Book Review- The Gathering by Katherine Genet
The Gathering (Book One of the Wilde Grove) by Katherine Genet
Published in September 2020 by Wytch Elm Books
Print length of 584 pages
When Erin is informed her biological grandmother has died, she travels to the village of Wellsford to see the tiny cottage she has inherited. Her adopted parents have laid out her life path, with expectations of career, motherhood and marriage to a fiancée she finds barely tolerable, all the while leaving her creative yearnings unfulfilled. In her grandmother’s cottage, Erin realizes that her life could have a very different direction. The longer she spends in Wellsford, the more she learns of the Grove, a group of Druids, witches and spiritworkers to whom her grandmother belonged. The Grove welcomes Erin as a member of their group, reborn and reincarnated, and she begins to explore a path of witchcraft and ancient magic.
The Gathering is a rare book, in that it has been written by a polytheistic Pagan author centering on Pagan themes, with a nod to an audience of Pagan and witch readers. It is exciting to see an author drawing on their own spiritual practices and experiences to write fiction from a Pagan perspective. The novel includes exercises and lessons that characters experience themselves, but may also be seen as a guide to the reader to develop or begin their own Pagan path.
If you are looking for a fast paced, high action book, this book is not the one for you. Instead, The Gathering is a character driven novel, with the relationships between characters and their spirituality slowly unfolding. The main plot centres on Erin and her exploration of Wellsford and her grandmother’s cottage, and her inner struggle to reconcile her life with the alternative offered by the Grove. At first, Erin isn’t an easy character to like. She has a life of great privilege, with no financial barriers at all. She has her own apartment, a fully funded college education, supportive parents and a fiancé. Her unhappiness stems from unrealised creative and spiritual yearnings. While she could come across as a spoiled rich brat, Erin’s kindness and earnest curiosity make it hard to dislike her. The novel also follows other members of the Grove as they walk their own spiritual paths and strengthen their connection to one another. There is far more focus on spiritual growth, relationships and inner conflicts, rather than external threats or dramatic action. Genet’s writing style is descriptive and detailed. There are often pauses that explore the beauty of the natural world around the characters, with lyrical descriptions of trees, animals, birds and natural features.
The Gathering is the first book in a completed series. The ending of the novel does seem rushed, and the final pages come suddenly. While not exactly a cliff hanger ending, there is no final resolution, with characters now in place for the ongoing events in the future three novels of the series. If you are reading through the final quarter of the novel and enjoying the story, purchasing the second book, The Belonging, to move straight into would be ideal.
Further information:
Visit the author’s website at: https://katherinegenet.online/