Daughters of the Witching Hill: A Novel [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

Author Mary Sharrat moved to the Pendle region in England seven years ago. On learning the history of the area, she began to research the infamous 1612 Pendle Witch trials. Based on actual court transcripts from that time, Daughters of the Witching Hill was born.

Sharrat has chosen Bess, also known as Mother Demdike as the main character. She lives with her daughter, son and granddaughters in the Pendle Forest. They are impoverished, but as Bess begins to discover her powers to heal sick animals and humans alike, to predict the future, their lot in life improves. Bess focuses only on helping and healing. Her grand-daughter Alizon also seems to have the gift. Mother Demdike's childhood friend Anne begs her to teach her the 'cunning' ways. But Anne is not honourable as Mother Demdike. She begins to use dark magic to take revenge on others. Situations escalate until Mother Demdike and 11 others stand accused of witchcraft by a man determined to make his name as a witch finder.

Sharratt paints a detailed picture of the landscape and society at the time. The hand to mouth existence of the less fortunate and the obligation of those better off to help - as they see fit. Everyday details of homes and chores bring the locale to life. But it is the relationships between the women themselves that are the focal point. Mother Demdike is an incredibly strong woman. Her fortitude, her beliefs, her desire to do the right thing make her a strong and sympathetic protagonist. Althoughtthe bond between Mother Demdike and Anne has existed from childhood, I disliked Anne from the very beginning. The second half of the book is told from the viewpoint of Alizon. She does not yet have the control that her grandmother does and this contributes to their downfall. The suspicion that is directed towards Mary and her family is inevitable, but I felt a real sense of sadness, having become quite invested in Mother Demdike and knowing that this had really occurred.

I found the differences between 'cunning' and healing and the mental idea we have of 'witches'and magic to be quite interesting.

Sharrat has blended fact with fiction to create an absolutely a fascinating, bewitching read, one I couldn't put it down. The end is inevitable, but the journey there is a highly enjoyable one.If you enjoyed The Heretic's Daughter or The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, you'll want to read Daughters of the Witching Hill.

In the late 1500s and early 1600s in the English county of Lancashire in Pendle Forest a cunning woman known by the nickname Old Demdike served the local populace. Demdike, whose real name was Elizabeth Southerne, lived in the ruins of Malkin Tower with her daughter Liza and her grandchildren James (Jamie), Alizon, and Jennet. In 1612 a local magistrate who wished to attain favour with the witch-hating King James mounted a witchhunt in Lancashire. Demdike, along with nineteen others including her daughter and two of her grandchildren, were charged and jailed. While four were acquitted and set free, one was found guilty of bewitching a horse and sentenced to stand in the pillory; Demdike died in prison before her trial and the remaining fourteen accused, including Demdike's daughter and two of her grandchildren, were hung.

That is a summary of the facts of the story recorded as part of the very real history of England. Mary Sharratt's touching novel "Daughters of the Witching Hill" adds flesh, blood, and bone to the impersonal facts.

The story starts with the narrative told from Old Demdike's point of view. She relates details about her childhood, how life changed as the Kings and Queens of England played their politics transforming the official (legally permitted) religion from Catholicism to Protestantism. We learn how she grew into the role of cunning-woman. We see her as a very real person with real loves, disappointments, and problems which she tries her very best to resolve. And in the background we know that she is doomed thanks to what is really nothing more than politics.

The story switches in the last half to the perspective of Alizon, one of Demdike's granddaughters, who was the one destined to carry on her grandmother's Craft and therefore also doomed to face the witchhunters. Alizon is a sympathetic, intelligent, appealing young woman who did amazingly well considering the circumstances. It broke my heart knowing that the end was shrouded in degradation and finally death for all the very loveable main characters.

As with any historical novel the author had to speculate about a lot of the details as we don't have anything like personal diaries of the main characters from which the story could be told. Despite that the author's preparation and research were evident ' she clearly did her homework in figuring out how life would likely have been for people like Demdike and her neighbors in that period in history. She drew on the trial records to build up a picture of how Demdike likely practiced her cunning-craft, and showed how easy it was to twist evidence to support the claim of Satanic cult activity and destructive magick which was used to condemn the accused.

"Daughters of the Witching Hill" transported me to a sad time in history and helped me to understand the tragedy of what happened. I cried when it was over because I felt so close to the characters and felt grief over their fates. Thank you Mary Sharratt for bringing Demdike, her family, friends, and neighbors to life for me.

Lancashire England, late 1500's, a place of old Catholic mysticism, fairies and superstition. An aging Elizabeth rules, as does the Protestant faith and Catholics must worship in secret or face imprisonment or worse. Bess Southerns is a poor widow trying to eke out an honest living for herself and her children and one day she's *adopted* by an imp in the form of a dog and like *magic* she can heal the sick (both people and animals) by performing blessings. Eventually her great friend Anne, as well as her grandson Jamie and granddaughter Alizon gain imps/familiars and begin casting *spells* of their own, although Anne and Jamie eventually turn to the dark side in their desire to cause harm to those who wish ill of them. Years pass and James I gains the throne and he's hell-bent on destroying the Catholic faith for good, as well as persecuting witches. Of course ambitious magistrates jump at the chance to prosecute any likely suspect to gain the king's notice.

Well that sounds for an interesting novel, especially as the book is based upon actual events and people, just Google Pendle Forest and witches and you'll find plenty of reading material and photos. My two cents? I loved the idea and at first I was gung ho getting into the book and looking up the places online and dreaming of a trip to Lancashire and seeing it for myself. Eventually though I ran into a quagmire - much of the book goes on and on and on (and on some more) detailing about Bess and Alizon's day to day life and interaction with their familiars as well as all those *clay pictures* (think voodoo dolls). I would have preferred to hear more about the arrests and trials themselves as well as Alice Nutter, the devout catholic who was caught up in the witch-hunt.

I'm not a huge fan of the first person narrative used in this book (first Bess' POV and finishing up with Alizon), and I felt it hampered the story a bit in the latter part of the book when Alizon is sitting in prison and we can't see what's happening outside of those walls. At the end, I just didn't pick up on the terror those accused must have felt, nor much of the mass hysteria there must have been among the townspeople. A list of character names and relationships would also have been helpful, especially as some are referred to with different names - either call Anne Anne or call her Chattox, but don't go switching back and forth - very distracting. In the end, the author just took too much time on blessings, dolls and familiars and not enough time on the trials themselves. This is a good book, it just not a great one. 3/5 stars.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 3 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!