The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

There’s a certain kind of magic that pairs perfectly with a coastal town, and John Updike knew it well. Set in a snug little Rhode Island seacoast village not so different from our own salty corner of Maine, this is a story that feels right at home on our shelves.

Toward the end of the Vietnam era, wonderful powers descend upon Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie—three bewitching divorcées suddenly granted access to all that is female, fecund, and mysterious. Alexandra, a sculptor, summons thunderstorms. Jane, a cellist, floats on the air. And Sukie, the local gossip columnist, turns milk into cream.

Their happy little coven takes a darker turn when a moneyed stranger, Darryl Van Horne, moves into the long-derelict Lenox mansion and invites them in to play. From there, scandal drifts through the crooked streets of Eastwick—and through the shadowy fantasies of the whole town.

Critics have long adored this one. The New York Times Book Review called Updike “the great genial sorcerer of American letters” and hailed the novel as “a comedy of the blackest sort.” Newsday named it “vintage Updike, which is to say among the best fiction we have,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer praised it as “fresh, constantly entertaining.”

It’s sharp. It’s wickedly funny. It’s the sort of book you’ll want to linger over on a gray, rainy afternoon, ocean humming just outside the window.

Come discover why readers keep returning to this modern classic. We think you’ll find a little magic of your own between these pages.

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