The Wax Child

In seventeenth-century Denmark, Christenze Kruckow, an unmarried noblewoman, is accused of witchcraft. She and several other women are rumored to be possessed by the Devil, who comes to them as a tall headless man and gives them dark powers: they steal people's happiness, perform unchristian acts, and cause pestilence or even death. The women are in danger of the stake.

Narrated by a wax doll created by Kruckow, the novel is an unsettling story about brutality, friendship, power, nature, and witchcraft. Olga Ravn creates a frightening vision of premodern Europe, layering visceral atmospheric details with quotes from original sources such as letters, magical spells, court documents, and Scandinavian grimoires. Based on the witchcraft trials that took place in Northern Jutland in the seventeenth century, The Wax Child is an extraordinary new novel from one of the most acclaimed and original writers at work today.