The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Sangu Mandanna's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, published in 2022, is a warm, cozy fantasy romance that became a runaway bestseller on the strength of pure feel-good charm. Mika Moon is a young witch who has spent her entire adult life following two unbreakable rules: never reveal yourself to anyone outside the coven, and never seek out other witches. After centuries of persecution, the witches of Britain stay alive by staying scattered, lonely, and unseen. Mika is good at the rules, mostly. She is also exhausted by them, and on a whim she records a tongue-in-cheek YouTube video about her witchy life, in case anyone is listening. To her astonishment, someone is. An invitation arrives from Nowhere House, an enormous tumbledown manor in the English countryside, where three orphaned young witches are being raised by a cobbled-together family of caretakers, including the perpetually grumpy librarian Jamie Kelly. They desperately need someone to teach the girls to control their magic. What follows is a story about found family, slow-burn romance, and the radical idea that secrecy is not the only way to survive. Mandanna writes the warmest version of fantasy comfort food on the modern shelf.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Mika Moon is a lonely young witch in modern England, kept apart from her coven and posting fake spell videos online. When a real message asks her to tutor three orphan witch children at a country house called Nowhere House, she breaks every rule and goes, and meets the grumpy librarian Jamie.
Yes. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is widely cited as cozy fantasy alongside Legends and Lattes and The House in the Cerulean Sea. The premise of a witch caring for three magical orphans has gentle, comforting tone.
Sangu Mandanna has continued the world with related stories. As of 2025, a direct sequel has been discussed but not formally announced.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches was written by Sangu Mandanna, published in 2022 by Berkley.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a standalone novel by Sangu Mandanna, not part of a series.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.