Harry Potter influences and analogues
Many critics have noted that Jill Murphy's "The Worst Witch" series (first published in 1974 by Allison & Busby), is set in a school for girls, "Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches", reminiscent of Hogwarts. The story concerns an awkward pupil at a boarding-school for witches, who faces a scheming rival student. Her professors include a kindly and elderly headmistress and a bullying, raven-haired potions teacher. Murphy has commented on her frustration at constant comparisons between her work and "Harry Potter": "It's irritating … everyone asks the same question and I even get children writing to ask me whether I mind about the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and pointing out similarities. Even worse are reviewers who come across my books, or see the TV series, and, without taking the trouble to find out that it's now over quarter of a century since I wrote my first book, make pointed remarks about 'clever timing' – or say things like 'the Worst Witch stories are not a million miles from J K Rowling's books'. The implications are really quite insulting!"
Deborah Harkness
In 2011, Harkness published her first work of fiction, "A Discovery of Witches". The first novel in the "All Souls" trilogy, "A Discovery of Witches" is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of a modern-day witch who inadvertently calls up an ancient enchanted manuscript at Oxford University's Bodleian Library thereby attracting the unwelcome notice of a host of magical creatures who live among humans, including other witches, daemons, and a 1,500-year-old French vampire. The novel debuted at number two on "The New York Times" Best Seller hardcover fiction list, and has been sold in at least 34 countries. The book was called "a sophisticated fairy tale for adults" by the "San Antonio Express-News". The second novel in the series, "Shadow of Night", was published a year later, becoming a number one success on "The New York Times" Best Seller list. The third novel in the series is called "The Book of Life". The book was published on July 15, 2014 in hardback, e-book, and audiobook in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland.