The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

A 36-year-old white man, Jamie is the resident librarian of Nowhere House. He was taken in by Lillian at age 16 after he ran away from home. Jamie was close to his father, who died when Jamie was 12. For the four years afterward, Jamie’s older brothers made his life hell, having resented Jamie for being their father’s favorite. Before his father’s death, Jamie was “Before-Jamie” whose “glass had been more than half-full” (101). Like present-day Mika, Jamie as a child was optimistic and happy. However, once his life changed, he became a brooding and mistrusting man.

Because of his stark change of outlook, Jamie initially dislikes and mistrusts Mika. He worries that the house has “secrets […] he didn’t want unburied” (100) but admits that he’d be mistrustful of anyone. His real problem with Mika is that she’s “so aggravatingly, relentlessly sunshiney” (100). His dislike for her demeanor slowly morphs into an admiration for her character as he gets to know her and learns about her upbringing and residual trauma. Like Mika, Jamie has his own battle with allowing people to get close. When he learns about Mika’s past, he becomes afraid she’ll leave like she leaves everyone and everything else. However, Ken advises him to “leave a window open” (213) for people who leave so that they know they’re welcome back—and despite his concerns, Jamie grows closer to Mika, falling in love with her and her passion for magic.

As Jamie begins to let Mika in, he allows her into his childhood, telling her about his trauma after his father’s death. His being vulnerable and letting her know that hidden part of him mirrors how Mika allows him to know the magical side of her. By letting her in, Jamie is able to face his childhood trauma and gain the closure he needs from his biological family. When he reveals Lillian’s death, scaring Mika away, he takes Ken’s advice and leaves a window open, extending an invitation to Mika to return and stay forever. At the end of the book, Jamie and Mika are in a relationship and are raising the girls together at Nowhere House.

The eldest witch of the Very Secret Society of Witches, Primrose is also the twin sister of Lillian Nowhere—a major revelation near the novel’s end. Primrose enforces strict rules on the witches of the Society to protect them from the evils of a world that’s fearful of—and thus hostile to—magic. As an elder witch who guides the Society, Primrose embodies the Old Crone archetype. The witches of the Society both respect and fear Primrose because of her wisdom and influence. The other witches obey her rules because they fear the ostracization and consequences that come with her wrath.

Primrose raised Mika, having known Mika’s grandmother and mother. After Mika’s mother died, Primrose took Mika in—but rather than violate her own rules about witches being in the same place, Primrose had Mika hired by a series of caretakers and educators, whose memories of Mika she promptly removed once their time with the girl was over, creating a traumatic and isolating childhood for Mika. Primrose is a source of wisdom for Mika, though this wasn’t always the case. Mika recalls asking Primrose questions and receiving dismissive answers as she grew up, making it difficult for Mika to fully understand her witch side.

However, in Chapter 16, Primrose reveals to Mika the history of witches gathering, explaining that the reason all witches are orphans is that a spell, cast by a group of witches working together, went wrong. They realized that gathering was dangerous, not only because of the powerful climate of witch hunters at the time but also because the greater the magic, the greater the potential for it to go wrong. Primrose rigidly believes that “[a]lone is the only way we survive” (189), not just because of history but also because of her own upbringing. As children, Primrose and Lillian were treated terribly by the relatives who raised them, causing Primrose to retreat inward and never let anyone close enough to risk pain or exposure. Mika recognizes this and uses it as a means of communicating to Primrose the importance of a support system and convincing her to allow the residents of Nowhere House to stay together despite four of them being witches. Primrose ultimately learns to be more flexible with her precautions and value the connections that witches can make in modern society.

The three young witches whom Lillian adopted are Rosetta, Terracotta, and Altamira. All three girls have spent their childhood lives at Nowhere House and have received little to no guidance on how to use their magic.

Rosetta is the oldest, at 10 years old. She’s Black, and Lillian found her in London after her parents died in a house fire. Rosetta embodies her namesake, the Rosetta Stone, because she’s passionate about the written word and inquisitive about interpersonal connections. She loves to read and even reads to Mika when Mika is bedridden. Mika can tell that Rosetta is “lonely” because Mika remembers being a lonely young witch longing for connections too. With Mika’s help, Rosetta grows confident in her powers and begins to make trips outside of Nowhere House to practice keeping her power in check, while having opportunities to socialize. In the novel’s last chapter, Rosetta gets to meet an older Black witch, Belinda, an exciting connection for her as a young Black witch longing for community.

Terracotta is the middle child, and her connection to Mika is the most difficult early on. Born in Vietnam, Terracotta was orphaned when her parents died of an illness. Mika sees that Terracotta is “ferociously protective of her sisters, the grown-ups who looked after them, and this safe haven they’d built together” (94), which is why Terracotta is so standoffish toward Mika. Terracotta takes after Jamie, and she picks up on his initial mistrust of Mika, which emboldens her to continue to reject Mika’s tutelage. This conflict reaches its climax when Terracotta manages to levitate despite Mika’s insistence that it’s too dangerous. When Mika intervenes to help her, the encounter results in a bolt of wild magic that gravely injures Mika. Terracotta learns her lesson about ignoring, mistrusting, and fighting against Mika, who only wants what’s best for her.

Altamira, who’s seven, is the youngest of the three girls. Lillian found Altamira in the rubble of a Palestinian hospital. Altamira takes cues from her older sisters and looks to them for guidance. She quickly latches on to Mika and shows a willingness to learn to harness the boundless magic that surrounds her.