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Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

Behind the calm veneer of campus life, a professor discovers that witchcraft may be very real—and terrifyingly personal. Suspicion, secrecy, and suburban dread coil into a tight, nerve-pricking thriller. Clever, eerie, and enduring, Conjure Wife turns domestic life into a battleground of hidden power.

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In Conjure Wife, did you enjoy ...

... the domestic occult—spells, talismans, and a hidden coven manipulating a marriage?

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

If the way Tansy’s protective charms backfire—once Norman forces her to abandon them—and the faculty wives’ quiet coven made your skin crawl, you’ll love how Rosemary’s Baby burrows into a marriage under siege by smiling neighbors. Minnie and Roman Castevet’s “kindness,” Dr. Saperstein’s gaslighting, and Guy’s chilling complicity echo the same intimate, invasive witchcraft that put Norman and Tansy in danger.

... cutthroat campus power plays where the magic is real and political?

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

If the backstabbing among college departments and the secret war between professor’s wives hooked you, Ninth House ups the ante with Yale’s occult societies jockeying for influence. Alex Stern and Darlington patrol rituals gone wrong, cover-ups, and elite privilege—much like Norman stumbling into an academic battlefield where spells, status, and survival are intertwined.

... a tight, homebound struggle against a small community’s secret pagan rites?

Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon

If you liked how Conjure Wife kept the stakes close—Norman and Tansy’s household besieged by nearby witchcraft—Harvest Home traps a family inside a village’s smiling conspiracy. Ned and Beth Constantine discover the Widow Fortune’s old ways, and the slow, domestic dread builds to a ritual reckoning that mirrors the intimate menace that closed in on Tansy.

... witchcraft simmering beneath everyday social satire?

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

If you enjoyed the sly, satirical bite of faculty life—where gossip and spells are equally weaponized—The Witches of Eastwick channels that same energy. Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie bend reality in a coastal town while Daryl Van Horne stirs rivalries and desire, echoing how the faculty wives’ enchantments in Conjure Wife twist social niceties into occult leverage.

... ill-defined but menacing ritual magic with real consequences?

The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley

If the hazy, rules-light sorcery in Conjure Wife—charms, curses, and wards that simply work—appealed to you, Wheatley’s classic pits the Duc de Richleau against Mocata’s satanic rites. Psychic duels, a black mass, and desperate counter-spells feel of a piece with Norman’s scramble to counteract forces he barely understands.

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