“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves.”
-Matthew 10:16
Seventeen year-old THEODORA AUGUSTINO suddenly must take care of her younger siblings, as she grieves the death of their mother — who apparently died of influenza, during the 1918 pandemic.
Then, too soon, her father marries the cunning young beauty, KATINA.
Theodora’s father, NASO, a Stoic, proper aristocrat. His vanity blinds him to Katina’s sinister motives.
From a very young age, my Greek grandmother would tell me stories about her real-life wicked stepmother, who practiced black magic. She spoke of the “Evil Eye," exorcisms and prayers, love spells and curses. I wove her stories, together with my fascination with the occult, folktales, and Ancient Greek Religion and Magic, into THEODORA AND THE WITCH.