The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Dimaline, Cherie. VenCo. Random House Canada, 2023.

Cherie Dimaline’s novel is divided into 32 chapters and takes place over the course of a two-week period. The story is told by an omniscient narrator, mainly focusing on the perspective of the novel’s protagonist, Lucky St. James, but also the perspectives of other characters. At the start of the novel, Lucky is a twenty-something Métis woman living in Toronto’s East End with her grandmother, Stella. Lucky is haunted by memories of her deceased mother, Arnya. Arnya had been erratic and impulsive, but still loving toward her daughter. Lucky feels that her life has been mostly uneventful. She had once dreamed of being a writer, but found little success and was discouraged by those around her, and now does office work for temp agencies. She and Stella are also facing eviction, though Lucky is reluctant to tell Stella about it as Stella has been suffering memory lapses due to her age.

One night, while doing laundry in her building’s basement, Lucky discovers a mysterious spoon with the word SALEM written on it, along with a drawing of a witch. Shortly thereafter, she is visited by a woman named Freya who offers Lucky a job from a mysterious organization called VenCo in Salem, Massachusetts. Stella and Lucky travel there, where Lucky discovers she is actually the sixth witch in a coven, with other witches including Freya, Morticia, Wendy, Lettie, and Meena, who is the unofficial leader of the coven. Meena explains to Lucky that VenCo is a company that finds and aids witches and covens, led by an Oracle consisting of three women of different ages: The Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The coven is meant to have seven members, so Lucky and Stella are sent all over the country looking for clues about the last witch.

Meanwhile, the coven and witches are being hunted by Jay Christos, an immortal who is the last member of the Benandanti, an old organization of men determined to kill and stop all witches. Jay becomes intrigued with Lucky as he hunts her, impressed with her power and determination. Jay is revealed to be resentful of witches and powerful women in general due to his being betrayed and left for dead by Prudence, a powerful witch. As Lucky and Stella get sent from one part of the U.S. to the next, Lucky feels conflicting feelings toward her grandmother, feeling resentful of Stella’s needs and memory issues, while at the same time feeling guilty for mistreating her. The two arrive in New Orleans and get into a fight, temporarily separating.

Lucky and Jay have a final confrontation in New Orleans, where she manages to trick and trap him using wisdom from her mother. Jay is later killed by the Oracle. Lucky realizes that Stella had been the final witch all along. They two return to Salem where they complete the coven. With the coven complete, the group sees spoon-shaped dandelions fall from the sky and realize the world is about to change dramatically.