The Witches of Cambridge

Alice Hoffman’s The Witches of Cambridge is a work of historical fiction and magical realism from the acclaimed author of the Practical Magic series. Hoffman, whose novels often explore themes of sisterhood and the historical persecution of women, returns to these subjects in this novel. Set in the 1950s, the story follows Ava Abbot, a young woman who escapes her repressive upbringing in Maine for a new life at Radcliffe College. There, she discovers a hidden magical heritage and is initiated into the Lilith Society, a secret organization for witches. As Ava uncovers her family’s past through a series of historical letters from the 17th century, she navigates a fraught romance with Jamie Mather, a descendant of the infamous Puritan witch-hunters.

Through the intertwined stories of Ava, her fiercely independent friend Lauren Bell, and their magical ancestors, the novel examines lasting themes, including The Power of Sisterhood as an essential defense mechanism and The Ongoing Struggle Against Oppression. The narrative also critiques the psychological toll of societal pressure through its focus on The Dangers of Assimilation and Appeasement, showing how characters who hide their true identities risk alienation and self-loathing.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of graphic violence, rape, death, sexual content, sexual harassment, death by suicide, suicidal ideation and/or self-harm, substance use, violence against animals, animal death, pregnancy termination, forced institutionalization, antigay bias, gender discrimination, and religious persecution.

Plot Summary

In the fall of 1950, Ava Abbot arrives at Radcliffe College, desperate to escape her repressive life in Genesis, Maine, where her parents discourage her talents and force her to hide her magical nature. Born with an 11th finger that was surgically removed, Ava can levitate and talk to crows, and silver tarnishes at her touch. She has always understood that she is different from others, but her parents have prevented her from learning what this difference means.

At Radcliffe, her new roommate is Lauren Bell, a fierce, pale-haired girl from a prominent Cambridge family of witches. Lauren introduces Ava to the Lilith Society, a secret organization for Radcliffe women who come from magical bloodlines. During their initiation on the Cambridge Common, Ava saves Lauren from being hit by a motorcycle, and Lauren pricks Ava’s palm, revealing her black blood—a sign of her witch heritage. The act binds them as blood sisters, their fates intertwined. They move into Lilith House, a sanctuary for their kind. Ava begins reading a series of letters she discovers in the Divinity School library, written in the 1690s by Rose Bridewell, the first witch of Cambridge. Rose’s story reveals how she escaped a London prison, became the servant of Maria “May” Mather—wife of Harvard President Increase Mather—and established a safe haven for women in the marshes of Cambridge after the Salem witch trials.

Ava gets a job as a server at Harvard’s Eliot House, where she meets and falls for Jamie Mather, a rebellious and handsome student who is a direct descendant of the infamous witch-hunting Mather family. Their connection is immediate and fraught with the weight of their families’ opposing histories. Jamie, who also has a scar from a removed 11th finger, is disturbed and intrigued by Ava’s claims about magic and their shared heritage. After she shows him that her blood is black and asks about his own, he experiments on himself and makes the same discovery, realizing that his family has lied to him his whole life. Meanwhile, Lauren grows increasingly wary of the Mathers, a distrust rooted in her family’s history. Rose Bridewell’s letters reveal a destructive secret: Centuries ago, a witch-hunter hired by Cotton Mather raped and murdered a young witch named Cora Bell, and her sister, Amelia Bell, founded Lilith House in her grief and rage. This revelation solidifies Lauren’s belief that Jamie is a danger to Ava. To protect her friend, Lauren intercepts a letter from Jamie asking Ava to meet him and run away together at the end of their sophomore year. Believing Jamie has abandoned her, a heartbroken Ava leaves for the summer.

As the years pass, Lauren walks a darker path, studying the Anthropology of Magic with the charming but dangerous Professor Eugene Sharpe. She becomes his research assistant and lover, drawn to his knowledge of black magic. She also begins a tumultuous affair with a tattoo artist named Carrick, who sees her true, vulnerable self, a connection she resists. At the same time, members of the Lilith Society begin to disappear, including Claire, Ashton, and Emily Bright—all of whom were involved with Professor Sharpe. Ava, meanwhile, discovers she is not the biological daughter of the couple who raised her. A hidden suitcase reveals photographs of her biological father, a musician named Christopher Abbot, and a woman identified only as “the witch.” The discovery leads Ava to learn that her father died in a car crash, and that the people who raised her are actually her paternal grandparents. After a heated confrontation, her grandmother tricks her into being committed to a psychiatric hospital to “cure” her of her supposed delusions about witchery.

Lauren, feeling the burning of the scar that connects her to Ava, realizes her friend is in trouble. She tracks Ava to the psychiatric hospital and orchestrates a daring escape, breaking Ava out through a second-story window. Back at Lilith House, the truth about Lauren’s betrayals comes out: She not only destroyed Jamie’s letter but also informed his father, Paul Mather, about Ava’s witchery. Jamie’s father then threatened to destroy Ava’s scholarship and her future at Radcliffe unless Jamie ended the relationship. This revelation—that Jamie left to protect her—shatters Ava. The focus shifts to Lauren, who must return research notes to Professor Sharpe. Sensing danger, she goes to the museum, where Sharpe reveals his true nature: He is a witch-hunter who has been murdering witches and stealing their power through blood transfusions. He attacks Lauren, intent on making her his next victim.

Led by a mystical white crow, Ava and Jamie race to the museum. Ava breaks in and uses magic to create a trail of her own blood that leads her to the lab where Lauren is being held. A fight ensues. Sharpe slits the throat of Ava’s beloved dog, Jack, after the dog attacks him. Enraged, Ava uses a cursed onyx necklace—an artifact of immense power she learned about from Rose Bridewell’s letters—to strangle and kill Sharpe. As Lauren lies dying from blood loss, Ava’s blood is transfused into her by Lionel Bell, Lauren’s brother. The act saves Lauren’s life and solidifies the bond between the two women. In the aftermath, the Mather family forces Jamie into exile in Iceland to cover up the murder and protect their name, giving him a new identity as Luke Burroughs. Before he leaves, he and Ava spend a final, passionate afternoon together, and he promises to return for her. Ava discovers that she is pregnant with his child but lets him go, knowing he must leave to keep her safe.

On graduation day, Ava and Lauren, their friendship mended, prepare to leave Cambridge and Lilith House to the next generation of witches. Lauren, having accepted her own heart, leaves for New York City to pursue poetry and a life with Carrick. Ava’s grandmother attends the graduation, giving Ava a cutting from their family apple tree and, finally, her mother’s address. The story closes with Ava ready to begin her new life. She plans to plant the tree at her mother’s home, a house that once belonged to Rose Bridewell, where she will raise her daughter and wait for Jamie’s return. Her journey of discovering her past has empowered her to embrace her future, continuing the legacy of the witches of Cambridge.