The Virago Book Of Witches

Beware the women who are called witches, or those who claim the name for themselves.

Witches represent womanhood in all its complexity. This stunning collection brings together over fifty stories of crones and nixies, shape-shifters and beauties, celebrating women who dare to step out of line. From the howling banshee and the vengeful she-devil to the wise old woman and the enchantress, these tales explore the dark, the divine, and the delightfully badly-behaved.

Spanning every corner of the globe, the collection features the loving fox witch of Japan, Italy’s Witch-Bea-Witch, Scotland’s Goodwife of Laggan, and the terrifying forms of Kali and Baba Yaga. These legends capture a world of tomfoolery, strife, and victory, where women haunt, entice, possess, and transform the world around them.

A beautiful reissue of a perennial favorite, this anthology is a definitive celebration of global folklore and the enduring power of the witch.