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Black Body
A novel of early nineteenth-century magic follows Aba--sorceress of white witchcraft--who is taken to England to protect her from the potency and consequences of her own powers, only to be cast into far greater challenges and danger
517 pages, Hardcover
First published July 22, 1989
31 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
H.C. Turk
33 books11 followersA: This is hard.
Q: Why is making a bio so hard for you?
A: Because it's like talking. I don't like to talk; I like to write.
Q: But people want to know about authors. Reading a book requires a lot of effort.
A: Writing one ain't exactly playtime.
Q: That's better. Go ahead, tell us more. Did you have a pleasant childhood?
A: Ask my dog; he was there.
Q: Your dog is stuffed. He's not a real dog.
A: He's more real than you are. You can’t even ask a good question.
Q: Here’s one: Why should people read your books?
A: Because my puppy will be sad if they don’t.
Q: We need to get serious here. How many novels have you written?
A: 33.
Q: I’ll bet your dog can’t count that high. How long have you been writing?
A: I’ll answer if you promise not to kick my dog again (metaphorically).
Q: He wouldn’t feel it—he’s stuffed.
A: If someone kicked the stuffing out of you, I bet you wouldn’t enjoy it.
Q: Would I enjoy it more than reading one of your books? Or would it be equally painful?
A: You’re cruel to dogs AND to authors.
Q: If you answer my last question, I promise to be nice. How many years have you been writing?
A: [mumbles]
Q: That’s pathetic.
A: Why don’t you ask me about my stories?
Q: Stories are for campfires.
A: The basis of history’s greatest novels is the story: the story of nations, cultures, families, individuals. The greatest idea that can be expressed in fiction is story.
Q: Great, so tell me about your characters.
A: Dull and Dumb are not two of my characters, or characteristics.
Q: Do you ever write about animals, stuffed or not?
A: Rescued greyhounds in Heaven Again, tiny ponies in Only The Impassioned, mudfish in Resurrection Flowers, ghosts in An Atmosphere Of Angels.
Q: Ghosts aren’t animals, they’re unsettled spirits. If ghosts continue to read, what will they find in your novels?
A: They will find passion, idea, and spirited characters whose lives are a story. And puppies.
Q: Why is making a bio so hard for you?
A: Because it's like talking. I don't like to talk; I like to write.
Q: But people want to know about authors. Reading a book requires a lot of effort.
A: Writing one ain't exactly playtime.
Q: That's better. Go ahead, tell us more. Did you have a pleasant childhood?
A: Ask my dog; he was there.
Q: Your dog is stuffed. He's not a real dog.
A: He's more real than you are. You can’t even ask a good question.
Q: Here’s one: Why should people read your books?
A: Because my puppy will be sad if they don’t.
Q: We need to get serious here. How many novels have you written?
A: 33.
Q: I’ll bet your dog can’t count that high. How long have you been writing?
A: I’ll answer if you promise not to kick my dog again (metaphorically).
Q: He wouldn’t feel it—he’s stuffed.
A: If someone kicked the stuffing out of you, I bet you wouldn’t enjoy it.
Q: Would I enjoy it more than reading one of your books? Or would it be equally painful?
A: You’re cruel to dogs AND to authors.
Q: If you answer my last question, I promise to be nice. How many years have you been writing?
A: [mumbles]
Q: That’s pathetic.
A: Why don’t you ask me about my stories?
Q: Stories are for campfires.
A: The basis of history’s greatest novels is the story: the story of nations, cultures, families, individuals. The greatest idea that can be expressed in fiction is story.
Q: Great, so tell me about your characters.
A: Dull and Dumb are not two of my characters, or characteristics.
Q: Do you ever write about animals, stuffed or not?
A: Rescued greyhounds in Heaven Again, tiny ponies in Only The Impassioned, mudfish in Resurrection Flowers, ghosts in An Atmosphere Of Angels.
Q: Ghosts aren’t animals, they’re unsettled spirits. If ghosts continue to read, what will they find in your novels?
A: They will find passion, idea, and spirited characters whose lives are a story. And puppies.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 29, 2023
I believe Turk may have invented a new genre here, although there are some parallels between this and Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles: Interview with a Vampire, Vampire Lestat and the Queen of the Damned. Our main protagonist, Alba, purportedly writes her story here while ensconced in prison in London for being a witch. The only reason she has not been burned already is due to a deal she made with the warden-- life imprisonment instead of death if she will tell him what there is to know about witches. In any case, this is Alba's story, from childhood until she found herself in jail.
