“The Change” by Kirsten Miller
[Guest contributor, Amy Peveto, reviews Kirsten Miller’s fantasy-thriller “The Change”. More reviews and recommendations from Amy can be found on her website!]
Women who live past their youthful, fertile years are often expected to fade into the background. The Change considers what it might be like if we treated middle age and beyond as important as youth.
““Why do you think women are designed to outlive men? Why do we keep going for thirty years after our bodies can no longer reproduce? Do you think nature meant for those years to be useless? No, of course not. Our lives are designed to have three parts. The first is education. The second, creation. And in part three, we put our experience to use and protect those who are weaker.””
40-something Nessa James has retired from her nursing career and seen her children off to college…and the voices are back. Harriet Osborne torched her career in epic fashion and has spent the last three months enjoying cultivating her reputation as a witch. Jo Levison is tormented by searing hot flashes until she realizes she can channel them in unexpected ways. Drawn together by their powers and a desire to help others, the friends soon find themselves embroiled in an investigation. Young women are being murdered in their seaside town, and all signs point to an exclusive gated community where the rules don’t apply. Nessa, Harriet, and Jo must use their powers to uncover the truth — before another girl disappears.
The Magic of The Change
This is my second encounter with this author. Over the summer I read Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books; while I found it overly optimistic, I loved Miller’s writing style and strong perspective. If banned books got her wound up, I needed to see what writing about menopause would do. And boy howdy was I not disappointed.
What makes this book magical is the metaphor of menopause as magic — aging as a beginning instead of an end. The idea of women developing literal powers at a time when their traditional “power” has ended is a fabulous idea worth exploring.
The story beneath the metaphor works well too. The mystery is well structured, the world building clear, and the main characters complex and interesting. I had fun picking up on the parallels between Maiden/Mother/Crone and the womens’ abilities to see, protect, and punish. Harriet is who I want to be when I grow up: witchy, terrifying, and absolutely uninterested in anyone’s opinion of her.
Women, especially those “of a certain age,” have been disempowered for so long. If you like stories of women reclaiming power and channeling their anger for good, this book will stick with you long after you turn the last page.
About The Author
Kirsten Miller’s first novel, Inside the Shadow City, was published almost two decades ago. The Change is her first novel for adults, and reflects a mental shift for her that runs parallel to the characters’ (admittedly more magical) experiences. Her most recent novel, The Women of Wild Hill, released on October 7, 2025.
Like your reads with an extra helping of feminine rage?
Check out these stories (factual and fictional) of the power of women:
● When Women Were Dragons (Kelly Barnhill) - Set in an alternate 1950s where women, fed up with the status quo, decide to become something different.
● Killers of a Certain Age (Deanna Raybourn) - Four retired assassins realize they’ve been targeted by their own organization — cue the payback.
● In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial (Mona Chollet) - A detailed look at the women murdered in witch hunts of the past, and how those same characteristics (independence, childlessness, aging) still make women targets of oppression and anger today.
● Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (Cat Bohannon) - Don’t let the “science” tag keep you away. The chapter on menopause alone is worth the purchase price.