Bela Nova

Originally named Delilah, Bela Nova changed her name when she became a Voodoo priestess in the French quarter in New Orleans. She takes Augusta as her apprentice when Augusta is a young woman and imparts many of her secret potions and spells, which she keeps in a scrapbook. After Augusta falls in love with and steals Bela Nova's son, the priestess curses Augusta and all the rest of the women in her family. Bela Nova lives to be 102 years old, and Brown renders her appearance as striking. "Her skin had pruned, thick jowls sagging into her neck. She still had dreads, just not very many of them, large patches of her hair broken away" (322).

Bela Nova personifies many of the key the themes in Black Candle Women. She follows ethical guidelines, but also uses manipulation to control Augusta. Bela Nova beckons Augusta upstairs after finding her alone...