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The Witch of Prague
Win a free print copy of this book!
1 day and 18:30:32
5 copies available
U.S. and Canada only
In Cold War Czechoslovakia, dyslexic teenager Alica escapes her troubled home by answering a newspaper ad. Instructed in typing, deportment, and political intrigue by a forbidding older woman with a long history of manipulating powerful men, she becomes a secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she’s surrounded by surveillance, corruption, and rancid abuses.
When her mentor gifts her an ancient tapestry with mysterious properties, Alica finds herself haunted by dreams of a violent hunt and a mutilated forest. By day, her powers of manipulation are only growing—and around her, the currents of resistance are beginning to electrify the country. As her city teeters on the brink, Alica must uncover the power that only she can wield.
A work of magical realism set during the 1968 Prague Spring, The Witch of Prague is a book about bodily autonomy and the fight against authoritarian regimes everywhere.
When her mentor gifts her an ancient tapestry with mysterious properties, Alica finds herself haunted by dreams of a violent hunt and a mutilated forest. By day, her powers of manipulation are only growing—and around her, the currents of resistance are beginning to electrify the country. As her city teeters on the brink, Alica must uncover the power that only she can wield.
A work of magical realism set during the 1968 Prague Spring, The Witch of Prague is a book about bodily autonomy and the fight against authoritarian regimes everywhere.
388 pages, Paperback
Published March 17, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 12, 2025
I knew I would love this but it really was like nothing I've ever read before.
Pick it up and support small presses ❤️
Pick it up and support small presses ❤️
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This fantasy novel is about Prague in 1967-68, and what it takes for a young woman to survive and thrive in the Communist environment there.
Alicia has a mentor, an older woman with a unicorn tapestry on her wall. The mentor guides Alicia in her advancement through the bureaucratic system, gaining help from various people who are grateful to the mentor for unspecified reasons. It becomes clear that the tapestry has something to do with the mentor's influence over others.
The mentor counsels Alicia through the book, in how to navigate the fraught world of Communist and male-dominated bureaucracy and how to work with the tapestry to influence events.
The book mainly reads as a coming-of-age novel about a young woman (18 years old) in Communist Prague. There is a lot of background on Prague and the society of the time, both the bureaucracy and the society as a whole. The fantasy element doesn't become pronounced until about 100 pages in. By that time we are invested in the well-being of the first-person narrator, Alicia. She is often confused and self-questioning, which feels very typical for a young woman who just exited adolescence and is abruptly thrust into the rapacious world of Communist Czechoslovakia.
Because the novel is set in 1967-68, anybody who knows anything about the Prague Spring knows what's coming. There are real people (like Alexander Dubczek) cited. The author can't change history, but with the use of the tapestry she can present an alternative answer to why things happened the way they did. Without giving away spoilers, I can say that I also liked the way that 'magic' did not solve all the problems - the Prague Spring still played out the way it did in real life.
I found the most interesting parts of the book were the descriptions of how people lived in a client state of the Soviet Union during the 1960s, how the people (especially the students) chafed at the Soviet imposed bureaucracy, and the way that the politics changed that led to the Prague Spring.
Disclaimer: I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher in order to provide an honest pre-publication review. The book is likely to be published in March 2026.
Alicia has a mentor, an older woman with a unicorn tapestry on her wall. The mentor guides Alicia in her advancement through the bureaucratic system, gaining help from various people who are grateful to the mentor for unspecified reasons. It becomes clear that the tapestry has something to do with the mentor's influence over others.
The mentor counsels Alicia through the book, in how to navigate the fraught world of Communist and male-dominated bureaucracy and how to work with the tapestry to influence events.
The book mainly reads as a coming-of-age novel about a young woman (18 years old) in Communist Prague. There is a lot of background on Prague and the society of the time, both the bureaucracy and the society as a whole. The fantasy element doesn't become pronounced until about 100 pages in. By that time we are invested in the well-being of the first-person narrator, Alicia. She is often confused and self-questioning, which feels very typical for a young woman who just exited adolescence and is abruptly thrust into the rapacious world of Communist Czechoslovakia.
