The Witch by Marie Ndiaye

Lucie DOES have powers. Even if they aren’t as strong as other women in her family, she absolutely has the ability to see into the future or into the past, at least a little bit. In her tiny French town, she is trying to make a life with her husband and twin daughters and while teaching her daughters how to use this gift is rewarding, it also brings consequences she never could have expected.

When I was in Brussels, I went shopping at the famous Tropismes bookshop and purchased this English translation of the original French novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize this year. Unfortunately, this book is in some ways like some kind of opaque fever dream. Lucie was frustrating, I felt rage on her behalf that she seemed unable to feel for herself. I wanted so much more depth from her as a character. Over and over, being a witch does her really no good at all and the people she is surrounded by offer her nothing that is emotionally satisfying. The method to her "gift" is interesting and I went much faster through the last fourth of the book then the rest of it, but even for a short book, it really was not particularly satisfying.