Hello tea party friends! I’m so excited to announce that Sasha Peyton Smith, author of The Witch Haven & The Witch Hunt is joining our tea party today! I absolutely adored The Witch Haven duology, and had the best time with this interview!
Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.
Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.
To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.
Links for The Witch Hunt: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Hi Sasha! Thank you so much for joining our tea party today! We’re so happy you’re here 
Hello, thank you for having me! My name is Sasha and the Witch Hunt is the sequel to my debut novel The Witch Haven. The Witch Haven takes place at a school for witches disguised as a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1911 New York City and the second book, The Witch Hunt, follows those same witches to Paris the summer of 1913, where they have to face some consequences regarding what they got up to in book one.
I’m from Utah but currently live in Washington DC where I love finding local cocktail bars and getting weepy in front of the impressionist paintings at the National Gallery. When I’m not writing I watch way too much tv, try to keep up with my k-pop group chats, and bake (poorly!)
One of my favorite things about The Witch Haven is the historical background, complex worldbuilding, and the setting. What was your research process like?
I’ve always loved history. I was that kid in elementary school library checking out books on the sinking of the Titanic and telling my friends on the playground all the gory details.
To capture the setting of 1911 New York I started by reading novels that were written in the early 1900s, like the Secret Garden, then I dove into reading historical Newspapers archived at the Library of Congress to get a feel for what daily life and language was like in 1911. Lena’s backstory in particular was important for me to get right, so every thing she shares about her past is backed up directly by a first hand historical document. I tried to set this book in the context of real historical events as much as possible. Things like the suffragette meeting and the political fundraiser are all real historical events that happened in 1911. My favorite things to research were the clothes and the Coney Island theme park rides.
If you could have any of the powers in The Witch Haven, what would they be and why?
I think I’d want to manipulate objects like Frances but I don’t think I’d be a particularly gifted magical user. I’d just use it to like…levitate a diet coke from the fridge.
Without giving too much away, what scene — or quote — was your favorite to write?
I’m a sucker for a classic YA love triangle so any scene that involved putting Frances, Finn and Oliver in the same room was a blast to write. The final chapter was probably the most meaningful to write, it was cathartic to close out this series after working on it since my early 20s. The fundraiser at the Louvre was also a favorite. It’s not a Sasha Peyton Smith book unless there’s a scene of someone committing crimes while wearing a ballgown.
As a fellow Swiftie, I have to ask — What Taylor Swift era would you associate with the core characters of The Witch Haven?
Always love a Taylor Swift Question!
Frances: Frances is a character of such…reluctant vulnerability. She wants so desperately to be loved but fears opening herself up to more heartbreak. But she’s tough, she’s discovering what she wants. Plus The Archer will always be the ultimate Frances song to me, so she is Lover.
Maxine: Maxine is Folklore. She is a mirrorball and that’s all there is to it.
Lena: If Maxine is Folklore, Lena is Evermore. Long story short, she survived (also she would kill a man, a la No Body No Crime.)
Oliver: Sweet baby Oliver is Speak Now! Big feelings, first heartbreaks, plus I can just picture him singing Sparks Fly in his car.
Finn: Finn likes to think he’s in his reputation era, but I think Fearless is Taylor’s most emo album, so to me, he is Fearless. He would absolutely stand outside Frances’s house singing You Belong With Me.
Finally, let’s close with a question that we ask all of our tea party guests: If The Witch Haven was a tea party, what would be the theme of the tea party? What flavor of tea would your main characters be? What tea party treat do you think your characters would bring?
Oooh given that this book takes place in Paris, I think the theme would be very ornate, belle epoque Parisian with lots of little macarons and fancy profiteroles.
Frances would be a cup of chai, Lena is a strong-brewed earl gray, Oliver is lemon ginger, Maxine is rooibos, and Finn is Irish breakfast.
Frances and Oliver would bring scones that they claimed they made together, but Oliver did like 98% of the work on, Lena would bring flowers for the host, Finn would bring a lemon cake that he claims he made himself but secretly bought at Safeway and Maxine would totally forget she’s supposed to bring something, drive through Starbucks on the way and dump a bunch of pastries, still in their bags, on the table.
Check the rest of the tour stops here!
Up for grabs, Turn the Pages Tour has five (5) finished copies of this book available! Click here to enter!
Sasha Peyton Smith is the New York Times best selling author of The Witch Haven and The Witch Hunt. She’s passionate about well-curated road trip playlists, soup recipes, and stories about complicated girls. Originally from Utah, she now lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and collection of porcelain hands.
