Book Review: ‘The Stone Witch of Florence’ by Anna Rasche

The Stone Witch of Florence is the debut novel by Anna Rasche, originally released in 2024. It is a stand-alone historical fantasy set between 1330 and 1348.

The story follows Ginevra from childhood to adulthood as she secretly learns to use the innate properties of herbs and gemstones to heal people. When her secret is discovered by the church she is sent into exile only to be summoned ten years later by the very people who banished her. Sacred relics have gone missing from the plague-ridden city of Florence. With much of the population decimated, the surviving bishop and inquisitor have no choice but hope the powers of the ‘stone witch’ can save them and return the relics to the church.

I confess that when I read the blurb for Stone Witch I was very on the fence. Historical fantasy is often quiet a hit or miss sub-genre for me as I found these stories often don’t contain enough fantasy elements to satisfy my own preferences. Before I started reading I had expected the novel to focus entirely on the mystical energies and properties that some people believe gemstones have and nothing more. Now while, as the title suggests, the magic of gemstones does play an important part in the book Rasche also includes a second magical element in the form of an undercurrent of magic that connects everything together in golden threads that only certain characters, like Ginevra, are sensitive enough to tap into. This combination of magical sources and the knowledge that Ginevra holds to help those around her, both surprised me and helped to pull me into the story.

I really liked how Rasche used her background as both a gemmologist and a historian to influence and enhance her story. It was fascinating learning about the historic names for gemstones and their believed properties. This weaving together of fact and fiction within the story was seamlessly achieved.

Ginevra’s world is one where men and the male-led Catholic church hold all the power in society. And yet Stone Witch is very much a story about women. All Ginevra wants is to help people with her knowledge and magic and to become a formally registered and recognised physician (in a time when only men could do so). On her journey she meets other women of wisdom and learning who support her. In turn Ginevra learns to support and teach people like Lucia after her husband abandons her. Although there are hardships and disagreements along the way the inclusion of these characters is what gave the novel its heart.

Split into three parts, the pacing of the novel was quite mixed. Part 1 was my favourite and featured the flashbacks to Ginevra’s childhood. Here I would describe the pacing as medium to fast and the story had a good rhythm to it. However Part 2 which focused on Ginevra’s investigation felt very slow paced which was disappointing as this was the core section of the plot. Thankfully the novel did save itself in Part 3 which once again picked up the pace as everything came together in the conclusion.

As a debut novel The Stone Witch of Florence is certainty a strong opening from Anna Rasche. As someone nervous about whether I would enjoy a historical-heavy story, Stone Witch managed to put me at ease and beat my expectations whilst also creating a memorable lead character in Ginevra.

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