Going into this book, I expected a bit more backstory on witchcraft and the practice of the Wiccan religion. There were a few pages at the beginning, but this felt more like a book to read once you have a solid grasp on their views and just want to learn about important characters in the past who have had an impact on our understanding of Wicca. A decent read, but not what I was excpecting.

It seems like references to the occult and witchy-ness are everywhere today, both in good a bad ways. This book is a great primer on the history of the occult through the lens of women. Each section uses a woman or group of women as a focal point to explore a facet of occult history.

The book is well written, researched, and composed to show the many different women (and nonbinary) and underpinnings in the occult (mainly in the US). I didn't realize before reading this book how so much of the appeal of the occult is the rejection of societal norms and pushing against oppression of rights for anyone "other" (ie not cis, white, or male). That said, the authors don't shy away from the at times racist, homophobic, or problematic moments/people in occult history and instead use them to juxtapose how the community can and is changing to be more open and accepting.

The authors have included many well known and many new to me women and nonbinary who participated and shaped the occult history and I learned a lot from reading this book. Overall a great social history on the occult for anyone interested in learning more, especially with a feminine focus.

The authors, horror academics Kroger and Anderson, who first came to great acclaim with "Monster She Wrote" and highlight female contributions to horror, have returned with another book, this one touted as a women's history of the occult.

They start off with a discussion of how social media has become part of the proliferation of people exploring interests in the occult, people in their teens and twenties in particular, the proliferation of #witchtok on the TikTok platform, and trying in a way to democratize the presence of witches, or as the authors put it more astutely, folks who have "used occult tools to achieve empowerment." As they also point out, they have long been interested in the intersection of women's history and the occult, and they look primarily at the United States.

They also talk about the importance of the use of the term 'witch,' what it signifies, religious practices versus people who throw the term around perhaps a bit more casually, insinuations, anything occult being labeled 'witchcraft,' pejorative associated terms and how to be respectful. They give the same consideration to the term 'occult' for similar reasons as well as conflations with other organized religions.

The famous figures you might expect like Marie Laveau are included, because no guide to witches would be complete without her, Madame Helena Blavatsky, Sylvia Browne and other television psychics, and even Stormy Daniels.

The authors start things off, where else, but in Salem, Mass, in the 17th century, women's roles, patriarchy, false accusations of witchcraft, and the Witch Trials. The figure of Tituba is discussed several times throughout the book. They then branch off into the Spiritualism movement and the Fox sisters; Helen Peters Nosworthy or the woman reputed to have built Ouija boards; Pamela Colman Smith reputed to have popularized tarot cards; women in Hollywood like Marjorie Cameron; Wicca; the 1996 film "The Craft" which is one of my favourites (there's a small spotlight on Rachel True, the actress who portrayed Rochelle, the only person of colour in the film's witchy quartet). They also discuss the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Dungeons & Dragons, the 'Scully Effect' of the popular 90s television show The X-Files, and more.

Also discussed are women's roles in politics and figures like Victoria Woodhull as well as other lesser known figures such as Harriet E. Wilson, who was a free Black woman born in New Hampshire and one of the first published Black novelists in the United States. The profile of her focuses on how she became involved in the Spiritualist movement in the early 1860s and how she eventually moved to Boston. She became known as a trance reader or medium. Another Black woman who achieved similar notoriety was Rebecca Cox Jackson hose writings were collected in the 1981 book "Gifts of Power." There is also a very interesting featurette on formerly enslaved woman, abolitionist, and suffragette Sojourner Truth.

Other famous horror figures who get discussed are Vampira and Elvira, television incarnations like Sabrina the Teenage Witch (as well as Netflix's much darker take, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). Bewitched, is of course, discussed. As well, toward the end of the book, newer figures like Krysta Venora, an Afro-Indigenous, trans, nonbinary, queer witch, are discussed.

Overall, it's a fascinating book and a must-own for anyone with an interest in women's history in the United States as well as intersections with the occult and many figures that you have likely not heard of (and yes, there is a discussion on the witches who were said to have hexed the previous administration's president whose reign of terror began in 2017 whose name I do not wish to state).

This is an interesting exploration of the way women have been involved in magic and the occult through time, and how they have been perceived by society and the male gaze because of it. It talks about numerous women who are often forgotten and is a fascinating read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

Toil and Trouble was a pleasant surprise for me with its enchanting tales of witches, magic, and female empowerment.