Half Spent Was the Night

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“The sequel to Ami McKay’s The Witches of New York is worth the wait.” —Parents Canada

“Beautiful.” —The Chronicle Herald

“The perfect holiday novel for those who don’t resonate with the modern, heavily commercialized version of Christmas and lean more toward the Wiccan Yule festival. Or for those who simply want to escape from the holiday madness with some truly transporting historical fiction.” —Hello Giggles

“A Christmas ghost story is a tradition that hearkens back to pagan times and earlier. McKay’s sweet little book about three witches makes a lovely stocking stuffer.” —The Hamilton Spectator


Praise for Ami McKay’s previous book, THE WITCHES OF NEW YORK: 

“A magical little book. . . . Combines humour, the occult and history into a fascinating and fun novel of women supporting each other.” —The Vancouver Sun

“Widely considered part of the A-list of contemporary writers, McKay has created and occupied a vital territory in Canadian letters, with scrupulously researched historical fiction foregrounding female characters and lives against traditionally masculine settings and milieus. . . . For all its ideas, its imperatives, The Witches of New York is a keenly pleasurable reading experience, and over all too soon. One cannot help but want to spend more time in the company of these witches.” —National Post

“An ‘enchanting’ read that’ll leave you horrified. Fans of Victorian fiction will enjoy this outing. All of tropes of the time are present here: the glamour of the Gilded Age, the tragedy of prostitutes and Fallen Women, the suffering of the toiling lower classes, the growing power of the suffragettes and the ever-present spectres of ghosts, angels and demons. The book is richly researched, and packed with enticing historical detail. McKay’s prose is, as always, superb—the descriptions enchanting, the narrative arcs compelling, the characters dear (or deliciously sinister, as the case may be). But it is the emotion of the novel that lingers longest, the pervading horror over the persecution of women.” —Toronto Star

“Step into an exciting and spellbinding world, brought to us by the soaring imagination of Ami McKay . . . a celebrated purveyor of intrigue, dark arts and fascinating fragments of real history. . . . A dark, atmospheric tale. . . . McKay’s seductive novel unfurls slowly amidst a miasma of menace, mischief, mystery and mesmerising magic. . . . This a clever, compelling story of determined, independent women fighting for a place in a man’s world of chauvinism, oppression and prejudice. . . . Using the atmospheric backdrop of New York City on the cusp of monumental change and packed with the wisdom of the ages and the authority of an author with a resonant message, this is a rich, chilling and thrilling story.” —Lancashire Evening