The First Rule of Witch Club...

As I write this, the 2026 Trans Rights Readathon is in full swing, "calling on the reader community to read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, nonbinary, 2Spirit, and gender-nonconforming authors and characters" and raising money for Point of Pride through March 31, the International Trans Day of Visibility. And so it seems appropriate that I write about Charlie Jane Anders' marvelous new novel, "Lessons in Magic and Disaster".

I often see advice to would-be writers who are transgender that they should not write about characters being trans, but rather write about characters who happen to be trans. Anders does this masterfully. Jamie, the lead character, has a lot on her plate. She's struggling with her PhD dissertation in 18th century literature, her University may cut her research budget, and at least one of her students is a smug asshole. Also, her mother, Serena, once a force of nature in journalism and housing policy, has been mired in grief since the death of Jamie's other mother, Mae, and Jamie's at a loss on how to help. Jamie may not realize it, but her preoccupation with these problems is causing some distance with her partner, Ro. Jamie also just happens to be transgender. More importantly, Jamie also happens to be a witch, self-taught. The story begins when Jamie decides the best way to help Serena is to teach her magic, a secret she has held so closely that she has literally never told a soul, including Ro. Dun-dun-dun.

I'll confess that I was so charmed by the first section of the book where we get to know Jamie, Ro, and Serena, learn about the English authors Sarah Fielding and Jane Collier that are the focus of Jamie's research, and get the "lessons in magic" (nothing flashy, no wands or bullshit fake Latin), that I put the book down for a couple of weeks because I sensed the "lessons in disaster" were coming and I wasn't sure I wanted to experience that. I'm glad I eventually did, though, and I daresay you will be too when you read this book.

A number of things struck me about "Lessons..." beyond the story. The first is the degree to which this book is layered. There are so many themes and elements here: grief, intergenerational trauma, queer family, discovering community, and finding one's path through life, that Jamie and company felt very real to me. I think this book would be right at home in a book shop's literary section as well as the science fiction/fantasy shelves.

The second thing that struck me was an appreciation for the craftsmanship and care that shines through in the writing. Beyond the world building of establishing the rules of magic and its consequences, Anders gets to write passages in the voice of real-world Industrial-age women, and go on excursions into the modern day ills of Internet trolls and University politics, all while never dragging down the plot. It's a rare treat for me to enjoy a book in this way.

Finally, and this is not a criticism, I was struck by a certain irony that as much asa this book is not about being trans, elements of the story still strongly resonate with my experience of trans-ness. Specifically, Jamie has lived with a secret since childhood, and the process and consequences of "coming out" as a witch are in many ways as scary and painful as coming out as queer can be in the real world. We see, in a flashback, Jamie in childhood telling her mom's that she's a girl. The love and support her mom's give her in response made me weepy, but the deeper irony is that Jamie only did that because it was easier than telling her moms she was doing spells. In any case, we get an examination of the cost of keeping secrets.

"Lessons in Magic and Disaster" by Charlie Jane Anders is currently available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book at bookshop.org and will be out in paperback this August.