Welcome Back, Booklovers! Black Candle Women was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. I love multigenerational family stories and stories that blend the past with the present and then with the voodoo aspect this caught my eye. I received an arc from Graydon House.
In this book we follow the Montrose Women who are a family living in California with New Orleans roots. Augusta is the matriarch and she lives with her granddaughters Victoria and Willow and her great-granddaughter Nikkie. We follow each of these women on their journey through life and love over the course of a few months.
It was fitting Ava Duvernay blurred this book because it feels like something she would adapt. It has the makings of a series with just the right sized cast of characters with varying ages. And a series would be able to expand of the plots that were introduced by not fully fleshed out. I feel like there wasn't enough balance between all the ladies. We got what we needed in Augusta's story but Victoria, Willow, and Nickie had things happen off page that weren't addressed enough on page.
For example Willow states she does not believe in the curse yet at the same time has never had a steady relationship before. Yet she meets this man named January and she's quick to start a committed relationship with him. And then most of it plays out off page without readers getting a proper recap on page. There was actually a period in the book where she makes a big decision and then there's a time jump of a few months where it seems like life was at a standstill for all the ladies.
Victoria was very controlling and annoying for a large portion of the book and I wish her antics would've been dialed back to explore some of her other relationships with more depth. I know there was a point to be made about her being a therapist who is bad with communication but she never had one proper sit down with her family members. I feel like the healing that happened between her and Willow as well as her mother came too easily.
I think a good job was done building up Nikkie's story with her relationship with a boy from school but I feel like it could've had a better end then it did.
I really liked the flashbacks to 50s New Orleans through the memories of Augusta. I also liked that even though she is mute in her old age her family still has full on convos with her and she has her own ways to communicate with them. That being said all the pain she experience was her fault and I didn't feel sorry for her that it happened. Especially when as the book goes on her lies are revealed.
For people who are hesitant it will lean too fantasy because of the voodoo, they don't need to worry. It blurred the lines a lot about what was magic and what was just coincidences and assumptions.
Over all despite wanting just a little bit more in some areas I did enjoy in this book.
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