48 pages • 1-hour read
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping
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Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of ableism and racism.
Chapter 1 Summary
Fifteen-year-old witch Sera Swan is about to resurrect her dead great aunt Jasmine with the help of Clementine “Clemmie” Bennet, a witch who is trapped in the body of a fox. Clemmie appeared at the inn only weeks ago but did not explain how she ended up as a fox. Clemmie seems untrustworthy, but she does know the spell that Sera needs in order to resurrect Jasmine; it is illegal, like many of the spells Clemmie knows, though she lacks the power to cast them. Sera has plenty of power. In fact, she has more than any other witch except for the imperious Albert Grey. Although the British Guild of Sorcery could punish Sera for performing this spell, Sera prioritizes Jasmine’s well-being over the approval of the stuffy, racist organization.
Because Sera’s mother is Icelandic and her father is Indian, she lacks a Guild-approved pedigree, and her father’s ethnicity renders her “extra foreign” in their eyes. After Sera’s parents left to pursue some adventure when she was two, Jasmine raised Sera, declining the Guild’s cursory offer to educate her. However, when Sera’s significant talents became known, Albert and the Guild’s Chancellor insisted that Sera be brought up as Albert’s apprentice.
Now, as Sera prepares to resurrect her aunt, Francesca (Albert’s daughter and Sera’s best friend) calls to invite them on a ski trip. Sera reflects on the fact that Francesca’s father seems to resent her power and is anything but nurturing and paternal.
The narrative explains that the extent and type of magic that each witch has is unique, like a fingerprint. Now, Sera employs her considerable powers, though the spell is painful and she must place one hand on the ground to support herself. Jasmine’s heart begins to beat again, and she accepts Sera’s explanation calmly. Suddenly, the women hear a loud crowing. When Sera touched the ground, some of the magic went into the earth and revived Jasmine’s pet rooster, Roo-Roo, who died last year and is now a walking skeleton.
Chapter 2 Summary
Sera’s magic has been significantly depleted by the spell, and she fears that it will not return. It used to manifest as “whole galaxies” behind her eyes, but now she sees only “a few constellations” (13). Clemmie believes that Sera pushed herself too hard, and now her sky cannot hold all the stars it used to. Sera puts off returning to the Guild, but her power still refuses to return. She feels lost and doesn’t know who she is without her magic. Clemmie urges Sera to go back to school so that she can access the Guild’s extensive library for tips on how to restore her power.
More guests arrive at the inn, and Jasmine asks Sera to show them to a room. The inn, called Batty Hole, is very magical and is nearly 200 years old. Sera’s parents bought it but grew tired of it, so Jasmine took it over. Several years ago, after a string of difficult guests made Jasmine cry, Sera angrily cast a spell that she still cannot explain. From then on, the guests who have arrived are usually sweet, relieved, and in need of something that the inn can provide. If a person doesn’t need the inn, they simply don’t see it. This is the spell that got the Guild’s attention.
Now, Francesca arrives unexpectedly, demanding to know why Sera hasn’t returned to school, and Sera has no choice but to confess that she resurrected Jasmine. Francesca promises not to tell anyone, but Albert storms into the inn three hours later, and Sera feels betrayed by her friend. She can tell that he is only feigning anger and is secretly pleased that her power is no longer equal to his. While Sera’s magic is a night sky, Albert once told her that his is lightning, “an angry, pitiless magic, quick to lash out and indiscriminate in its destruction” (22). He knows that Clemmie is there, but Sera denies it. Clemmie later tells Sera that she became a fox when she attempted to curse Albert and it backfired. Albert tells Sera that she can trade Clemmie for the Guild’s forgiveness, but Sera refuses. Consequently, Albert exiles Sera from the Guild. She promises that he will live to regret his actions.
Chapter 3 Summary
Fifteen years later, the inn is nearly full, with Jasmine, Clemmie, Theo (Sera’s 11-year-old cousin), Matilda (a “geriatric oddball”), and Nicholas (a 23-year-old who is employed as a knight at the local Medieval Fair). Sometimes the inn’s magic bursts out unexpectedly in front of the guests. Sera believes that a book called The Ninth Compendium of Uncommon Spells contains a spell that will restore her magic, but it is located in the Guild’s library, which she is forbidden to use.
Nicholas has essentially become a lodger because he sought acceptance and found it at Batty Hole. Now, Jasmine and Sera realize that neither Theo nor Clemmie is home. Even so, Sera must serve as a diplomat and broker a peace between Matilda and Malik, a local farmer. The two are arguing about the placement of Matilda’s plants, which Sera routinely revives with magic twice a week. In the midst of these distractions, Sera wonders why her spell on the inn is still working after all these years, as spells are finite.
Jasmine says that Theo hasn’t been seen since school yesterday. Suddenly, Theo appears with Clemmie, but he won’t say where he’s been. The doorbell rings. The visitor is Francesca Grey, who is now the new Chancellor of the British Guild of Sorcery.
Chapter 4 Summary
Jasmine makes tea. Francesca apologizes to Sera for betraying her trust 15 years ago, and her words deflate Sera’s considerable anger. Francesca says that they have video footage of Theo and a fox at the Guild’s estate; the two were stealing The Ninth Compendium of Uncommon Spells. Sera drags Theo from the room and orders him and Clemmie to confess. They admit that they took Theo’s bike, boarded a train, stole the book from the archives, and then caught the train home. Clemmie is desperate for Sera to break the curse and restore her to her human form, and Sera needs her magic back in order to do so. Sera demands the text, and they give it to her.
