Get Lit: A Literary Salon—The Witches of Bellinas

Join us for a guided discussion of our monthly book selection, paired with delicious food, drinks, and the company of a wonderful reading community.

Includes the book of the month (physical or audio copy), 2 drinks, an appetizer, family-style main course, and light dessert. Limited to 40 seats. Additional food and drink available for purchase at Stems & Skins.

• October Book Club Pick: The Witches of Bellinas by J. Nicole Jones
• Where: Stems & Skins, 1070 E Montague Ave, North Charleston, SC
• When: October 21, 2025, at 7 p.m.

• Book Fulfillment: You can opt for the physical book (picked up at the store or shipped to you) or the audiobook, available from Libro.fm. The dinner ticket you select will indicate which format you want. If you opt for the print book and would like it shipped to your address of choice, please add the $5 shipping add-on to your order. All other print books will be pick-up at book club or at the bookstore.
• Dietary Restrictions & Alcohol-Free Options: Add the free "Special Diet" or "Non-Alcoholic Drink Pairings" add-on to your order.
• Parking: Street parking is available around Stems & Skins. There are also several public parking lots nearby, such as on Cougar Way behind DIG, Stone's Ally in front of Itinerate Literate, off Colie Morse Lane there are two grass lots in front of Cooper River Baptist Church and one at Chateau Ave & Garco Street.

Check reviews & content warnings on Storygraph!

A dreamy California Gothic about a woman who moves to the mysterious town of Bellinas to save her marriage, only to be swept up in a hedonistic cult that isn’t what it seems

Tansy and her husband Guy are the newest arrivals in Bellinas, a lush oasis tucked into the coast of northern California where a reclusive, creative community is beginning to take shape. Helmed by Guy’s cousin Mia, a famous model -turned -wellness -luminary, and her tech mogul husband, the group renounces the outside world in pursuit of purity, fashioning their own rules about what to eat and how to live.

Mia and the other women drape Tansy in expensive clothing and spend their days fawning over their babies, while the men surf and dive for abalone. Everything seems perfect in Bellinas: food is abundant, flowers are always in bloom, and nearby wildfires leave the town remarkably unscathed.

While Guy is happy in their new lives, Tansy becomes more and more suspicious of the community and increasingly desperate to save her already-fragile marriage. And as lonely women have throughout the ages, she wants to believe in what may only be a beautiful lie.

The Witches of Bellinas unfolds as a confession from Tansy, filled with anguish over the life, and sense of self, she’s surrendered in her desperation to belong. In J. Nicole Jones’s clever reimagining of cult power and groupthink, the question isn’t why join, but rather, what happens when you understand the danger, but can’t conceive of a way out?

Host or Publisher Itinerant Literate Books