Hidden among us is a secret government department of witches known as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven.
They protect crown and country from magical forces and otherworldly evil, but their greatest enemy will come from within…
There are whisperings of a prophecy that will bring the coven to its knees, and four best friends are about to be caught at the centre.
Life as a modern witch was never simple… but now it’s about to get apocalyptic.
Prepare to be bewitched by Juno Dawson’s first adult series. A story of ancient prophecies and modern dating, of sacred sisterhood and demonic frenemies.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is one of the (many!) novels that I picked up at this year’s Hay Festival following a talk on so-called “witcherature”. I’ll be honest, it’s not a novel that I would have picked up otherwise, but I was intrigued by Dawson’s elevator pitch in the talk and raced to the festival bookshop to pick up a copy afterwards. I’m so glad I did because I absolutely loved it, and I’m now kicking myself for not picking up a copy of the sequel, The Shadow Cabinet, at the same time. It’s set in the present-day world, but with one key difference – a small number of people have magical abilities and a secret government department, the titular coven, exists to make use of those individuals and their various powers.
The novel is based upon a group of witches, friends since childhood but who have started to go their separate ways as so often happens in life. This group are of my own generation and emulated the Spice Girls in their youth, each one taking on one of the five identities, even if not everyone was happy with how those nicknames were distributed. Amusingly, Dawson has carried these personas on into their adult lives. If you aren’t or weren’t a fan, don’t worry – it doesn’t detract from the story as I feared it might, but for me it added an extra layer of fun to the novel, and perhaps a bit of nostalgia, as you start to get to know these characters in more detail.
The main two protagonists are Niamh and Helena. Niamh is a fantastic character and my favourite in the novel. She’s down to earth, despite her capabilities, but has experienced hardship following the death of her fiancé some ten years earlier. We find Niamh in a will she / won’t she situation with the rather lush sounding Luke, unsure whether she’s ready to move on or not. No longer a part of the coven, Niamh is drawn into its affairs when she’s asked to help with, Theo, an unusually powerful child who might be the prophesised “sullied child” and general harbinger of doom. Niamh reluctantly agrees, with absolutely no idea what she’s getting into.
Helena is a very different character, despite the two being close friends when they were younger if somewhat less so now. As the head of HMRC, she is extremely proud of her position and the power she wields. Her whole bearing and manner is that of someone who is accustomed to money and wealth, and I found her a little irritating at times as a result. I’d really like to say something positive about her, even if it’s simply that she does the wrong things for the right reasons, but I really didn’t take to her at all, and I found that she has such a superiority complex that it makes her judgemental and inflexible.
The novel revolves around Theo and whether they are the so called “sullied child” and what, if any, threat they pose to the coven and wider country. Events quickly escalate as Helena seeks to contain this potential threat, making a lot of poor decisions along the way. I don’t want to say any more about the plot than this, but this novel is a huge amount of fun, and I became fully invested in the lives of these characters. I laughed a lot, I worried about them, and I got angry on their behalf at times. I also loved the world building, and particularly the way in which Dawson shares the history of these witches and their coven, seamlessly fitting it into the history that we know. It’s brilliantly written, witty, and intelligent.
While it is a lot of fun, there is also a more serious angle to the novel. It highlights gender inequality, gloriously reversed here as witches are more powerful than their male counterparts, the warlocks and their cabal. And some witches do look down upon the warlocks as a result, with the men taking umbrage at this. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It also explores other forms of prejudice and the way in which the deck is inherently stacked against certain groups including people of colour and the LGBTQIA+ community (forgive me if I’m using the incorrect terms here – it’s not deliberate, and hopefully the point I’m making comes across despite any errors on my part). In particular, it explores the prejudice facing those who are transgender, and it feels like such a timely and important novel, relaying a simple but key message about acceptance and kindness.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a fantastically fun read, but one that carries an important message within its pages. As the first novel in a planned trilogy, the ending sets up the second novel nicely and I can’t wait to read it. I honestly can’t recommend this novel enough, and I’m thrilled that Dawson has made HMRC stand for something interesting!
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