Strega – Magic: The Spirit Never Dies by Lynne Russell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Angela Scotti, also known as Annie is a woman who was born in November on the day that the baptismal font cracked in half at the local church, this is not a good omen, or at least not to her Italian-American family. When she was baptised in her grandmothers salad bowl, her family were up to their usual tricks and her Godfather was frantic and constantly clockwatching throughout as he was late to a meeting, but none of this surprised the priest who was running the baptism. She has been through a lot in her life from experiencing multiple tragedies to having an unusual childhood and family dynamic, but she has dealt with it all, however, the whispers she has been hearing at night all her life have started to become louder and more urgent, but her fiancée is not accepting what is happening and refuses to believer her, being the straight laced lawyer that he is. Meanwhile, she is learning how to become a healer, but the person who should be a mentor to her in the workplace has instead become someone who is against her with every fibre of their being, but what Annie doesn’t realise is that the stress she is under is about to send her on a quest to find herself and to a tiny town on the coast of Massachusetts.

While we learn about Annie and her life, we also learn about her family history, from the year 1617 where it all began with her ancestors, their destined meeting and the skills which were to be passed down through the feminine line of magic and witchcraft and it’s roots in Benevento in Italy land where a Strega, or witch was able to live freely and have a legendary place in that Southern Italian land and the mysterious liquore famed for its potency and enablement of everlasting love.

At the same time, the history of the small coastal town is being revealed to Annie piece by piece, but what she finds out leads her to both joy and despair as the events detailed in the year of 1899 weave themselves into an unexpected place in history. Will Annie be able to recognise the signs around her and live up to the Destino, or destiny which has been laid before her, or will she crack under the pressure and let defeat destroy everything she holds dear? This is a story of strength, weakness, happiness and sadness which takes you on an emotional rollercoaster as hidden truths and connections are revealed to the unprepared and told in a magical way which pulls you along, as you learn how past, present and future are all interlinked.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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