Alba's story largely takes place circa 1700 or so, and begins with her childhood on the Isle of Man. Unlike most witches, who are presented here in an almost Disney ugliness, Alba is a 'white witch', or one that looks and can pass as a 'sinner' (the witches word for humanity at large). Not just pass, however, for Alba could best be described as a succubus, causing any male sinner in close contact to be inflamed with lust for her. If any male sinner should consummate his lust, however, woe is he as her 'babyslot' has something like teeth, and once the 'baby stick' is inserted, off it comes!
The first striking thing about Black Body, however, is the evocative language deployed by Turk. Expect lots of nasty slang (babyslot is one of the kinder sobriquets for a vagina here) along with the witches own vocabulary, like sinners for base humans. This takes a bit to get used to, but makes this as pretty immersive read. While the plot is fairly simple, the devil is in the details, which Turk gives us in spades in this rather lengthy volume (over 600 pages, with close set small font).
Alba was raised on the Isle of Man by her mother, who, along with some other witches, live rough and forage their needs from the land directly. Alba's mother wanted to introduce her to the ways of sinners, however, and once a week they went to a small town nearby to attend church. Little Alba's reactions to the sinners is priceless to say the least and in part, Black Bodies constitutes a social critique of civilization itself (especially English). When Alba has reached a certain age, some busibodies in town want to take her from her mother and raise her in town as an orphan; she is so comely, especially compared to her hag of a mother. This results in a spell being cast (and what a process!) to make the chief busibody forget about the entire business, but results in her insanity. Suspecting a witch, they round up the hags and call in an expert to sort the business out.
Enter our main antagonist, one Lady Rathel, who is an expert on witches, having learned their ways and also having coven of them cast a spell to kill her husband. In any case, she recognizes Alba as a white witch, manages to convince the locals that Alba is not a witch, merely being raised by them, and takes Alba back to London. Why does 'the Rathel' want Alba? I will not go into all the details here, but it really is a simple revenge plot. Lady Rathel wanted to marry her husband's business partner and have his children, which is why she had her husband offed by witches in the first place. Nonetheless, the partner takes someone else for wife and now they have a son Eric. 'The Rathel's' plan is to have Eric fall for Alba, get them married, and then on their wedding night, her 'babyslot' would do its thing and kill Eric by wrenching off his cock.
Alba discovers this heinous plan, and also discovers just what her vagina does, and wants nothing to do with it. Yet, Alba and the Rathel are at loggerheads. If Alba does not go through with the plan, Rathel will denounce her as a witch and have her burned. Alba can only announce the plot by convincing the authorities that she is indeed a witch, and hence off to the flames she would go.
The simply plot is not really what drives this novel, rather, it is the characters and depiction of witches. Turk's displays a vivid imagination here representing the witch 'species'. Besides their acute sense of smell (they can easily recognize each other), they can breath under water and they are all vegetarians, albeit their diet may sometimes entail some tasty bugs. This latter aspect is played up for all it is worth here and Turk must of had a ball writing this.
Rating Black Bodies poses some difficulties, however. This is beyond a doubt one of the most original and bizarre novels I have encounters in some time and drew me in hook, line and sinker. Yet, the plot was flimsy and you can only suspend your disbelief so much. One blurb calls it "Hypnotic, eerie, and erotic" and I can roll with that, although most of the sexual scenes in this book are not very pleasant to say the least, involving rape, severed penises among other things. Not sure I would recommend this to anyone without qualms, but if you are up for something very different, bizarre and at times crudely erotic, give it a go. 3.5 black stars, rounding up for the shear audacity.
Alba's story largely takes place circa 1700 or so, and begins with her childhood on the Isle of Man. Unlike most witches, who are presented here in an almost Disney ugliness, Alba is a 'white witch', or one that looks and can pass as a 'sinner' (the witches word for humanity at large). Not just pass, however, for Alba could best be described as a succubus, causing any male sinner in close contact to be inflamed with lust for her. If any male sinner should consummate his lust, however, woe is he as her 'babyslot' has something like teeth, and once the 'baby stick' is inserted, off it comes!
The first striking thing about Black Body, however, is the evocative language deployed by Turk. Expect lots of nasty slang (babyslot is one of the kinder sobriquets for a vagina here) along with the witches own vocabulary, like sinners for base humans. This takes a bit to get used to, but makes this as pretty immersive read. While the plot is fairly simple, the devil is in the details, which Turk gives us in spades in this rather lengthy volume (over 600 pages, with close set small font).
