The LGBTQ+ community is no stranger to haunted houses. 28% of queer people surveyed have experienced housing instability or homelessness, with family conflict being a leading reason for displacement. As a result, found family and intentional spaces are crucial to thriving queer communities. Aligning perfectly with the peak of autumn, Liz Parker’s Witches of Honeysuckle House gives us an opportunity to see these lived experiences in queer writing.
Published on October 21, and set in a cozy Tennessee town, this autumnal story blends fantasy with healing fiction. Parker’s story unfolds tenderly on every page with touching themes of sisterhood, found family, and a dash of magic.
Parker, a queer and nonbinary witch and writer, infused this novel with their own experiences and knowledge. “My hope is that some readers will see themselves or somebody they love on the page and have compassion and kindness,” Parker says when asked about what she wants readers to take away after reading.
Florence and Evie Caldwell are sisters and witches, having inherited both magical prowess and a curse from their matriarchal bloodline. Florence, the eldest, can no longer return to her family home, Honeysuckle House, and has given up her magic. “She was inspired more by my own trauma,” says Parker. “I grew up in a home where I developed C-PTSD and can no longer return.”
The novel is structured in parts, oriented around tarot cards that in turn facilitate the decisions of the characters in the novel. “I use candles in my own witchcraft practice,” Parker says, a practice they passed on to the Caldwell witches. “I like to build my magic systems on real magic and then heighten those practices.” For beginning witches, their recommended tarot deck is The Gentle Tarot by Mari in the Sky.
At times throughout the book, Honeysuckle House itself shares its perspective. A magical, sentient space, the house is as much a character as Florence, Evie, and their community. As the novel progresses, the inclusion of the house answers a question mulled over by Parker: “What does trauma do to the spaces we live in?”
Both Caldwell sisters are queer women who discover the existence of a queer ancestor in their attempts to understand and end the curse that plagues their family. “I think queer people are magical in general,” says Parker, “and the intersection of queerness and witchcraft as parts of my identity appear naturally in my writing.”
Looking forward, Parker aspires to keep this a part of their novels but also hopes to explore more genres. “I’m also interested in telling darker stories. There are a lot of queer themes in horror stories as well that I would love to dig into. I also came out as nonbinary earlier this year and am figuring out how to bring that to the page.”
This fall, as we brace ourselves for the cold and savor the colors of the season, books like Parker’s are a reminder to hold one another close and focus on collective healing. As Parker says, “I write to heal and hope others can find healing in my writing.”
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As Witches of Honeysuckle House explores themes of trauma and healing, please note the content warnings before reading. Content warnings: Child abuse, emotional abuse, death of a parent, death of a grandparent, animal endangerment, and panic attacks.