A Circle of Uncommon Witches Summary, Characters and Themes
A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher is a rich and immersive tale that follows the journey of Doreen MacKinnon, a woman bound by a generational curse that dooms her and her ancestors to suffer love’s cruelest fate. The novel explores themes of family, power, trauma, and transformation against a backdrop of Scottish mysticism and ancestral magic.
At its core, the story is a high-stakes emotional and magical quest—Doreen must uncover ancient truths, survive harrowing trials, and confront the complex legacy of both love and betrayal that spans centuries. Through her alliance with Ambrose MacDonald, the cursed becomes the curse-breaker, but not without sacrifice.
Summary
Doreen MacKinnon, a descendant of a powerful Scottish witch line, is born under a centuries-old curse: if she reaches the age of thirty without binding someone to her through magical love—known as “stinging”—she will die. This cruel enchantment was cast by Ambrose MacDonald, a heartbroken witch whose own love story ended in devastation when Lenora MacKinnon rejected him.
As a result, the MacKinnon women are doomed to inspire artificial love but never experience it authentically.
Doreen grows up surrounded by the burden of this curse, watching the women in her family survive through manipulation rather than happiness. Her closest companion is her cousin Margot, with whom she shares dreams of breaking free.
However, Margot eventually succumbs to the pressure and “stings” a man named Dean, marrying him and choosing safety over truth. Her departure leaves Doreen both heartbroken and further resolved to destroy the curse.
When Margot leaves behind a cryptic message—”The Dead House exists”—Doreen begins a determined quest to find this legendary place, where Ambrose MacDonald has supposedly been imprisoned in magical torment.
Doreen manages to locate the Dead House, where she meets Ambrose—not as a monster, but a broken man suffering from centuries of pain. She frees him from his magical bonds and defends him against her own family, taking on the punishment meant for him.
Together, they escape through a magical portal to the Isle of Skye. There, Doreen learns that Ambrose knows how to break the curse, but refuses to reveal it, fearing the high price.
Their uneasy alliance evolves into a complicated connection, shaped by shared pain, mutual distrust, and an urgent mission.
They encounter Ada, the Queen of the Order of the Dead, in a cave steeped in myth and danger. Ada offers Doreen power and shortcuts but also demands her soul.
Doreen resists, proving her strength by retrieving a burning orb from Ada’s fire. Ada names the Trials of Bheannachd—courage, heart, cunning, and self-sacrifice—as the only path forward.
Expelled by Ada’s magic, Doreen and Ambrose awaken in the forest, where Ambrose reflects on the trauma of his father’s abuse and the memory of Lenora. Despite Ada’s manipulations, he feels protective of Doreen.
Stella, Doreen’s aunt and leader of the MacKinnon coven, learns of Doreen’s alliance with Ambrose and raises the family sigil to hunt them down. Margot, plagued by dreams of Doreen’s peril, tries to warn her.
Doreen and Ambrose travel to Portree for supplies, encountering ghostly visions and signs of Stella’s wrath. Their next stop is Bonailie Castle, Ambrose’s ancestral home, filled with powerful magic and haunted memories.
The castle reveals visions to Doreen, including echoes of her mother and whispers of the past, and Ambrose relives his own trauma, accompanied by the ghost of his former valet, Sinclair.
Their journey takes them to the Forest of Forgetting, where Ambrose becomes immobilized. Doreen, guided by Eleanor—an ancestral figure who may be Lenora in another form—casts spells to revive him.
Eleanor warns that the curse is part of a deeper entrapment involving the souls of the dead. As Doreen and Ambrose flee a storm, Margot arrives, reaffirming her bond with Doreen.
The trio takes shelter in a cave, where Eleanor instructs them to find the apprentice’s chapel. Eleanor, whose identity blurs between aid and threat, continues to drop cryptic warnings and magical clues.
Inside the chapel, the trio finds their own graves and ancestral journals. Doreen discovers a memoir written in her name that echoes unspoken feelings for Ambrose, and Margot finds one for their mother marked “Soul Not Willing.
” The space becomes charged with energy as Eleanor appears again. With an incantation, a powerful book drops at Doreen’s feet—possibly containing the truth behind the curse and Ada’s power.
Ambrose, changed by a spectral kiss from Lenora, vows to love Doreen fully. Meanwhile, Stella and Kayleen—Doreen’s aunts—search desperately for their lost girls, uncovering that Doreen’s magic is warping the underworld itself.
Doreen, Margot, and Ambrose journey through the distorted Isle of Skye to find the Old Man of Storr. They awaken him using symbolic herbs and a poultice, discovering that he is Hastings, Ambrose’s ancestor, and Ada’s former lover.
