The Witch
Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026
$31.14
- Paperback
144 pages
- Release Date
13 April 2026
Summary
In a small, sleepy town, a mediocre witch, in a mediocre marriage, tries to pass on her gifts to her twin daughters, who, it becomes immediately apparent, have skills far beyond her own.
“NDiaye at her most dazzling” - Katie Kitamura
“This is NDiaye at her disquieting best” - New York Magazine
Lucie comes from a long line of witches, powers passed down from mother to daughter. Her own mum was formidable in her powers, but ashamed of her magic. Perhaps as a res…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781529449389 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1529449383 |
| Author: | Marie NDiaye |
| Publisher: | Quercus Publishing |
| Imprint: | MacLehose Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 144 |
| Release Date: | 13 April 2026 |
| Weight: | 152g |
| Dimensions: | 214mm x 134mm x 14mm |
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Critics Review
The Witch is Marie NDiaye at her most dazzling. In this simple, startlingly powerful novel, NDiaye lays out her central themes: familial secrets, power, shame and liberation. NDiaye is one of the greats - her novels are mesmerizing, wholly singular, completely unforgettable – Katie Kitamura, author of AuditionFamily alienation meets suburban witchcraft in this short, fantastical work from one of France’s greatest living novelists, which is finally getting an English translation nearly 30 years after it appeared in France. Lucie, a middling witch, is instructing her two daughters in the family’s matrilineal talent of seeing the future - visions produce tears of blood - but their professionally disempowered father all but approves. As the bitter marriage at the center of the family unravels, the girls embrace their new gift more fully than Lucie could have imagined. This is NDiaye at her disquieting best * Vulture *
About The Author
Marie NDiaye
Marie NDiaye was born in France in 1967. She published her first novel at seventeen and has won the Prix Femina for Rosie Carpe (2001) and the Prix Goncourt for Three Strong Women (2009).
Her play “Papa Doit Manger” has been taken into the repertoire of the Comedie Fran aise. Her novel Ladivine (translated by Jordan Stump) was longlisted for the Booker International Prize in 2016. In 2020, she was awarded the Prix Marguerite Yourcenar for her entire body of work.
She lives in Paris.
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