The best witch in Paris by Lauren Crozier

Luna is a witch-in-training at Grim’s School for the Education of Young Witches in Paris. Her magic skills can be hit and miss, probably due to the fact she doesn’t yet have a familiar. Luna’s adoptive aunts, shopkeepers in the witches quarter, believe in her – if only she believed in herself? The story begins with another broken down broom forcing Luna to take the train home, after exchanging her moon ring for a small boobook owl at the market in the Lost Forest. 

Could the boobook she named Silver, for the colour of its feathers, be her familiar? The bird seller advised her to keep the owl hidden but assured her that it belonged to her. The familiar must choose the witch and she must accept that. In an effort to set Silver free to determine if they are a match, she is set upon by Goblins seeking the reward for the Owlet.

A terrible series of events unfold and she is suspected of stealing Madame Valadons’ familiar, although The Best Witch in Paris already has a fearsome familiar. Shunned by The Magic Council of Witches she is expelled from school and her family are threatened in various ways until she returns the boobook, which she refuses to do.

Never fear, the school library holds the answers to much more than her curse assignment. The school librarian, Marielle the library monitor and even the library ghosts rally around Luna when her three aunts disappear. Saffie and Marielle are eager to help her solve the mystery once they are taken into Luna’s confidence. If a familiar can only ever belong to one witch, she needs more than a new broom to uncover how baby Luna was found by her aunts and raised as a witch. 

The twists and turns of this adventure drives the reader on. Crucial to Luna’s journey of self-discovery is her quest to save the boobook owl and perhaps even the whole community of witches. We confirm that access to information isn’t inherently good or bad whether it’s dark magic, family history or owl husbandry.

Themes range from never making assumptions about others to self-belief and belongingness but are nuanced in the absorbing and fast paced narrative arc. Lauren Crosier won the 2023 Text Prize using all the delightful tropes of witches. Yet she has somehow brought the story into the 21st century in Melbourne using female commaradarie to solve complex mysteries rather than man-made Google.

Themes: Supernatural, mystery, fantasy, witches, adventure, magic.

Deborah Robins