Hastings admits his guilt in Ada’s fall and warns that someone must replace him as guardian. Margot sacrifices herself, becoming the new stone sentinel.
The final trial tests cunning. Ambrose relives his ancestor’s memories, while Doreen is faced with an impossible choice: save Ambrose, Margot, or her ancestors.
Refusing all options, she jumps into the sea toward a magical stone, unlocking Ada’s realm. Inside, she confronts Ada, whose body is decayed and whose soul is shattered.
Rather than surrender, Doreen summons the voices of the dead, using their collective stories and journals to overpower Ada and lift the curse.
Doreen awakens in her childhood bed, alive and changed. Ambrose is at her side, and Margot is safe.
The curse is broken, the coven healed. Doreen and Ambrose finally allow themselves to love freely.
A spectral goodbye from Margaret MacKinnon, one of the first cursed, signals peace. In the final image, Doreen sees her reflection with glowing pearl eyes, marking her transformation into the witch who freed them all.
Characters
Doreen MacKinnon
Doreen MacKinnon serves as the emotional and narrative anchor of A Circle of Uncommon Witches, a character shaped as much by her lineage as by her resistance to it. As a thirteenth-generation witch cursed by her ancestor’s heartbreak, Doreen’s life has been a constant struggle between fate and free will.
Her defining quality is her relentless pursuit of truth—she refuses to simply accept the doom that has haunted the MacKinnon line. Unlike others who succumb to the curse by choosing safe, artificial unions, Doreen clings to the possibility of authentic love.
Her inner strength is marked by quiet resolve, strategic intelligence, and emotional depth. Through the trials she faces—from Ada’s manipulations to the treacherous magical tests—Doreen evolves from a seeker of answers to a bearer of legacy.
Her relationship with Ambrose complicates her mission, drawing out compassion, anger, and fierce loyalty. Even when faced with sacrificial decisions or family betrayal, Doreen remains centered in her moral compass, ultimately becoming the witch who liberates not just herself but an entire history of pain.
Her transformation by the novel’s end—symbolized in her glowing pearl eyes—is less about power and more about wisdom and emancipation.
Ambrose MacDonald
Ambrose MacDonald is both antagonist and tragic romantic lead, a man whose initial role as the curse-caster is quickly complicated by layers of regret, trauma, and enduring love. A product of centuries of magical imprisonment, Ambrose is deeply scarred by his past—particularly the loss of Lenora and the betrayal he experienced at the hands of the MacKinnons.
He begins the story as bitter, guarded, and cynical, resigned to a half-existence steeped in guilt. Yet through his interactions with Doreen, cracks appear in his defenses, and the slow reawakening of his humanity begins.
Ambrose is haunted not only by past love but also by the violent upbringing under his father, making his instinct to protect Doreen both redemptive and self-defensive. His complex feelings toward Eleanor/Lenora—an ancestor of Doreen’s—are entangled with his growing affection for Doreen, and his eventual willingness to aid in breaking the curse reveals a man still capable of love and sacrifice.
Ambrose’s arc is one of self-forgiveness and reclamation, and though he begins as the embodiment of the MacKinnon family’s doom, he ends as Doreen’s partner in both love and liberation.
Margot
Margot, Doreen’s cousin and childhood companion, embodies the tug-of-war between survival and hope that defines much of A Circle of Uncommon Witches. Her initial choice to “sting” a man into a magically bound love, thereby accepting a hollow safety, is a heartbreaking moment of divergence from Doreen’s path.
Yet Margot never fully relinquishes her idealism. Her dreams of Doreen in danger, and her eventual re-entry into the story as a fiercely loyal ally, reveal a woman deeply conflicted but never truly resigned.
Margot’s love for Doreen is unwavering, even as she wrestles with guilt and longing. Her evolution is marked by renewed courage and deep emotional intelligence.
When she sacrifices herself to become the new stone guardian in Hastings’ place, it is a stunning act of agency and selflessness. Margot’s arc is not merely about redemption—it is about reclaiming her sense of self, rising from complacency to become a keystone in the story’s ultimate act of liberation.
Ada
Ada, the Queen of the Order of the Dead, operates as a spectral antagonist whose motivations are steeped in loss and vengeance rather than simple malice. She is a creature of myth and shadow, luring the living with promises of power while harvesting the souls of the dead.
Yet even in her most terrifying moments, Ada is not one-dimensional. Her story is one of tragedy—once in love, betrayed, and bound to a role she never wanted.
Her manipulations of Doreen and Ambrose stem from her own entrapment, and while she is fearsome, she is also pitiable. Through Ada, the narrative explores the corruption of grief and the cost of vengeance left unchecked.
