#BookReview ‘The Witch’s Heart’ by Genevieve Gornichec

About the book…

When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.

Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.

Hugest of thanks to Sarah Mather of Titan Books for inviting me on the blogtour for ‘The Witch’s Heart’ by Genevieve Gornichec which is out now today in paperback and ebook formats.

The Witch’s Heart will steal yours away, it is an incredibly moving and prescient tale from ancient times brought to life for a modern audience. The central theme of males coveting, and stealing, the powers of women whose compliance is seen as natural and necessary, coming up against a witch who says ‘no’, is always relevant and timely.

Here, Odin wants the elemental witch, Gullveig, to help him access the darkest secrets of her magic, and using her talents to travel out of her body, he pushes her to places that she doesn’t want to go, a darkness which scares even her.

Using the flimsiest of excuses to punish her for not going to where he demands her to, she is burnt three times, stabbed in the heart by spears and assumed to be dead, the ultimate torture of the spoilt gods of Norse myth. However, in this action he has created a space where his arrogance assumes her death, but he has no checked whether she actually is…

Escaping to live out of sight, in a cave, she is approached by a man who identifies himself as Loki, the god of mischief. By mischief, he is a figure who is easily bored and likes to create discord wherever he goes though in reality, he is very dangerous because he plants seeds, sits back, and watches the consequences for his own amusement.

Finding Gullveig who now goes by the name of Angrboda (meaning ‘proclaimer of sorrows’), in isolation, he returns to her her heart, which he has rescued from the ashes of her funeral pyre, and in so doing, falls in love as much as he can be said to be able to give his own heart away.

Both these characters are outsiders, considered monstrous because they do not toe the line which Odin has drawn in the sand (whilst constantly breaking his own rules)they find a commonality which is both beautiful and deadly.

Their relationship has consequences, three children, which cause Angrboda to fear for their lives and an unlikely alliance forms between her and the giants of Jottenheim as she tries to protect her offspring from the all Father. The links between prophecies, and being held accountable for your behaviour, is so much a part of Norse myth, yet here, the author manages to make this a very modern story about the elemental power of women and the recasting of them as villains-‘witch’ is seen in such negative connotations yet her, Genevieve returns the word to Angrboda as boon not a insult.

A love story, a tale of redemption, courage and the love of a mother for her children, this is a dramatic and vivid retelling of a Norse  myth which centers the elemental power of the female in a deeply powerful way. The narrative is superbly immersive, it feels like the best of stories, being told in a way that takes me back to my childhood, yet with a modern sensibility which makes it so accessible. It is a myth rewritten, a tale retold through the fractals of a feminist lens and I loved it, and hope that there will be more stories by this wonderful writer.

About the author…

Genevieve Gornichec is a writer from Northeast Ohio. She earned her degree in history, but she got as close to majoring in Vikings as she possibly could.

Her writing is inspired by the Norse myths and Icelandic sagas.

Links-https://genevievegornichec.com/

Twitter @gengornichec @TitanBooks @Sarah_Mather_15