Healer and Witch

De: Nancy Werlin

Narrado por: Kristen Sieh

After 11 young-adult novels, best-selling and award-winning author Nancy Werlin casts a brilliant new spell in a middle-grade historical fantasy for fans of classic fare.

Nancy Werlin’s first story for middle-graders tackles and transcends traditional fantasy tropes: Can a young woman gifted with magic learn to manage her powers - and claim her strength - without violence?

Sylvie and her mother and grandmother are beloved, trusted healers in their medieval French village, though some whisper that 15-year-old Sylvie and her grand-mere deal in more than herbs and medicines. Perhaps they’re a bit...witchy? After her grandmother dies, and an attempt to use magic to heal her mother’s grief brooks tragic consequences, Sylvie leaves her village in search of a teacher. The journey subjects her to strange alliances, powerful temptations, danger, and deceit. In the end, there may be only one wise woman Sylvie can trust in a world that would define her limits: herself.

Beautifully crafted, this quietly powerful work for younger listeners assures a whole new audience for an established author.

©2022 Nancy Werlin (P)2022 Listening Library

an introduction to adults with complex motives

The subtlety of character--adults who seem good, then bad, then hard to determine--is a rarity in middle-grade fiction. Only Phillip Pullman does it as well as Nancy Werlin. The plucky young heroine is also complex and believable. This one is very worth the time.