VenCo by Cherie Dimaline is a contemporary fantasy novel that blends elements of folklore, road-trip adventure, and intergenerational resilience. At its heart, the book explores women’s power—both magical and personal—as it examines legacy, survival, and the bonds that tie a scattered coven together in a modern world still hostile to witches.
The story centers on Lucky St. James, a young Métis woman living in Toronto with her grandmother, Stella. Struggling to keep afloat in a gentrifying city, Lucky’s life changes when she discovers a mysterious silver spoon engraved with the image of a witch. This artifact connects her to VenCo, a secret company working to reunite seven witches scattered across North America. Lucky’s journey becomes one of self-discovery as she learns about her ancestral power and her role in re-forging the coven before it’s too late.
Stella St. James, Lucky’s fiercely protective grandmother, anchors the story with her wisdom and tenacity. As Lucky is drawn deeper into VenCo’s quest, Stella serves as a link to the past—representing survival, cultural memory, and the importance of passing on stories that were almost lost to colonization and persecution. Her relationship with Lucky underscores the novel’s intergenerational theme, highlighting how knowledge and power endure through shared lineage.
Alongside Lucky are the other women drawn by the spoons—each with their own struggles and histories. These witches represent different backgrounds and geographies, reflecting the diversity of modern North America while sharing a common legacy of marginalization. Their gradual convergence is both a logistical and spiritual journey, illustrating the challenge of unity amid distance, distrust, and the lingering scars of oppression.
Opposing the coven is Jay Christos, a cunning and ruthless man descended from the witch-hunters of Salem. Determined to stop the women from reuniting and reclaiming their power, Christos embodies the ongoing legacy of patriarchal violence and colonial control. His pursuit injects urgency and danger into the narrative, forcing Lucky and her allies to confront not just an individual foe but centuries of systemic oppression.
As the story unfolds, the women race across North America to gather all seven spoons before the coming of the next full moon—an event that will determine whether the coven is re-forged or their power extinguished. The road-trip structure gives the novel a propulsive momentum, while encounters along the way reveal the resilience of communities who have survived historic erasure and violence.
In the end, VenCo combines a contemporary setting with timeless struggles—land, identity, power, and survival—underscoring the strength that comes from solidarity across generations and geographies. Dimaline’s novel balances suspense and warmth, rooting the fantasy of witchcraft in the very real histories of colonialism and resistance. Like the spoons themselves, the book connects past to present, showing that the magic of survival lies in unity and remembrance.
