When I was younger, one of my favourite movies was Practical Magic, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. I loved the magic, the comedy, the sense of female camaraderie. Reading VenCo, the latest from best-selling author Cherie Dimaline, had all of the same vibes I used to enjoy from that movie. But instead of sisters, it was a granddaughter and grandmother, instead of aunts it was the other Salem witches, and instead of Jimmy Angelov they’re being pursued by Jay Christos, an ancient witch hunter. It’s easy to get swept up in what feels like a familiar tale, but with a more diverse, queer-friendly, trans-inclusive cast, it also feels fresh and exciting.
VenCo
Cherie Dimaline
William Morrow
February 7, 2023
It starts in a tiny Toronto apartment, with Lucky St. James, a young Metis woman who lives with her eccentric grandmother, Stella. Their savings are nonexistent and Stella’s dementia seems to be getting worse every day. Which leaves Lucky wondering what they’re going to do after their impending eviction. She doesn’t want to move Stella into full-time care, but she’s not confident she can provide the support she needs in her condition. But then one day, while doing laundry, she follows an impulse which leads her to a small silver spoon, engraved with a witch and the name “SALEM.” Not long after she is approached with a job offer from a mysterious company called VenCo, which sets forth a chain of events that will change Lucky and Stella’s life forever.
Lucky decides to take a chance on the job offer and heads across the border, grandmother in tow, to Salem, MA. There she meets Myrna Good and four other women with spoons just like hers. They’re all members of VenCo, not just a company but a network of witches throughout North America, who have been waiting for the Salem spoons to come together, bringing about a new era of witches and female power. Lucky’s presence brings them a bit closer to their goal, but there’s still one spoon to find and it’s up to Lucky to track it, and the final witch, down before the witches are forced to remain underground forever.
Once with the coven, Lucky is surrounded by a great cast of powerful women, some with indigenous ancestry, like Lucky, as well as a queer couple, and Freya, a trans witch who is accepted into the coven without question. The intersectionality and female solidarity is a real strength of this novel, but the relationship between Lucky and her grandmother Stella may be the strongest element of the book. Dimaline captures the highs and lows of loving someone with dementia. It’s clear that Lucky loves her grandmother and would do anything for her. But she also feels a heavy burden of responsibility and stress to take care of Stella. Once they’re on their road trip across America, away from the daily worries of bills and evictions, Lucky has the opportunity to really reflect on her relationship with Stella, as she decides what will come next for both of them.
I loved the glimpses into the witch lore of the book, like the flashbacks to the original creators of the spoons, or the different types of witches, like Tenders that Lucky meets along the way. But beyond the lore, I found the magic system itself a little underexplored. We don’t see a lot of magic used on the page and I was curious what each character’s magic did and how they were able to use it. We also don’t see a ton of VenCo besides the main cast in Salem and I wanted to know more about how the organization operated around the world and what their ultimate goals were when the spoons were reunited. At this time, this is published as a standalone novel but I would love to see it spin out into a series of companion novels set in the same world.
Though there were moments I wanted to know more, VenCo is a book that is easy to get lost in and if you love witches, found family, and road trips it is a must-read. The characters will charm you, the mystery of the spoons will intrigue you and you’ll love making the journey alongside Lucky and Stella as they make their way to Toronto, Salem, Appalachia, and finally New Orleans.
