The Witch

Lucie's magic has always been modest — she can foresee only trivial things, nothing like the power her own mother wielded. Her husband has forbidden her to practice at all.

But against his wishes, she teaches her twelve-year-old twin daughters, Maud and Lise, to cast spells — and within months the girls are crying tears of crimson, their abilities eclipsing hers entirely.

As their power grows toward a freedom Lucie never let herself imagine, she must decide between keeping her daughters safe at home and letting them go toward whatever their magic is opening up for them. A 1996 novel by Marie NDiaye, translated into English by Jordan Stump and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.