The Witches of Eastwick

In the charming, albeit staid, Rhode Island town of Eastwick during the tumultuous Vietnam era, three recently divorced women—Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie—discover latent magical abilities. Alexandra, a sculptor, commands thunderstorms; Jane, a cellist, can defy gravity; and Sukie, the town's gossip columnist, possesses powers over dairy. Their burgeoning coven and newfound sense of liberation take a dramatic turn with the arrival of Darryl Van Horne, a mysterious, wealthy, and devilishly charming stranger. He purchases the long-abandoned Lenox mansion, inviting the women into his decadent and intellectually stimulating circle. As their powers grow under his influence, so does their entanglement with Darryl, leading to a complex web of seduction, rivalry, and dark magic that exposes the suppressed desires and hypocrisies of the seemingly idyllic town. Updike crafts a biting satire of suburban life, gender roles, and the intoxicating allure of power, with consequences that are both darkly humorous and profoundly unsettling for Eastwick and its bewitched inhabitants.