Her confrontation with Doreen becomes a battle of souls and ideologies, and it is through Doreen’s defiant empathy and ancestral magic that Ada is finally undone. By the end, Ada is less a villain and more a cautionary tale of what becomes of power when severed from love and hope.
Eleanor/Lenora
Eleanor, revealed to be a spectral manifestation of Lenora—the MacKinnon ancestor Ambrose once loved—plays a pivotal yet ambiguous role throughout the story. She serves as a guide, a tempter, a warning, and a mirror.
Bound by ancient magic and twisted by time, Eleanor exists in fragmented forms: nurturing one moment, cryptic or dangerous the next. Her presence forces Doreen and Ambrose to confront the full scope of their lineage and its betrayals.
As the ghost of a woman who once rejected love and indirectly caused a curse, Eleanor carries the weight of history’s missteps. Yet she is not heartless; her appearances are often marked by urgent, if not always clear, attempts to help.
Whether warning of the storm, guiding them through trials, or speaking through poetic whispers, Eleanor bridges past and present. She becomes the living embodiment of how trauma repeats across generations unless actively confronted.
Her final act—dropping the book of truth at Doreen’s feet—is a gesture of relinquishment, allowing the next generation to break the cycle.
Stella
Stella, Doreen’s aunt and the matriarch of the MacKinnon coven, stands as a formidable figure embodying tradition, control, and the hard pragmatism of survival. Her early orchestration of Doreen’s romantic disappointment and later unleashing of magical wrath against her own niece and Ambrose mark her as both protector and enforcer of the family’s grim legacy.
Yet Stella is not evil; rather, she is the product of centuries of fear, hardened by the belief that survival trumps happiness. Her inability to imagine a world beyond the curse makes her an antagonist in Doreen’s journey, yet her actions stem from genuine concern, however misguided.
Stella’s character explores the complexities of matriarchal power in a lineage shaped by trauma—she is both jailer and shield. Her gradual recognition of Doreen’s strength and the legitimacy of her quest hints at a potential, if reluctant, thawing, allowing for generational healing to begin.
Sinclair
Sinclair, Ambrose’s former valet and enduring spiritual companion, adds a quiet but powerful layer to the novel’s emotional texture. He represents a tether to Ambrose’s humanity and a voice of reason amid chaos.
Despite being a ghost, Sinclair is animated by loyalty and insight, often serving as a calming presence in tense moments. His knowledge of the prison world and his role in helping Doreen navigate it give him narrative weight beyond that of a typical secondary character.
Sinclair’s past entry into the magical underworld speaks to his bravery and connection to Ambrose, while his rapport with Margot adds warmth and levity to darker scenes. In many ways, Sinclair functions as a spiritual steward, reminding Ambrose and Doreen of what they fight for: memory, loyalty, and the possibility of peace.
His character underscores the idea that even those long gone can help carry us forward.
Themes
Generational Trauma and Inherited Burden
The foundation of A Circle of Uncommon Witches is built upon the enduring weight of generational trauma, transmitted through the bloodline of the MacKinnon women via a centuries-old curse. Rather than being a symbolic inheritance, this trauma is magical, visceral, and fatal.
Every MacKinnon woman must grapple with the fear of dying before the age of thirty unless they ensnare someone in artificial love. This looming expiration date becomes a cruel rite of passage, shaping childhoods with anxiety, adolescence with desperation, and adulthood with a sense of encroaching doom.
Doreen, unlike her cousin Margot, refuses to conform to this legacy of survival through manipulation. Her quest is not just one of magical correction but of emotional healing—for herself and for all the women in her line who were robbed of autonomy, passion, and authentic love.
The story critiques the way ancestral wounds, especially those rooted in betrayal and coercion, calcify into expectations that force the next generation into repetition. Doreen’s refusal to continue that pattern transforms her from a potential victim into a liberator.
What makes this theme especially poignant is that the trauma is not just an abstract concept—it is given form in ghosts, echoes, and curses. The castle’s lingering spirits, the spectral guidance of Eleanor, and the confrontations with Ambrose’s past serve as metaphors for confronting and recontextualizing ancestral pain.
Through Doreen’s journey, the novel interrogates whether inherited suffering must define one’s future, or whether it can be rewritten through courage, knowledge, and love rooted in choice rather than compulsion.
The Nature of Love and Consent
At the heart of the curse is a deeply disturbing violation of love and consent. The magic that binds the MacKinnon women ensures they can never experience love freely—it must be either manipulated or forfeited entirely.
This blurs the lines between affection and enslavement, rendering the very idea of romantic love as a minefield of moral ambiguity. Margot’s decision to “sting” Dean reflects a choice made in resignation rather than desire.
Her marriage is a symbol of defeat, not fulfillment. Meanwhile, Doreen’s refusal to enact that spell becomes an act of radical resistance, an assertion that love should only be entered freely, or not at all.