Because the novel is set in 1967-68, anybody who knows anything about the Prague Spring knows what's coming. There are real people (like Alexander Dubczek) cited. The author can't change history, but with the use of the tapestry she can present an alternative answer to why things happened the way they did. Without giving away spoilers, I can say that I also liked the way that 'magic' did not solve all the problems - the Prague Spring still played out the way it did in real life.
I found the most interesting parts of the book were the descriptions of how people lived in a client state of the Soviet Union during the 1960s, how the people (especially the students) chafed at the Soviet imposed bureaucracy, and the way that the politics changed that led to the Prague Spring.
Disclaimer: I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher in order to provide an honest pre-publication review. The book is likely to be published in March 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The Witch of Prague by JM Sidorova, the first novel released by small press Homeward Books, reminded me of the epic, dark, surrealist world of The Master and Margarita, a comparison I don't grant lightly. Alica is a young, dyslexic girl desperate to escape her stepfather. She leaps at the chance to learn typing from an old woman with a mysterious unicorn tapestry on her wall. When Pani Agáta tells her that with the power of the tapestry, she can gain enough power to make a place for herself in the 1960s Czech government, Alica is skeptical at first. But under her training, Alica begins to get more powerful—and also more mixed up in powers greater than her understanding.
This novel is twisting, dark, and hard to put down. It is a true fairy tale, in the tradition of Angela Carter, dark and bloody and yes, imbued with violence—both the insidious grey of oppressive bureaucracy and the outright cruelty of misogyny and the sexual advances of powerful men. The magic of the tapestry is subtle and ambiguous (until of course, it's not). The desire to have the power she needs to control her life, to achieve autonomy over the men (bad and beloved) around her, is so great that she falls in thrall to the tapestry and its thick fringe and strange dreams. Sidorova's Prague is richly realized and tangible, as are her characters; the climax is suspenseful and wriggling, tense and shocking. Alica and her tapestry explore the power of words in a surveillance state, the infuriating things women must endure in a world rife with rape culture, and the endurance of a people determined to survive. Certain to be one of my favorites of the year, and a very exciting start for the perspective and taste of new Homeward Books.
Strong content warnings for sexual harassment, sexual assault, and state violence; also for ableist language, implied pedophilia, domestic abuse.
This novel is twisting, dark, and hard to put down. It is a true fairy tale, in the tradition of Angela Carter, dark and bloody and yes, imbued with violence—both the insidious grey of oppressive bureaucracy and the outright cruelty of misogyny and the sexual advances of powerful men. The magic of the tapestry is subtle and ambiguous (until of course, it's not). The desire to have the power she needs to control her life, to achieve autonomy over the men (bad and beloved) around her, is so great that she falls in thrall to the tapestry and its thick fringe and strange dreams. Sidorova's Prague is richly realized and tangible, as are her characters; the climax is suspenseful and wriggling, tense and shocking. Alica and her tapestry explore the power of words in a surveillance state, the infuriating things women must endure in a world rife with rape culture, and the endurance of a people determined to survive. Certain to be one of my favorites of the year, and a very exciting start for the perspective and taste of new Homeward Books.
Strong content warnings for sexual harassment, sexual assault, and state violence; also for ableist language, implied pedophilia, domestic abuse.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I was kindly sent an advance copy of The Witch of Prague by Homeward Books. It’s a compelling work of historical fiction with elements of magical realism.
Set during the Prague Spring of 1968, it follows a young protagonist and her attempts to become a typist despite being dyslexic — with or without magic.
The book is rich in metaphors and allusions, and the writing is strong throughout.
I really enjoyed it — it’s a thoughtful story about resilience, quiet strength, and the fragile space between history and hope.
Set during the Prague Spring of 1968, it follows a young protagonist and her attempts to become a typist despite being dyslexic — with or without magic.
The book is rich in metaphors and allusions, and the writing is strong throughout.
I really enjoyed it — it’s a thoughtful story about resilience, quiet strength, and the fragile space between history and hope.
November 26, 2025
I loved this heartfelt, complex, genre-bending novel. There is romance, mentorship, politics, corruption, intrigue, and a hefty does of magic. So glad I got to read this one and happy to recommend it to everyone!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Loved it! Great storytelling. I binged the whole book in a day.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews