It is a strange time for all who write or work in publishing. Will a new book appear in book shops? Will there be a book launch? Will it be distributed via trade fairs? In uncertain times, one thing is certain: we need stories more than ever, as a means of passing the time, travelling beyond ourselves when stuck indoors, and more darkly, as a substitution for living. Here are some of the 2021 titles we’re more excited about.
Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants by Fez Inkwright - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Liminal 11
Release Date 5 January 2021
The author of Folk Magic and Healing returns with a darker book. Plants can heal and soothe; they can also intoxicate, maim, and kill. In the ancient world, plant poisons were the preferred means of execution. Their usage straddles mythology, history and popular culture. Within this beautiful treasury, we learn about the stories behind some of the deadlier plants, herbs and fungi we should avoid when foraging.
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Raven Books
Release Date 21 January 2021
Set in Victorian Bath, The Shape of Water follows Agnes, a silhouette artist, as she recovers from illness and struggles to keep her business afloat. After learning a killer is targeting her clients, she approaches Pearl, a spirit medium; the hope is that Pearl might be able to communicate with the murder victims and learn who killed them. They unearth a secret. Expect mesmerism, séances, ghosts and Victorian Gothic.
Nature's Hidden Oracles: From Flowers to Feathers & Shells to Stones - A Practical Guide to Natural Divination by Liz Dean - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Octopus
Release Date 21 January 2021
When we think about divination, our mind tends towards the obvious: scrying into water or a crystal ball; tarot; reading tea leaves; palmistry. But humans have been reading the signs in nature for thousands of years. Liz Dean shows how oracles are everywhere, if we look for them. We needn’t buy fancy gear, though it’s fun; we can looks for signs in the world around us.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna - chosen by Ellen Uttley
Imprint Delacorte Books
Release Date 4 February 2021
This highly anticipated debut novel of Namina Forna tells the story of Deka, a young woman awaiting the moment that her life will balance on a knife's edge. But when her blood runs gold, she must make the choice between the village that has labelled her a demon and a new life offered to her by a mysterious woman, a life of danger and adventure as one of the emperor's army of immortal alaki. Rave reviews are already pouring in for The Gilded Ones, with readers and reviewers enamored by everything from the book's beautiful cover to its powerful message of female empowerment.
The Lost Pillars of Enoch: When Science and Religion Were One by Tobias Churton
Imprint Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Release Date 4 February 2021 (paperback)
Once there was no fine line between art, religion and science; all had similar aims, to gain new knowledge about our strange world. This book traces the history of humankind’s quest for knowledge in the western world, looking at gnosticism, freemasonry and hermeticism. Tobias Churton is a leading scholar on Western Esotericism and a lecturer at Exeter University on Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.
Artaud and the Gnostic Drama by Jane Goodall - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Scarlet Imprint
Release Date Spring 2021
This is a Scarlet Imprint reprint of an older text, beautifully bound in linen and revised. Antonin Artaud (1896–1948) was a French dramatist and theatre director, among other things. ‘He subscribed to the Gnostic idea that the sensible world was creation by a demiurge who was “imperfect, possibly evil and depraved.”’ In Artaud and the Gnostic Drama, Jane Goodall offers a reappraisal of this figure, and considers the parallels between his heretical dramaturgy and the heresies of ancient Gnosticism.
The Ghost Variations: One Hundred Stories by Kevin Brockmeier - chosen by Ellen Uttley
Imprint Pantheon Books
Release Date 9 March 2021
From the acclaimed author of The Brief History of the Dead, comes this mighty collection of bite-sized ghost stories that is sure to get even the most skeptical reader sleeping with the light on. These genre-bending tales of spectres and shadows are divided by their theme, making the collection wonderfully digestible, and cover topics so wide ranging that there will surely be something for everyone. A must-read around any torch lit campfire.
Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman - chosen by Yasmina Floyer
Imprint Beacon Press
Release Date 9 March 2021
Inspired by myth and folklore that centres on female creatures portrayed as frightening and monstrous (often written by men), Zimmerman revisits these tales examining the the very traits that deemed unnatural for a woman, characteristics such as ambition and anger and reframes them to encourage readers to embrace a new type of female hero.
"Through fresh analysis of eleven female monsters, including Medusa, the Harpies, the Furies, and the Sphinx, Jess Zimmerman takes us on an illuminating feminist journey through mythology. She guides women (and others) to reexamine their relationships with traits like hunger, anger, ugliness, and ambition, teaching readers to embrace a new image of the female hero: one that looks a lot like a monster, with the agency and power to match.”
The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine by Kaveh Akbar - chosen by Ellen Uttley
Imprint Penguin
Release Date 1 April 2021
100 Poets on the Divine is a beautiful selection of poetry written over the full span of human experience. From the earliest attributable author, the High Priestess Enheduanna of twenty-third century BC, to the celebrated and lesser known poets of the modern day, this diverse and eclectic selection of divine inspired verse is bound to get any reader looking deeper into themselves and the universe around them.
First Person Singular: Stories by Haruki Murakami - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Harvill Secker
Release Date 6 April 2021
Haruki Murakami used to be my go-to for breaking reading lulls. His books such as Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, The Windup Bird Chronicle, and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman enchanted me; they are those types of books that take you beyond yourself and into the cavernous recesses of the unconscious mind. Wells, cats, female mediums and synchronicities crop up frequently as motifs, somehow each time wondrous and unusual. All this changed when I read Killing Commendatore, which had more in common with the “Great American Novel”, and bored me silly. First Person Singular promises a return to form for Murakami, perhaps. Eight short stories are told by the classic Murakami narrator: a lonely man. I am hoping for strange, nostalgic tales with that spirit that haunts all of his best books.
Adriadne by Jennifer Saint
Imprint Flatiron Books
Release Date 4 May 2021
In recent years we’ve been treated to a number of reworkings of myth, from Madeline Miller’s Circe to Maria Dahvana Headley’s The Mere Wife. Readers apparently can’t get enough of such books, and literary agents and publishers alike are quick to snap up classical retellings. Here we revisit the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, from the perspective of Theseus’ lover and the Minotaur’s sister, princess Adriadne of Crete. In a tale of family betrayal and forbidden love, again we see the story retold from one of the forgotten women in Greek mythology.
Bear by Marian Engel - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Daunt Books
Release Date April 2021
This is ‘the best Canadian novel of all time’ according toThe National Post. Quite a statement, but this book counts among its fans Margaret Atwood—we’re convinced. Bear is a folkloric tale, that speaks of a woman’s emancipation in nature. Originally published in 1976, this Daunt Books reprint is sure to bring this strange and compelling book to a new generation of readers. A shy and lonely librarian finds her job and sex lacklustre. When called to an island, she meets the bear, who she provides with food and company. In return, the bear satisfies the woman’s unmet needs.
Cunning Women by Elisabeth Lee - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint Windmill Books
Release Date 22 April 2021
How could we not feel drawn to a book with a title so close to ours? Cunning Women is a historical fiction novel, set in 1620s Lancashire. It follows Sarah and her family who, in the shadow of the Pendle witch trials, survive day-to-day by selling herbal remedies to those in need. They are not the typical royals or aristocrats typically seen in this genre, but peasants trying to make ends meet, up against prejudice and witchcraft accusations. At this novel’s heart there is also a tale of forbidden love. Elizabeth Lee is a Cunning Folk mentor, and her debut comes highly recommended.
Ozark Folk Magic: Plants, Prayers and Healing: Plants, Prayers & Healing by Brandon Weston
Imprint Llewellyn Publications
Release Date 1 February 2021
We tend to think of the US as a capitalist monoculture, but there is still a plurality of cultures, notably in rural areas. Many folk traditions moved from Europe to the US and intermingled with local, and other imported, beliefs. There are still aspects of cunning craft there, which have evolved with time. There has been a lot written about Appalachian folk traditions. Brandon Weston writes about the folk magic typical in the Ozarks, that regions that straddles the states of Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The Spirit of Japan by Sean Michael Wilson, illustrated by Fumio Obata
Imprint Liminal 11
Release Date 10 June 2021
What does magic look like in Japan? This beautifully illustrated book introduces some of the rituals and spiritual practices in the country, many of which are woven into the everyday. We encounter demons, offerings, fortune charms, the magic inherent in nature and the transition between seasons.
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
Imprint Orbit books
Release Date 14 June 2021
"The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf.” Such elevator pitches tend to say more about marketing aims than they do about the book in question. That said, this one is intriguing, and promises a compulsive read. For the Wolf is a loose retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Except here the wolf is a man, not a monster. And Red’s magic is a calling, not a curse.
City Witches: Accessible Rituals, Practices, and Prompts for Magic-Making in Busy Places & Small Spaces by Lisa Marie Basile - chosen by Elizabeth Kim
Imprint becker&mayer!
Release Date 17 August 2021
Lisa Marie Basile is a witch, poet, and the author of Light Magic for Dark Times and The Magical Writing Grimoire. City Magic promises to inspire us to tap into our inner magic when resources are scarce. It invites us to disconnect from digital and sensory overload and tune into the things that matter. When many of us are living in tight space during this pandemic, this book offers a different way of looking at our predicament. There is magic to be found everywhere, even in the seemingly least sacred of places—expect City Astrology, Kitchen Witchery and city wanderings.
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull - chosen by Yasmina Floyer
Imprint Blackstone Publishing
Release date Sept 7th 2021
At the heart of this story is a mystery surrounding the death of Laina’s brother, a victim of police brutality at the hands of Boston cops, but appearances are deceiving. What looks at first like police brutality takes on a far stranger turn. Monsters are not a thing of myth and now they wish to make themselves known. Creatures that had previously been the stuff of myths and legends begin to emerge from the shadows provoking a series of events that on the surface appears unrelated. With ingredients including a unexplained disappearances, a werewolf pack and secret society, this is a crime novel I can get my teeth into! “At the centre is a mystery no one thinks to ask: What now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark? The world will soon find out.”