Spells for Forgetting
Sunday Times Bestseller
USA Today Bestseller
A rural island community steeped in the mystical superstitions of its founders and haunted by an unsolved murder is upended by the return of the suspected killer in this deeply atmospheric novel.
Emery Blackwood’s life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among the community that fractured her world in two. She’d once longed to run away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saiorse Island and chase new dreams; now, she maintains her late mother’s tea shop and cares for her ailing father. But just as the island, rooted in folklore and tradition, begins to show signs of strange happenings, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that no one wants to remember.
August Salt knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night that changed everything. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from the past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises that span generations threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily’s death once and for all.
Evocative and compelling, Spells for Forgetting is a vivid exploration of lost love and the unraveling of a small town and its many secrets.
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Praise for Spells for Forgetting
“Lush with secrets, magic, and a past that won’t stay where it belongs, this novel is (quite fittingly) spellbinding.”
– Jodi Picoult, author of Wish You Were Here
“With magic, murder, and prose that reads like music, Spells for Forgetting weaves together an immersive tale on the Pacific Coast island of Saoirse, where love and pain both stick to the too.”
– Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Husbands
“A thrilling, rich mystery with exquisite twists, Adrienne Young’s adult debut will trick you, bewitch you, and leave you begging for more.”
– Stephanie Garber, author of the Caraval series
“Tense, lyrical, and wholly romantic, Spells for Forgetting is as immersive a story as you could ask for. I could feel the salt on my skin, I could smell the smoke, and every page felt like a tentative step into a mist concealing all of Saoirse’s darkest secrets.”
– Ruth Emmie Lang, Ohioana Book Award finalist
“With quiet magic like wind on a spooky autumn evening, Spells for Forgetting is so atmospheric it will leave you breathless. Adrienne Young’s exquisite prose blends slow- burn romance and intense mystery into a beautiful, twisty gem of a novel. You won’t want to miss this one.”
– Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spell
Spells for Forgetting has been or will be published in the following countries & territories:
United States // Canada // United Kingdom
Australia // New Zealand // Spain & Latin America