The Wax Child

An astounding, haunting tale of accused witches—a book of sorcery itself—from the celebrated author of The Employees and My Work

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NBCC GREGG BARRIOS BOOK IN TRANSLATION PRIZE

In seventeenth-century Denmark, Christenze Kruckow, an unmarried noblewoman, is accused of witchcraft. She and several other women are rumored to be possessed by the Devil, who has come to them in the form of a tall headless man who gives them dark powers: they can steal people's happiness, they have performed unchristian acts, and they can cause pestilence or death. They are all in danger of the stake.

The Wax Child, narrated by a wax doll created by Christenze Kruckow, is an unsettling horror story about brutality and power, nature and witchcraft, set in the fragile communities of premodern Europe.

Deeply researched and steeped in...