Chapter 5 Summary
Sera gives Francesca the book and asks her not to charge Theo with theft. Francesca knows that they stole the text to help Sera get her magic back, but she shows Sera that the spell is written in an old language that neither witch can read. Inexplicably, Francesca allows Sera to take pictures of the restoration spell. Francesca plays with the cuff of her sleeve, and Sera recognizes her old friend’s propensity to fidget when she is hiding something. Francesca asks if Sera knows the professor Verity Walter, and Sera remembers her.
Apparently, Verity fought the Guild on Sera’s behalf when Sera first lost her power, but Albert forbade Verity from helping Sera. Ten out of 12 Ministers voted to end Sera’s exile, but Albert used his power of veto to prevent this. (He has a magically binding contract that gives him this privilege.) Francesca says that she is only “the puppet dancing at the end of his strings” (58), as she has always been. She tells Sera that Albert cannot find out that Sera has the restoration spell.
Sera and Clemmie don’t know how they’re going to translate the restoration spell. Jasmine asks if Sera has seen Roo-Roo, and Sera realizes that the gate is open. She chases the skeletal bird into the street, where a stopped car sits. A man sees Sera and sighs, greeting her by name.
Chapter 6 Summary
Earlier that day, Luke Larsen—a magical history scholar who works with Verity Walter—had to coax his sister, Posy, down from the roof of the Guild’s greenhouse. Posy also has magic, but because she has autism, she does not understand that she should not perform it in front of people. Bradford Bertram-Mogg, a member of the Guild, displays his xenophobia when he claims that this is what happens when the Guild lets “foreigners” in. (Luke and Posy are Scottish.) Posy is nine years old and has autism, but no one besides Luke understands that she is not being “difficult.” Their parents are professors in Edinburgh, with no magical family history. Luke orders Posy down, and she follows him to Verity’s office in the library.
Verity dislikes the Guild and Albert Grey. Although Luke brought Posy to the Guild because she was using her magic in front of people, the Guild attempts to enforce other rules that Posy is not capable of following, so he considers taking her home. Verity suggests a “break” and says that Luke should take Posy to the coast for a few days. She offers him the use of her cousin’s cottage.
Chapters 1-6 Analysis
The novel’s early chapters employ a series of quirky scenes to establish the rules of the world and the interpersonal dynamics that will govern the rhythm of the plot. To this end, Mandanna uses figurative language to illustrate characters’ unique traits, particularly when it comes to painting a nuanced portrait of the protagonist. Although Sera can be impatient and prickly, the physical form that her magic takes when she closes her eyes—the starry night sky—highlights her expansive, loving, and whimsical nature. By contrast, Albert Grey’s magic—an aggressive manifestation of lightning—symbolizes his pitiless and destructive personality. These early details foreshadow the additional conflicts that Sera will have with Albert as the novel progresses.
Similarly, Sera’s friends and allies are also described in whimsical terms to convey a stronger sense of their individual personalities. For example, when Sera demands to know what Theo and Clemmie did at the Guild’s estate, Clemmie “crosse[s] her front paws over her chest, which [makes] her look like a petulant and unusually furry toddler” (62). This simile highlights Clemmie’s peevishness and her tendency to behave selfishly, even when she knows that she is in the wrong. Likewise, when Bradford Bertram-Mogg insults Luke and Posy, the author describes Luke’s carefully restrained “temper” as a physical being that “kick[s] at the iron battlements that ke[ep] it tightly confined, but as ever, the battlements w[i]n” (67). By creating a physical description of abstract emotions, Mandanna personifies Luke’s frustration and offers a much more vivid impression than if she were to merely state that Luke is angry. The exchange powerfully demonstrates that Luke’s restraint is one of his defining characteristics.
The author also uses this technique to address the novel’s broader political landscape, especially when she uses the establishment’s reaction to the characteristics of one particular person. This dynamic can be seen in the description of Verity, who is described via metaphor as “a walking, talking funhouse mirror the Guild d[oes]n’t particularly enjoy catching a glimpse of themselves in” (70-71). This line makes it clear that she determinedly and emphatically reflects the Guild’s perversity and xenophobia, and thus they find fault with her rather than themselves. Sera’s family also has to deal with a fair amount of xenophobia. Her father, for example, “[i]s Indian [and] ergo extra foreign” in the eyes of the all-white Guild (5), and he therefore endures a sharp degree of prejudice from his peers. Not only is he from another country, but his skin is darker than theirs, and this makes him—and Sera by extension—somehow less British and therefore less important to them. Their xenophobia is further illustrated when Bertram-Mogg spots Posy on the greenhouse roof and intolerantly suggests that “this is what comes of allowing foreigners into the Guild” (65). He also labels her behavior as “difficult or defiant” and judges Luke for “coddling” her (66); and his attitude reflects both his ableism and his refusal to acknowledge her disability.
However, the outside world’s xenophobia and racism are pointedly juxtaposed with the acceptance of the inn’s owners and inhabitants. Theo is a prime example, as he lives “with Sera because his parents [are] afraid of his magic” (50); the Icelandic Guild has to pull strings to render his residence in England permissible to their British counterparts. Although many people in mainstream society fear those who are different from themselves, the close-knit community of the inn treats everyone equally, with respect and affection. Theo’s best friend, Alex, uses “they”/“them” pronouns, and all the inn’s residents honor those pronouns without question. Likewise, as Malik and his husband, Elliott, run the farm from which Sera purchases the inn’s produce, no one ever questions their sexuality or their right to do as they please. At the inn, people of multiple races, backgrounds, and perspectives get along well with each other, honoring and celebrating differences rather than condemning them. Thus, the inn stands as a welcoming and safe space for all, exemplifying The Value of Found Family and challenging the racism, prejudice, and ableism that run rampant in the outside world.
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