Published by Amazon Original Stories on June 30, 2026
Originally published in 2014 as The Catalain Book of Secrets, Jess Lourey’s gothic thriller was revised and republished as The Blackthorn Women in 2026. The novel imagines several generations of witches who wield magic in the form of potions and curses and the like. “Twice in a Blue Moon” is a short story in the Blackthorn Women series. I’m not generally a fan of witches (or of stories about them) and I haven’t read The Blackthorn Women, but I enjoyed Lourey's short story.
The story touches upon issues that are primarily of concern to women, including mastectomies and being devalued by society because of gender. It also addresses issues that affect people of any gender, including low self-esteem, unfaithful spouses, and jealousy.
Helena Blackthorne makes homemade candy, at least some of which comes with a dose of witchcraft. Her twin sister Xenia makes and tailors clothing. They operate Seven Daughters Candy and Clothes from a storefront in Faith Falls, Minnesota. They remodeled the store with the help of Audish Buckley. Helena had a crush on Audish until he seemed to take up with her mother, Velda.
To buy the store, Xenia and another sister, Ursula, put up their Queen Anne as collateral. The city has decided to acquire the house through eminent domain to build a park and Helena expects to lose the store once their collateral is gone. The eminent domain scheme was orchestrated by Dagmar Baum as revenge for her husband’s sexual dalliance with Ursula.
Helena has developed a “puckered, poisonous scaling that circled the left areola like a storm cloud,” letting her know that she has breast cancer. A woman named Claudette consults with Ursula about skin problems of her own. When she touches someone, tattoos develop on her skin that signal the deepest fears of the person who touched her.
Will witchcraft overcome Dagmar’s scheme? Or Claudette’s tattoos? Perhaps. Or perhaps exquisite chocolate will be enough to do the job. In any event, the story offers life lessons that may be even more valuable than witchcraft. Sharing your problems is a step toward curing them. A boob funeral is a fitting response to a mastectomy. Scarring might be reimagined as “delicate pink leaves” that create a garden of the flesh. A life spent in anger is a wasted life. It’s never too late to decide what you want from life and go for it. You need to set your troubles aside as a prelude to causing real trouble in the world — the kind of trouble that sparks joy.
The story is clever, amusing, and sweet without becoming mawkish. Fans of witches will undoubtedly enjoy it, but the story holds value even for readers who usually shy away from tales of witchcraft.
RECOMMENDED