Healer and Witch

A budding, respectful romance and hints of deeper powers will have readers hoping for a sequel. It’s well worth joining kind and clever Sylvie on her harrowing journey of discovery.

Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, filled with magic, mystery, strength, and love.

In Werlin’s (Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good) middle grade debut, an introspective historical fantasy set in 1531 France, 15-year-old Sylvie can see and manipulate thoughts and memories, but she has received no official training for the power, which, like that of her Grand-mère, is stronger than her Catholic family’s usual gifts of healing. After inadvertently erasing some of her midwife mother’s memories in attempting to ease her grief around the death of Grand-mère, Sylvie leaves her small town to seek out a mentor. Unexpectedly accompanied by eight-year-old farrier’s son Martin, she sets forth across the richly described French countryside, keeping her power a secret from those who’d attack her for witchcraft as well as those who would exploit her. When she joins a caravan led by 24-year-old merchant Robert Chouinard, Sylvie develops a friendship with the mercurial, mysterious man, but even he may not be able to protect her from the dangers of her journey. Leisurely paced and told in an assured third-person voice, Werlin’s gentle reflection on trauma and healing, the ethics of power, and seemingly dual natures explores Sylvie’s place in the world and her relationship to those she cares for. Protagonists read as white.

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.


Werlin's first foray into middle grade is a thrilling and suspenseful experience; there are twisting reveals and adventure aplenty, though the story isn't afraid to stop for lovely moments of quiet contemplation and recollection along the way. A budding, respectful romance and hints of deeper powers will have readers hoping for a sequel. It's well worth joining kind and clever Sylvie on her harrowing journey of discovery.
—Booklist (starred review)

A refreshingly honest and elegantly written work of historical fantasy.
—The Horn Book (starred review)

A delightful page-turner that will entice readers of historical fiction and fantasy alike. It's a refreshing stand-alone novel with a resilient protagonist who realizes the greatest magic of all is being true to oneself. . . . Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging, filled with magic, mystery, strength, and love.
—Kirkus Reviews

An introspective historical fantasy . . Werlin's gentle reflection on trauma and healing, the ethics of power, and seemingly dual natures explores Sylvie's place in the world and her relationship to those she cares for.
—Publishers Weekly

Gracefully explores themes of identity, family and belonging. . . Werlin (Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good) brings compassion and complexity to her depictions of the relationships between characters, challenging standard notions of good and evil. . . . Although Werlin skillfully evokes Healer and Witch's period setting, Sylvie's journey of self-discovery and its accompanying themes of female empowerment are timeless.
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Against the backdrop of a turbulent era Nancy Werlin spins a sophisticated coming-of-age story in 'Healer & Witch, ' a novel for readers ages 9-12 that is set in France. . . . a properly inventive, historically respectful story with a touch of magic (and romance) in its realism.
—The Wall Street Journal