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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Maren Wiederhold
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Memoirs

THE WITCH'S DAUGHTER

Orenda Fink

My Mother, Her Magic, and the Madness that Bound Us

Acclaimed indie musician and songwriter Orenda Fink delivers a lyrical and moving memoir of a tumultuous childhood with a mother who battled mental illness and addiction.

From her perch on a kitchen stool each night, Orenda Fink's darkly charismatic mother spins family lore and tells tales of the supernatural powers she wields, insisting that both she and Orenda are magic. By day, Orenda's childhood is marked by instability and uncertainty. Her family moves from town to town, chasing a fresh start whenever the money runs out. Orenda's mother insists that she is a witch, and magic is their means of protection from the world outside of their family. Orenda encounters her mother's magic in all its forms: a crisp $20 bill materializes from nothing when money has run out and a bottle of congealed blood lurks in the closet for unspoken reasons. When her mother's substance abuse and controlling behavior crescendo, Orenda escapes to pursue a music career in Birmingham, Alabama, and then storied Athens, Georgia, forming bands Little Red Rocket and Azure Ray. She orbits the family home, always drawn back by her mother's dark powers and her own need to solve the mystery of whether that claim of magic - or any magic - is real, or merely an expression of mental illness. Orenda's journey takes her from churches in the American South - eager to exercise the demons out of her - to even more mysterious practitioners of country magic in the Southeast and beyond. Finally seeking refuge in California's high desert, Orenda works to knit together her divided worlds with the help of a Jungian psychotherapist. She is stunned to learn that her mother fits many of the criteria associated with borderline personality disorder, including a sub-type identified by famed thought leader Christine Ann Lawson, known as "The Witch" - an aggressive, dominating figure who operates by fear-driven control, sometimes claiming to wield magic. Told in spellbinding prose, this memoir of music, self-discovery, and compassion is for anyone who has had to conjure a safe place to call home. Orenda Fink is a musician, songwriter, performer, and writer whose work has been profiled in by NPR, Pitchfork, and more. She has been writing, recording, and touring for critically acclaimed records since 1997. Orenda got her start in Birmingham, Alabama, with the pop rock group Little Red Rocket. In 2000, she formed the lauded ethereal folk duo Azure Ray with longtime friend Maria Taylor in Athens, Georgia. Azure Ray has cowritten with Moby and collaborated with Bright Eyes, Sparklehorse, and the Faint, among many others, with their music regularly featured in film and television programs. The Witch's Daughter is her first book. She is originally from Alabama, and now resides in California's Mojave Desert with her husband, Todd Fink of The Faint, and their dog, Grimm. The experiences described in this book prompted Orenda to become a certified Jungian Depth Coach with a specialization in shadow work and dream interpretation. Find out more at OrendaFink.com.

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Book Published 2024-08-06 by Gallery Books

Comments

Orenda Fink's memoir is un-put-downable... She brings a realistic and compelling lens to the confusing terrain of guilt, duty, grief, attachment, shame, and love that family members must navigate in these circumstances. It will validate the experience of so many survivors of these family systems.

A story of power, family, and struggle, [THE WITCH'S DAUGHTER] is a captivating look at growing up in the shadow of a dominant, unstable parent... With rich imagery, thoughtful reflections, and compelling prose, Fink's memoir will resonate with readers of Tara Westover's Educated.

A memoir of great generosity - to herself, to her mother, to all mothers, to her friends and fans, to everyone who reads it. You don't have to know Orenda or her music in order to recognize a version of your own life inside of her own. Plus all the juicy music-scene gossip. I couldn't put it down.

Every paragraph of The Witch's Daughter shimmers with a hauntingly precise perspective, and the spirit of the book is a delight, a wonder, even as it addresses turmoil, sadness, heartbreak. The minute I finished the book, I wanted to start right over at the beginning.

Orenda Fink's captivating memoir cascades with life and loss. Part detailed description of a gnarled family tree, part rock n' roll tell-all, part exorcism of the many demons that her and us can recognize in ourselves but do not understand. I have been a longtime admirer of her art and have been fortunate enough to call her a friend for many years. Still I had not known much of what is contained in this book. We have all touched some kind of madness. We have all cast our own sorry, desperate type of spells. This book is a testament to those things which make us scared and brave and magically human all at once.

Musician, songwriter, and performer Fink makes her book debut with an emotional memoir of her long struggle to wrest herself from her manipulative, destructive mother... A memorable book of raw, unvarnished recollections.

When you finish this book, you will turn around and give it to someone who needs it. This is a master text on surviving trauma as a child and an adult. I couldn't put it down.