Recently, we reviewed the wonderful atmospheric and dark novel, The Witches of Vardo by Anya Bergman which focuses on the Norwegian witch trials. The review can be found here. It is a thrill to share this week’s Monday Merry Meet where we chat with Anya about her book, writing and of course, spells.
Monday Merry Meet: Anya Bergman
Willow: Welcome Anya, we’re so excited to have you here. Have a seat. We thought we’d sit in the shop rather than the usual backroom. We’ve had an influx of deliveries and you can’t move for boxes.
What would you like to drink? We have Yorkshire tea, herbal tea, and other blends, coffee or something stronger. We have different flavour gins and vodkas as we collected many berries last year.
Anya: Would you have some Bengal Spice tea with a drop of oat milk? It’s my favourite tea spicey with cinnamon.
Amber: We do though I’ve not had it before. Rosa will bring some through. I must say I loved your book, and it triggered lots of conversations in the shop. What made you chose the harrowing Vardo witch trials as a subject to write about?
Anya: Thank you so much! I was living in Norway at the time, and a friend told me about the Norwegian witch trials, most of which took place on the remote arctic island of Vardø. When I discovered that the trial records still existed, and were translated into English, I became hooked. I decided I wanted to write a novel raising the lost voices of these women.
Willow: The characters and place are very real in your book, and we think this is because of the small details of their lives you added into it, including the food they ate, clothes and environment. How much research did you have to do?
Anya: I did a lot of research. I went to the university library in Bergen where I was living and spent hours reading history books, as well as travelling up to Vardø twice – once in winter and once in summer. I consulted with historians, went to museums, and also had a Sami sensitivity reader to make sure I didn’t get anything wrong.
Amber: Your women in the book all have an inner strength but are completely different in personality. If you could sit down with one and chat over a cup of tea. Who would you choose and why?
Anya: I think it has to be Maren. She’s quite an enigma, and I would like to dig a little deeper into who she is. Also, she’s a great storyteller so an evening by a roaring fire with a cup of hot cocoa listening to Maren’s tall tales would be awesome.
Amber: It would be Maren for me too based on her storytelling abilities. This is your first book. What has your publication journey been like? If you did it again, would you change anything?
Anya: So, this is my debut historical fiction as Anya Bergman (it’s a pen name) but I have had 13 other books published under another name. I have been trying to make a living as a professional author for 20 years and it’s been a long journey requiring tenacity and endurance. But I LOVE being a writer. I am living my dream so while it can be challenging in terms of trying to make a living, I wouldn’t change anything. I am the writer I am today because of the journey I have taken as an author. I also teach creative writing, which has brought me so much as a writer, and I love mentoring other writers. Community is important as a writer because we spend so much time alone in our heads and writing.
Willow: We always love hearing about author’s day. Do you have a strict your writing routine?
Anya: I try my best to write every day in the morning, but sometimes I am teaching or meeting other work deadlines, so I have to be flexible. It might happen that I don’t write for a few days, but I am usually thinking about the book in my head and then I dive in and write for hours on end for several days in a row.
Amber: I’m attempting to write my own witchy based novel. Do you have any advice for novice writers?
Anya: Yes, lots! I am currently mentoring 14 emerging writers and I believe very strongly in the need to create community and support each other. So I would encourage you to be part of a writing community, whether that’s online, with a couple of writing friends, or within a writing group. Since writing is such a solitary occupation, it’s good to have the support of others who write. The other thing I would say is keep writing despite the critical voices in your head. ALL writers, whether published or unpublished, struggle with imposter syndrome and once we realise that feeling isn’t going to go away, we can accept it and write despite it. With a first draft, don’t expect it to be perfect. Just try to get the whole thing down (a vomit draft) and then in your second draft you can begin crafting your story.
Willow: The Enchanted Emporium sells several candles in The Wishing Spell range which promise to help your day go smoothly. Which would you choose?
Anya: I think I would have to be sensible and choose financial security. I am currently working with the affirmation I am abundant, which I find myself coming to again and again. But being a writer is a very financially insecure business and sadly it seems to be getting harder and harder to make a living as a writer, so a little financial security would really help bring me more time for creative work.
Willow: One candle invokes memories of your perfect holiday or day when lit. Where would it take you?
