The spiritual and the paranormal
The main theme explored in the novel is the theme of the paranormal and the spiritual. It portrays an entire saga of a family of witches, from the 17th-century witch hunts, to the present day with the remnants of psychic abilities. What’s interesting about the witch history that is presented in the Mayfair family is that the origins of witchcraft, hell, and the devil are explored in a non-traditional way. It is not clear where the paranormal abilities originated from, if it’s from the spiritual sense connected to religion and the idea of hell and devil, or whether it’s an unexplained scientific phenomenon. The boundaries between those two ideas are very thin. In the past, in the time of the original Mayfair witch Susannah and her daughter Deborah, it was connected to religion and Lasher’s existence as that of the devil, but through time, and scientific explorations through to the birth of Rowan, it alludes to that Lasher’s existence might have a scientific explanation.
Family secrets
The dominant part of the novel is dedicated to Talamasca’s collection of Mayfair family history, from the very beginning and the burning of the first Mayfair with Susannah to the most recent Mayfair witch Rowan. The history is presented through letters from Petyr van Abel at first, and then it is mostly informational texts of what the future members of Talamasca gathered. To say that the history of the Mayfair family contains a lot of family secrets would be an understatement. It is an intricate web of upholding the Mayfair line of witches, the passing on of the green jewel to the strongest witch, through incest, violence, and murder.
Love
The present time in the novel contains all the plot points of a pure love story between Michael and Rowan. Rowan saves Michael from drowning, and after this fateful event, both of their lives lose meaning until they reunite again. There is an immediate connection and sexual attraction between them and after spending only one night together, they know they are destined to be. An interesting fact is that both of them are from New Orleans, and a set of circumstances leads them to start their lives in the Mayfair house on First Street. Their love seems to know no boundaries, they are completely open about their secrets to each other. In the end, of course, their love is bound to be tempted by the spirit of the man, Lasher, who has been haunting the strongest Mayfair witch of every generation.
