The Witches of New York

Beatrice is one of the novel’s three protagonists and its hero. Though originally their employee, she becomes fast friends with Eleanor and Adelaide. Her parents both died from smallpox when she was only 10 years old, and her aunt Lydia, a widow, raised her for the next seven years in Stony Point, New York. She becomes Reverend Townsend’s obsession once he decides to save her from Adelaide’s alleged bewitching. Described as a charming girl with red hair and bright eyes, Beatrice is fascinated by abnormalities and dreams of a life outside of Stony Point that is neither safe nor predictable. When she moves to New York, she applies for and obtains a position at Adelaide and Eleanor’s tea shop, Tea and Sympathy. From the moment she steps foot in the tea shop, she encounters a number of ghosts and discovers that the wish she made on her self-made witch’s ladder awakened her magical powers.

Under Eleanor’s tutelage, Beatrice learns to cast spells and develops her herbology knowledge. Unique to her, however, is her ability to communicate with ghosts and spirits without the need for a spell or ritual like the “dumb supper.” Despite being what Delphine calls a “made” witch rather than a born one, Beatrice is nevertheless burdened with a great destiny: to be “the first witch not born but made [will] renew the work of the Mothers.