Horror Book Review: Island Witch | Amanda Jayatissa

Amanda Jayatissa’s latest novel, Island Witch is an atmospheric, gothic horror novel set in the 19^th century in Sri Lanka. A tense story about a young woman and the truths she uncovers about her village.

About the Book | Island Witch

Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.

Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.

As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic No one can find out what happened .

Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Review | Island Witch

I have read all of Amanda Jayatissa’s books and enjoyed each of them. If you’ve read her books before, you’ll be familiar with her blending modern and traditional Sri Lankan culture into a psychological suspense story. In particular, the ways Sri Lanka and America compare and contrast with characters who have lived both places, and how that impacts their fit within their culture.

Island Witch is quite different from her previous books, My Sweet Girl and You’re Invited, but no less compelling. While both of her prior books (and in particular, My Sweet Girl) have supernatural and Sri Lankan lore woven into them, it’s not necessarily a supernatural or horror book. Island Witch is not only the first fully historical fiction work Jayatissa has written, it is also much closer to a horror novel than a psychological thriller.

“Fear is a woman’s burden. We are entrenched in it from the time we are born. Told to protect ourselves, especially our bodies. Heaven knows we’ve been told to value them more than our minds. […] Our fathers, our neighbours, our villagers rally around to protect us […] Be careful of strangers, they warned. […] They say this, even though the fathers, the neighbours, the villagers are often the very ones we need protecting from.”

Set in 19^th century Sri Lanka in a small village nestled between the jungle and the water, Island Witch is narrated by a girl named Amara. Her father is the village capuwa, which is a type of priest who draws from the gods (deviyo) to ward off demons (yakku). His work involves blessing houses and warding off evil, but many confuse him with Cattadiyas who work with yakku (demons). The British have infected the peaceful island, and they bring with them the notion of witchcraft (Ceylon) and to fear women with strength who might fight back.

The British colonizers also work to convert the villagers to Christianity. They besmirch Amara’s father, and call him a “demon worshiper” after a series of men are attacked in the jungle surrounding the village. They place the blame on Amara’s father, though Amara doesn’t believe her father is guilty and she seeks to clear his name. But Amara is haunted by dreams of dark forces on the island. Her sleepwalking becomes more frequent, and her dreams feature a demoness who resembles the being that attacked the men in the jungle. She can’t shake the feeling that this is all linked together—the attacks, the colonizers, the sleepwalking, her dreams, and the night she was taken by a mysterious illness. The night she woke up to her mother’s frantic cries “no one can find out what happened!”

“While this novel takes place in a historical setting, this is by no means a history lesson. It’s simple a story, as many dark tales go, of fear, desperation, and of the limitless boundaries of female rage.”

One common thread through all of Jayatissa’s work to date is about the mistreatment of women in society. Jayatissa portrays women of all types—some are likable, some are deeply unlikable—but by the end of her story the reader is left with a deep sense of injustice for women. Even the ones who do bad things. This theme is even stronger in Island Witch than her previous two novels.

Gothic vibes and Sri Lankan folklore surround this story, making this an unsettling, haunting, atmospheric read. Themes of colonization, superstition, imperialism, folklore, violence against women, and feminist rage weave throughout this book without preaching or talking down to the reader. Amara is so young and vulnerable as the book begins, but by the end she has transformed. Watching her village turn against her father, when they are the very ones who call on the capuwa in times of need. Amara realizes that the demons she was taught to fear may not be the only danger she faces.

I read an interview with Jayatissa (you can find it here) where Jayatissa mentions that this book is her own version of an origin story for Mohini—one of the most known and feared demonesses in Sri Lankan folklore. I remember Mohini from My Sweet Girl—she’s a terrifying presence commonly depicted as a woman in white clutching a bundle that is thought to be a child. There are countless variations on the story of Mohini, but the point that Jayatissa makes is that nothing good comes from coming into her path. While Mohini appears in stories and folklore across Sri Lanka and it’s history, there is no specific origin story of how Mohini came to be. Jayatissa was inspired to create one, and that eventually became Island Witch.

An eerie, gripping story about the women of Sri Lanka and the threats against them, whether it be colonizers, demons, or even their own fathers, brothers, uncles, and neighbors.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Amanda Jayatissa

Amanda Jayatissa loves to read disturbing books with shocking plot twists, so it seemed logical to her that she should attempt to write disturbing books with shocking plot twists. 

She is one of the first Sri Lankan women to secure an international book contract. Her first traditionally published novel, MY SWEET GIRL, won Best Debut Novel at the International Thriller Writers Awards in 2022. Her second novel, YOU’RE INVITED, was selected as a Book of The Month pick in July 2022 and was featured on The Today Show. 

She grew up in Sri Lanka and has lived in the California bay area and British countryside, before relocating back to her sunny island, where she lives with her husband and two Tasmanian-devil-reincarnate huskies.