The evolving relationship between Doreen and Ambrose is a slow, emotionally charged exploration of trust and mutual recognition in the shadow of this twisted history. Ambrose, himself a tragic figure, once inflicted the curse in a moment of heartbreak and has suffered for centuries under its consequences.
That he withholds the knowledge to break it out of fear of the cost illustrates the toll of living without consent—both as the cursed and the curser. The theme extends beyond romance into familial love, especially in the relationships between Doreen, Margot, and Eleanor.
These bonds, shaped by loyalty and sacrifice, highlight how consent is not just a romantic concern but central to all forms of intimacy. Ultimately, the novel argues that love without freedom is not love at all, and any attempt to engineer or control it leads only to suffering and decay.
Female Power, Resistance, and Identity
The story of Doreen MacKinnon is also a story of a woman asserting her agency in a world that has systematically sought to suppress it. Her journey is not merely about lifting a magical curse—it is about claiming space in a narrative dominated by ancient patriarchs, abusive bloodlines, and institutionalized covens that prioritize control over care.
Stella, the matriarch of the MacKinnon coven, exemplifies this legacy of suppressed female power, wielding it as a weapon rather than a shield. Doreen’s divergence from Stella’s path marks a turning point not only in the story but in the broader narrative of what it means to be a powerful woman in a magical lineage.
Her power is not inherited passively but earned through trials, choices, and sacrifices. The Trials of Bheannachd are not simply tests of magical ability—they are crucibles for identity formation, challenging Doreen to decide who she is and what she stands for.
This theme gains further complexity through characters like Ada and Eleanor, whose experiences with power and its costs serve as cautionary reflections. Ada, once a woman who loved and suffered, has been twisted into a creature who hoards souls, illustrating how power without empathy can become monstrous.
Eleanor, flickering between helpful guide and threatening force, embodies the instability that arises when female power is corrupted or compromised. Through Doreen’s final confrontation with Ada and the shattering of the curse, the story imagines a future where female power is no longer feared or misused, but respected and fully embraced.
Memory, History, and the Haunting of the Past
Ghosts in A Circle of Uncommon Witches are not merely supernatural entities—they are symbolic of the past’s inescapable presence in the lives of the living. The ancestral castle, with its spirit-laden halls, speaks to the way historical trauma permeates physical spaces.
Ambrose’s childhood memories, especially those involving his abusive father and his lost love Lenora, are not buried—they animate the very walls of Bonailie Castle. These recollections do not fade but instead persist, shaping Ambrose’s reluctance, cynicism, and shame.
Similarly, Doreen is haunted not just by spectral figures but by the weight of all the women who came before her. The apprentice’s chapel, where she finds journals containing thoughts she never voiced, underscores how history writes itself into people’s souls, sometimes even before they are born.
Memory is treated as both a gift and a burden. It offers clarity but can also imprison.
The act of reading ancestral journals and channeling the voices of the dead becomes Doreen’s way of reclaiming agency over that history, allowing her to acknowledge the past without being consumed by it. Even Ambrose, long defined by a memory of loss and betrayal, must confront the truth that what he believed about Lenora and his own choices was incomplete.
The novel’s handling of memory insists that healing requires a full reckoning with what has been forgotten, repressed, or rewritten. It is only through such confrontation that the characters can begin to imagine a future not tethered to the suffering of the past.
Sacrifice, Redemption, and Transformation
The trials that Doreen must undergo are not just physical or magical—they are deeply moral and emotional. At every turn, she is asked what she is willing to give up for freedom, love, and truth.
These choices frame the central moral landscape of the book, where sacrifice is not measured by loss alone, but by what that loss makes possible. Margot’s decision to become the stone guardian in place of Hastings is a turning point that demonstrates sacrifice born from love and solidarity.
Unlike earlier generations who protected themselves at the expense of others, Margot’s act redefines the nature of redemption—no longer individual but collective. Ambrose’s arc follows a different path.
His original sin—cursing the MacKinnons out of heartbreak—was one born of weakness and vengeance. Yet through his reluctant alliance with Doreen, his commitment to shielding her even at the cost of his life, and his eventual openness to love again, he earns a redemption grounded in accountability.
Doreen’s final act of defiance—refusing to choose between predetermined fates and instead invoking the spirits of the dead to rewrite reality—signals the ultimate transformation. She becomes not just a witch of great power, but a symbol of renewal.
Her glowing pearl eyes in the final scene are not just magical markers but symbols of her rebirth as a leader capable of guiding others out of darkness. The story’s resolution insists that redemption is possible not through regret, but through action—and that true transformation requires not just facing one’s demons, but changing the rules they enforce.