By Kaylie Seed
A Sure Cure for Witchcraft is a middle-grade novel that is bound to capture your heart from the very beginning. In present-day New Germany, Nova Scotia, five-year-old Lilly begins to tell stories that her mother believes are from an overactive imagination but Lilly insists that these are memories from before—a life that she once lived. The stories stop, but as Lilly grows up, she begins to have vivid dreams she’s convinced she has seen before…
In Württemberg Germany during the mid-1700s, Lilli finds herself training under Alisz to become a healer and midwife despite the disapproval of her vater (father). The bond that Lilli and Alisz share is one that will survive centuries because that’s what happens to soul-friends.
A Sure Cure for Witchcraft is a tale of friendship, love, and finding the strength to be yourself even if it makes others unhappy because, in the end, it is your happiness that matters. Best weaves together past and present to create a story about the power of friendship and soulmates. While stories like this have been written before, there was something about A Sure Cure for Witchcraft that pulled at the heartstrings. Best managed to fill the story of Lilli and Alisz with emotion that is bound to make anyone root for this friendship to hold up over centuries. I know that when I was in high school, I yearned for stories like this—one that's filled with so much adoration and love that I felt cherished and loved.
A book that can be finished in a day, A Sure Cure for Witchcraft is a story for anyone who is looking for a tale about the trials of friendship and the love that goes with it. Best has written a novel that can be enjoyed by both young and old readers alike and is likely to make you smile and feel loved. Best’s prose was smooth, and even though there were two plots happening simultaneously, Best manages to keep them separate while weaving them together seamlessly. I cannot wait to see what Best does next!
Thank you, Nimbus Publishing, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.