Alba was raised on the Isle of Man by her mother, who, along with some other witches, live rough and forage their needs from the land directly. Alba's mother wanted to introduce her to the ways of sinners, however, and once a week they went to a small town nearby to attend church. Little Alba's reactions to the sinners is priceless to say the least and in part, Black Bodies constitutes a social critique of civilization itself (especially English). When Alba has reached a certain age, some busibodies in town want to take her from her mother and raise her in town as an orphan; she is so comely, especially compared to her hag of a mother. This results in a spell being cast (and what a process!) to make the chief busibody forget about the entire business, but results in her insanity. Suspecting a witch, they round up the hags and call in an expert to sort the business out.
Enter our main antagonist, one Lady Rathel, who is an expert on witches, having learned their ways and also having coven of them cast a spell to kill her husband. In any case, she recognizes Alba as a white witch, manages to convince the locals that Alba is not a witch, merely being raised by them, and takes Alba back to London. Why does 'the Rathel' want Alba? I will not go into all the details here, but it really is a simple revenge plot. Lady Rathel wanted to marry her husband's business partner and have his children, which is why she had her husband offed by witches in the first place. Nonetheless, the partner takes someone else for wife and now they have a son Eric. 'The Rathel's' plan is to have Eric fall for Alba, get them married, and then on their wedding night, her 'babyslot' would do its thing and kill Eric by wrenching off his cock.
Alba discovers this heinous plan, and also discovers just what her vagina does, and wants nothing to do with it. Yet, Alba and the Rathel are at loggerheads. If Alba does not go through with the plan, Rathel will denounce her as a witch and have her burned. Alba can only announce the plot by convincing the authorities that she is indeed a witch, and hence off to the flames she would go.
The simply plot is not really what drives this novel, rather, it is the characters and depiction of witches. Turk's displays a vivid imagination here representing the witch 'species'. Besides their acute sense of smell (they can easily recognize each other), they can breath under water and they are all vegetarians, albeit their diet may sometimes entail some tasty bugs. This latter aspect is played up for all it is worth here and Turk must of had a ball writing this.
Rating Black Bodies poses some difficulties, however. This is beyond a doubt one of the most original and bizarre novels I have encounters in some time and drew me in hook, line and sinker. Yet, the plot was flimsy and you can only suspend your disbelief so much. One blurb calls it "Hypnotic, eerie, and erotic" and I can roll with that, although most of the sexual scenes in this book are not very pleasant to say the least, involving rape, severed penises among other things. Not sure I would recommend this to anyone without qualms, but if you are up for something very different, bizarre and at times crudely erotic, give it a go. 3.5 black stars, rounding up for the shear audacity.
February 28, 2014
Good luck trying to buy a copy. The library may have it. I received this as a Christmas present from my mother who has since passed on. At the time I dismissed it as the worst gift. That was in 92/93. I still kept it and am glad I did. After she passed, I was thinking of her, looking through my old things and spotted it in 06'. It is a weird read but a fantastic one as well. I loved it immensely. It is unbelievable and the most favorite book on my shelf..
March 16, 2016
This was...how do I put it? So unremittingly awful I couldn't finish it. I took it back to the library, and though thankful that I had spent no money on it, I was still hoping to come up with some way to be compensated for lost minutes. I failed, and now live with the knowledge that I could have spent that time smelling flowers, cavorting through meadows, patting puppies on the head or maybe even reading something with higher quality prose-- like obituaries, the nutritional information on a cereal box or even Missed Connections on craigslist. Feh.
March 26, 2021
I first got my hands on this book at 14, a little too young. Approached it again at 17 and got halfway through without absorbing much. I'm 28 now, and have finally finished. Alba is a brilliant and beautiful witch among her ugly sister witches. She has an incredible amount of wisdom regarding the human experience and narrates it through the eyes of someone that is not attached to societal "human" norms, along with sharing the rather strange and quirky nature of witches. It is a very intense, sometimes dark but humorous read. After 14 years I still reached for it again and I'm glad I did.
November 21, 2017
A keenly original story, a mesmerizing tale although sometimes horrific enough in detail as to be difficult to read. But said horrific detail necessary for the effectiveness of the story. It is a new slant on what it is to be a witch, and one feels aligned with the protagonist even while sometimes being repulsed by her. Extremely different, and eerily beautiful.
July 11, 2008
Ew. On many levels.
July 5, 2010
Stunning, possibly controversial. The imagery detailed in this book has stayed with me for years.
