The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: McKay, Ami. The Witches of New York. HarperCollins, 2017. Kindle.

The novel is told in the third-person past by an omniscient narrator. There are 12 different sections in the novel, and each of these sections is labeled with both a date and a phase of the moon. Within each section there are a series of chapters that are titled. Either at the beginning or end of many of these chapters there is an epistolary document, such as a newspaper clipping, an excerpt from a pamphlet, or a letter to or from one of the characters. The first section is “September 4, 1880: New Moon.” In this section, New York of 1880 is introduced as an industrial and technological hub of wonder, and the omniscient narrator flips into half a dozen women’s lives as they went about their days and performed small acts of witchcraft. A demon named Gideon Palsham watched Reverend Townsend give a speech about the dangers of women taking magic into their own hands. An organist, Penelope, watched the Reverend and was inspired by his words. In upstate New York, a 17-year-old orphan named Beatrice was obsessed with magic. She kept a journal of mystical events and wanted to go into the city to work at Tea and Sympathy, a shop run by two witches: Adelaide and Eleanor. Eleanor had just broken up with her secret lover, and Adelaide, who had been disfigured when a woman threw acid at her face, had tried to comfort Eleanor by putting an ad in the paper for a shopgirl.

In the section, “September 17, 1880: Full Moon,” Beatrice took a train to New York City to interview for her job. Her train paused and she got off just in time to see Cleopatra’s Needle, which was being transported from Alexandria. A strange man allowed her to touch the obelisk and she fell down, hitting her head. When she arrived at the shop, no one was there except for the ghost of Adelaide’s mother. When Eleanor returned, she found Beatrice unconscious on the floor. She helped her up and decided to hire the girl on the spot. Before her mother died, she had told Eleanor that she was destined to teach the first girl to become a witch. Her mother had given her a key, and the key showed up in Eleanor’s teacup. She realized that Beatrice might be the girl from the prophecy. Meanwhile, Reverend Townsend kidnapped a maid named Lena McLeod and tortured her in his cellar for being a witch. She killed herself and two ghouls who worked for the demon Gideon Palsham came to collect her body.

In“September 18, 1880: Waning, Gibbous Moon,” Adelaide went to meet with a psychologist who was interested in studying the female mind, Dr. Brody, at the request of her favorite client, Judith. While Adelaide was out, Judith came into Tea and Sympathy and Beatrice had a vision of Judith’s son’s ghost. Beatrice told Eleanor and Adelaide about the ghosts she had seen. Eleanor explained that Beatrice was a witch and they all held a séance in which they summoned Madame St. Clair, Eleanor’s mother, who confirmed that Beatrice was to be the first made witch. Reverend Townsend went to the park and kidnapped a young gypsy girl.

In “September 25, 1880: Third Quarter Moon,” Eleanor and Adelaide taught Beatrice how to be a witch. Dr. Brody prepared for a symposium and asked to meet with Adelaide, Eleanor, and Beatrice. Reverend Townsend thought he killed the gypsy girl, but she tricked him and escaped.

In “October 2, 1880: New Moon,” Beatrice tested her magical skills at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in front of Judith and Alden Dashley, as well as Dr. Brody. Reverend Townsend read about the witch hunts of 1693 and bemoaned the fact he had not been able to rehab any witch.

In “October 8, 1880: Waxing Moon,” Beatrice continued to learn about becoming a witch and started prepping to appear with Dr. Brody at his symposium. Reverend Townsend murdered a prostitute who solicited him,

In “October 9, 1880: Waxing Moon,” Beatrice and her friends prepped for the symposium at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Eleanor left to meet her former lover and was instead ambushed by her lover’s husband, Mr. Newland, who promised he was going to ruin Eleanor’s life. Beatrice left her room to find Eleanor and was captured by Reverend Townsend, who believed Beatrice was enchanted by witches through some dark magic.

In “October 10, 1880: Waxing Moon,” Eleanor, Adelaide, and Dr. Brody searched for Beatrice to no avail. Eleanor and Adelaide received an eviction notice, courtesy of Mr. Newland. The ghost of Lena McLeod appeared in the cellar and told Beatrice what Reverend Townsend had done to her. The Reverend arrived and tortured Beatrice.

In “October 11, 1880: Waxing Moon,” the ghost of Lena McLeod performed a magic spell to kill Reverend Townsend. Before Beatrice could destroy the evidence of witchcraft, the Reverend arrived and assumed Beatrice had done the magic. He ran upstairs to get a knife to kill Beatrice, dropping his pipe in his haste. Beatrice used his pipe to start a fire. Across town, the gypsy girl who had escaped ran into Tea and Sympathy and told Eleanor and Beatrice what the Reverend had done to her. Eleanor and Beatrice ran across town and found Beatrice escaping from the flames with the help of the ghost of her mother.

In “October 12, 1880: Waxing Moon,” the demon Gideon Palsham bemoaned the fact that the Reverend had died, but he believed he could concoct another plan to defeat the witches.

In “October 31, 1880: New Moon, All Hallow’s Eve,” Dr. Brody offered to move out of his house so that Adelaide, Beatrice, and Eleanor could live in his home. They happily agreed and Judith helped them set up a new shop in one of the buildings on Dr. Brody’s property.

In “January 21, 1881: Half Moon,” the witches of New York went with Dr. Brody to watch Cleopatra’s Needle be erected in the park. The mysterious man who had allowed Beatrice to touch the obelisk in the beginning of the novel returned and gave Beatrice an ember that turned into a stone scarab. She went home and decided to write two books: A Census of Astonishments and a guide for new witches.