Point of View

Morgan uses a third-person narrative stance to narrate the stories of the Orchiere women in A Secret History of Witches. The third person narrator moves in close to the perspectives of the characters the sections are named after: Nanette, Ursule, Irene, Morwen and Veronica. The narrator often reveals intimate details and thoughts about the important female characters.

This stance allows the book to be told close to the perspective of the witches and allows readers an inside view of the craft. For example, Morgan often narrates how their power feels for the female witches. Of Nanette she writes, "Her belly began to throb. The feeling swelled and rose, filling her chest, warming her cheeks, rushing into her brain" (24). The stance allows readers to vicariously feel the power of the female witches while also normalizing their rituals so that they appear like the rituals of any...