Anya: There have been many wonderful holidays and perfect days, but I think the most memorable day was when I was up on the island of Vardø researching my book. It was midwinter, so the skies were dark, and there was a snow blizzard sweeping across the island. I remember walking out to Steilneset where the memorial for those executed for witchcraft is situated. The ocean was crashing against the shore, and I went inside Louise Bourgeois’ incredible installation where an eternal flame shoots from a chair and I could see myself reflected in the giant mirrors above. It was here I felt the presence of all those women executed for witchcraft and I made a pledge to tell the story in my novel no matter how long it took me. When I came out, the snow had stopped falling, and the skies were filled with the swirling Northern Lights, which to me seemed as if the spirits of these lost women dancing in the sky.
Amber: That sounds amazing. Ghosts and paranormal activity plague The Enchanted Emporium. Have had had any spooky experiences – has it influenced your writing?
Anya: Yes, I’ve had a few spooky experiences, but I am not afraid of ghosts or spirits. However, when I was deeply immersed in writing The Witches of Vardø, I did experience powerful nightmares which transported me to The Witches Hole on the island. I would wake up in terror because it seemed so real. I think there was a moment when I felt almost possessed by the stories of these women clamouring for the truth to be told.
Willow: The Witches Hole is nightmare inducing and powerful imagery. Luckily, we live in a time and place where witchcraft is not persecuted as before. If we could blend a potion to give you the ability to shapeshift into any of your animals and birds mentioned in your novel, what would it be and why?
Anya: Oh, it has to be the lynx. I saw these big cats when I lived in Norway and I was completely bewitched. They are incredibly beautiful, poised, intelligent, lithe, and powerful, completely at home in the snow-laden vistas of the north.
Willow: Our Enchanted Emporium bookshelf is a small lending library full of books with either fantastical, witchy, or paranormal theme. What would you add to it?
Anya: There are some great witchy reads coming out right now which you might like to add – Kirsty Logan’s She is Witch and Emilia Hart’s Weyward are both fabulous. You might like to also add some non-fiction books on witches such as Mona Chollet’s In Defence of Witches.
Rosa: I have a Box of Romance books I share with friends and customers. What would you add to it?
Anya: My absolute favourite love story is Devotion by Hannah Kent. It is so beautiful and had me in tears. I was so moved. And although you might not think so initially, it is HEA because love is stronger than death!
Willow: And finally, what are you working on currently? Or is it top secret?
Anya: I can tell you that the title is ‘The Tarot Reader of Versailles’ which might give you a little idea of what the novel is about! It’s inspired by a real historical figure who was a tarot reader during the French Revolution. I have been reading Tarot since I was fifteen, and for a time worked as a professional Tarot reader, so it’s an area I have always wanted to write about in fiction. Tarot Cards are powerful tools of self-knowledge, while they possess a magical quality to them as well. They were incredibly popular during the Reign of Terror as people searched for certainty amid the chaos of the French Revolution.
Willow: That sounds a fascinating read and we can’t wait to hold a copy when published. Good luck with your writing and thanks for popping by.
Title: The Witches of Vardo
Author: Anya Bergman
Publisher: Bonnier
Genre: Fiction, Witchlit, Historical fiction
Release date: 12th Jan 2023
Blurb
1662. Norway. A dangerous time to be a woman, when even dancing can lead to accusations of witchcraft. When Zigri, a normal fisherman’s wife, desperate and grieving after the loss of her husband and son, embarks on an affair with the married son of a wealthy merchant, it is not long before she is sent to the fortress at Vardø, to be tried and condemned as a witch. Summer is twenty-four hours of light and winter is twenty-four hours of darkness, and night is closing in.
Zigri’s daughter Ingeborg leaves her younger sister and sets off into the wilderness to try to bring her mother back home. Accompanying her on this quest is Maren – herself the daughter of a witch – whose wild nature and unconquerable spirit gives Ingeborg the courage to venture into the unknown, and to risk all she has to save her family.
Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius with instructions to extract the confessions from the supposed witches. Once the King of Denmark’s mistress, she has been brought to Vardø in disgrace. What will she do – and who will she betray – to return to her privileged life at court?
These Witches of Vardø are stronger than even the King of Denmark. In an age weighted against them they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power.
The Witches of Vardø is based upon the real events of witch hunts in Norway in 1662. A blend of historical fact with magic realism, retellings of old Nordic folktales, Norse mythology and Sámi mythology, and told from the points of view of Anna and Ingeborg, it will take your breath away.
Author Biography
Anya Bergman lives in Ireland. She graduated from Edinburgh Napier with a Master’s in Creative Writing with distinction in 2020. She lived for six years in Norway researching this book extensively. The Witches of Vardø, a passion project, is her debut novel. She says: “My aim is to raise the lost of voices of the women of Vardø with tenderness, to reclaim their agency and to empower the reader with a strong sense of F*** the patriarchy!”
The Enchanted Emporium Bookshelf 