Rite of Reckoning
by Lorna Tedder · Book 3 of the Rites of Passage Trilogy
~130,000 words · about an 8-hour read · previously published as Midlife Visions
Think Practical Magic meets Sarah Addison Allen meets a Southern Gothic reckoning of buried secrets, ancestral magic, and midlife truth.
Content note: Themes include childhood sexual trauma, family abuse, dementia, grief, and implied murder. Sensitive content is handled with care to support the healing arc — nothing is included for shock or sensationalism. Full warnings below.
Description
A seasoned witch and High Priestess returns to her rural Southern hometown to care for her aging mother—but what begins as an act of compassion quickly becomes a reckoning. As her mother’s memory falters, long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface, including traumatic childhood events and a decades-old murder that threatens to destroy everything she’s built.
Haunted by prophetic visions, tangled family dynamics, and the shadows of generational trauma, she must decide whether to confront the truth or let the past consume her. With the help of an old friend gifted in Deathwalking, she finds the courage to face the darkness she fled—and to break the silence that’s held her hostage for decades.
An Excerpt
I don’t recognize the car parked on the other side of the garden shed, half-hidden by six-foot tall azaleas and a fig tree I feared as a kid because of the summer wasps. Uneasiness coils in my stomach. After my dad died, one of my good-for-nothing cousins I hadn’t seen in thirty years tried to move in with her because she couldn’t say no. They managed to walk away with all the cash she’d had on hand, plus the contents of her medicine cabinet before I could get a court order to keep them five hundred feet from her property at all times. There’s a reason I use my magick on a regular basis to ward my mom’s home and farm. Too many scammers preying on the elderly, and some share ancestors with me.
I leave everything but my keys in my car and exit barefoot for a closer look. The dark red car is a luxury model, new and freshly waxed. Its polished surface gleams like a beacon in the sunshine.
Too nice for one of my relatives unless they bought it with stolen funds. I pause. The air feels charged with power. It makes me tingle. The slightest scent of some other witch’s magick fills the air like honeysuckle in the nearby woods. My hands prickle at an energetic signature I don’t recognize, but I don’t feel afraid of it or even uneasy about it. The magick feels . . . dark . . . but not wicked like that of the woman who destroyed my second marriage or controlling like that of my previous two coven leaders, Dragon and Donna. If anything, the magick I sense is more elemental, with a side of both compassion and peace.
Whatever magick is here besides mine, it isn’t harmful. Not to me, not to my close family. An . . . an ally?
Genre
- Southern Gothic
- Small Town Fiction
- Supernatural Suspense
- Contemporary Witch Fiction
- Magical Realism
Tone
- Haunting
- Emotionally layered
- Psychologically rich
- Redemptive
- Spiritually resonant
- Quietly suspenseful
Tropes
- Southern Gothic
- Return to hometown
- Generational trauma
- Witchcraft and ancestral magic
- Psychic visions
- Deathwalking
- Midlife reckoning
- Buried secrets
A reckoning doesn’t erase pain — it puts it in its rightful place.
Why You’ll Love It
Rite of Reckoning speaks to anyone grappling with unresolved childhood wounds, complex family ties, or the long arc of healing. For those who value emotional depth, spiritual insight, and ancestral wisdom, this story offers quiet catharsis, gentle strength, and the reassurance that even in midlife, it’s not too late to become whole.
Trigger / Sensitivity Warnings
- Childhood sexual trauma and emotional abuse
- Family estrangement and toxic dynamics
- Dementia and memory loss
- Grief and loss of a parent
- Implied murder and discovery of human remains
- Psychological distress tied to returning to a traumatic environment
All sensitive content is handled with care and emotional authenticity to support the healing arc. Nothing is included for shock or sensationalism.
About the Author
Lorna Tedder is a non-denominational minister, volunteer grief counselor, and full-time writer after a long career in public service. In addition to motivational and reflective guides, she writes Southern Gothic thrillers and Dark Academia urban fantasy, including Rite of Reckoning and The Book of Heroes. Her work explores the intersections of fate, symbolism, and personal transformation, often blending astrology, myth, and lived experience to create stories and guides that resonate on both a practical and emotional level.
