The Witches of Cambridge Book Club Questions & Discussion Guide

About this book

Ava arrives at Radcliffe from a strict, rural Maine family and quickly falls in with Lauren, the daughter of a prominent Cambridge family, on a campus humming with old power. On their first night the two are recruited into the Lilith society, a secret coven, and when its members begin to disappear, the young women are forced to question who and what they can trust. Set in the 1950s and steeped in witch lore and dark history, this atmospheric novel from the author of Practical Magic is a story about friendship, love, and coming into your own power.

Discussion questions

1. Ava arrives at Radcliffe as an outsider and is swept into a hidden world on her very first night. What was your first impression of her, and of the secret society she joins?
2. The book blends dark academia, witch lore, and a disappearance mystery. If any thread slowed you, which one pulled you back, the friendship, the magic, or the danger?
3. Ava and Lauren come from very different worlds, one strict and rural, one prominent and old-money. What did their friendship reveal about each of them, and how did their backgrounds shape it?
4. The society offers power but also secrecy and risk. Where did you land on what the young women were willing to do, and to hide, for it?
5. The book is about young women coming into their power and the friendships that carry them there. What did it ultimately say about power, and who is allowed to have it?
6. Hoffman weaves real witch-trial history into a story with magic that feels almost factual. How did that blend of history and enchantment shape your reading?
7. The 1950s Cambridge setting, with its societies and its buried past, gives the book its atmosphere. How much did the era and the place drive the story for you?
8. Did this remind you of another story about witches, secret societies, or the intensity of college friendships, in a book, a film, or your own life?
9. The novel suggests the witch trials of the past are not as buried as they seem. Did that idea resonate for anyone at the table, in how women's power is still treated?
10. Who would you hand this to next, the reader who wants a witchy fall read or someone drawn to dark academia, and who might it not be for?

Themes to listen for

• Young women coming into their power
• Friendship, loyalty, and love
• Secrecy and the price of belonging
• History that refuses to stay buried
• How women's power is feared and controlled

If your club liked this, try…

• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Where to get it

• Check availability at your local library
• Find it on Bookshop.org
• Listen on Libro.fm

Practical notes

Best for clubs that want an atmospheric fall or spooky-season read. A darker turn than Hoffman's Practical Magic books.

Content notes: Historical references to the witch trials and violence.