April 19, 2023
I picked this up off the sale table many, many years ago at one of those no-name boosktores you find in outlet malls. I was seduced purely by the elegant-looking cover and the fact that the blurb described it as a period witch story set in 18th-century London. Those turned out to be the only good things about it. It was icky, pervy, and gross all the way through, but I don't remember it well enough to give a truly accurate rating at this point. But it seems that so many people agreed it was bad that it's now out of print. (The original cover that sucked me in isn't the one currently shown on Goodreads .)
March 23, 2018
Thank you to Netgalley, who provided me with free digital access to this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
Um. This took so long to read. The prose is unlike any I've encountered, and I've read A LOT of books, including many of those experimental or weird-for-weirdness-sake types. It was so densely packed that I had to read very slowly, and to be honest, there's still plenty of stuff that didn't sink in (so that stuff at the end was witchcraft, huh?). While tedious at times, it was still fun, which is not a word I would immediately associate with this book, but I guess that's fitting in its own way. Alba....the things she thought and said about the ways of sinners cracked me up endlessly.
Um. This took so long to read. The prose is unlike any I've encountered, and I've read A LOT of books, including many of those experimental or weird-for-weirdness-sake types. It was so densely packed that I had to read very slowly, and to be honest, there's still plenty of stuff that didn't sink in (so that stuff at the end was witchcraft, huh?). While tedious at times, it was still fun, which is not a word I would immediately associate with this book, but I guess that's fitting in its own way. Alba....the things she thought and said about the ways of sinners cracked me up endlessly.
July 19, 2020
I bought this book in my teens, and it was far above my capacity to handle then, and sat unread for a good decade. When I finally came back to it, I was instantly sucked in, and have read the book several times in the past 20 years. It isn’t easy to read, and can be very disturbing to even the most darkly humored reader. If you love stories involving witches, how they have been treated historically, and some new twists on witchy ways, this will be a good book to pick up. If you’re looking for funny or standard witchy tales, it may not be for you.
January 23, 2018
I received a free copy of this book on hidden gems in exchange for an honest review.
Incredible. The author creates a whole new world that’s easy to get lost in. I didn’t want to read anything else. With religion at the forefront but in a unique manner this is a must read for all adults. Despite graphic sex and violence it is all written with tact and isn’t there for no reason. The author makes a point to make everything in the text have a purpose. I want to read more from this author.
Incredible. The author creates a whole new world that’s easy to get lost in. I didn’t want to read anything else. With religion at the forefront but in a unique manner this is a must read for all adults. Despite graphic sex and violence it is all written with tact and isn’t there for no reason. The author makes a point to make everything in the text have a purpose. I want to read more from this author.
July 24, 2022
This book took me awhile to get into and turned out easy to put down only to start again. I really enjoyed the character development and found myself hoping for the best for them as the book moved towards it some what predictable end.
Read
December 26, 2025Entertaining, and well written, not very accurate on the old witchcraft ways, I was expecting a fictional story based on historical accounts and evidence, not this at all.
July 6, 2007
This book kept me reading and trying to figure out how it would end. Better than a great many other magical realism books. Read years ago but it still is very vivid now. A friend of mine complained about the book when he read it and said that it was much too depressing. I didn't think so.
What did I learn - I'm way different than a lot of people but the protagonist here is even more so.
Okay - it's about witches and such.
What did I learn - I'm way different than a lot of people but the protagonist here is even more so.
Okay - it's about witches and such.
February 5, 2023
Missing pages in this.
I have a hard back copy of this. I downloaded to be able to take with me easier. And when I tried to take it to the page I was already on it was NOT there. I am beyond disappointed with this. I've read this book before and it is a great book! But I don't like the filtering from kindle here.
I have a hard back copy of this. I downloaded to be able to take with me easier. And when I tried to take it to the page I was already on it was NOT there. I am beyond disappointed with this. I've read this book before and it is a great book! But I don't like the filtering from kindle here.
August 9, 2012
Cannot believe this is on here! I discovered it when it was first published, hard cover, in a Caldor! I read the first sentence and that was it. It does not read the way its description would lead you to believe it would. Fantastic. Alba has a very, very special power. ;)
July 6, 2015
Simply horrible. Horrible writing...at first I thought it must be translated from another language. Silly story. This is one of only 10 books I've been unable to finish reading. Utterly mind numbing. If you happen upon this book ( which fortunately is highly unlikely) RUN!
February 3, 2008
Great book about a white witch during the 18th century.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews