Witch Child (original: 2000; edição: 2002)

Ok. Salem Witch trials retold. Predictable as well. ( )

Mary doesn’t know her parents, she has lived her life with her grandmother. But in 1659 a witchfinder comes to her village and her grandmother is found guilty of witchcraft, by virtue of the fact that she floats in water, and killed. Mary might be next, but she is rescued by a mysterious, rich, well-dressed woman, and sent across the ocean in the company of some Puritans.

Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2006/07/18/witch-child/ ( )

[This is a review I wrote in 2007]

**Captivating well-written story of a young witch in the seventeenth century**

Celia Rees writes beautifully here, literally grabbing you from the first page and dragging you into Mary's story from 1659.

Mary is a young girl growing into womanhood fearful of persecution. The story opens immediately with the witch trial of the woman she calls "grandmother" who has brought her up from when she was a baby. To avoid the same fate, Mary finds herself being shipped off to America, in disguise with a group of migrating Puritans. However, even in America, Mary finds it hard to disguise some of her peculiarities however hard she tries, and the strongly Puritan community she lives amongst needs to find a scapegoat...

It's a great fictionalised introduction to the persecution of women in the witch-hunt trials of the seventeenth century. Written as a journal fragment from Mary's own account of her travels, it's really easy to engage with the story and I didn't want the book to end when it did. Mary's story breaks off to leave us guessing about her ultimate fate.

It's a great story and I can recommend it for ages 11+ ( )

'She was locked in the keep for more than a week. First they walked her up and down, up and down between them, for a day and a night until she could no longer hobble, her feet all bloody and swollen. She would not confess. So they set about to prove she was a witch...'

PLOT

The book is set in 1659, after the Civil War. There were many Puritans living in England who were concerned for their well-being and considered taking the journey to the New World, America, and starting a new life. The story is told in the past tense, through Diary entries by Mary Newbury, who was a young Woman living with her Grandmother at this turbulent time in England. After her Grandmother is executed for Witchcraft, Mary is escorted by a strange, yet familiar Woman to an Inn, and told she must travel to the New World, in order to escape the fate that her Grandmother met.

After spending a night at the Inn, Mary travels to the docks, to join the thousands of Puritans on a Voyage to the New World. Mary is embraced into the Colony with open arms, but how long can she hide her true identity? Will the Church Pastor see through her? Will anyone discover her Diary, hidden away,divulging her true nature?

Mary must try to fit in with the other members of the Colony, in order to preserve her life. If they discover what she really is, will they force her to leave the Colony, or will she meet the same fate as her Grandmother? And who is the strange Women that seems so familiar?

MY OPINION

I got this book a few years ago as a Birthday present. I was immediately drawn in by the front cover. The young girl on the front, supposedly Mary, stares out of the cover, inviting you to read her story. I've read this book several times, and I'm sure when I read it again, I'll enjoy it just as much. I have a keen interest in History, so Historical Fiction is always very appealing for me. The book is set at an interesting Period in History. The country was in doubt of it's future, people all over were suffering, and the New World of America was very appealing for those wanting to escape and start a new life for themselves and for their families.

The story itself was very engaging, I really connected with Mary, and feared for her life every time somebody came close to discovering her secret. It's interesting to read about Witch trials from the perspective of a Witch. You learn that she isn't evil, like people made out the Witch's to be. She's a healer; she has no intentions of hurting anybody, and yet if she's found out, she will be condemned to execution.

After suffering the loss of her Grandmother, and witnessing her brutal execution, you'd expect Mary to crawl into a hole and never come out. But she's a strong willed young Woman, she carries on with the life that she must lead, in order to appear normal and hide her true nature. For me, Historical Fiction with a strong Female character is always appealing, since Women were treated unequally, and often became downtrodden and weak.

THE AUTHOR

This book was written by Celia Rees, an Author I hadn't heard of at the time. She's written a wonderful book here, full of Historical facts, but also full of Magic. I've also read the sequel to this book, which was also fantastic, but told from a different point of few, and set in a different time period. I'll be writing up a review for that one soon. ( )

I read this book years ago, in high school.

I really enjoyed it! It's about a girl called Mary whose grandmother is condemned to death for witchcraft. I remember (vaguely) enjoying the voice of the protagonist but also the pace of the book. It was quite chunky for me when I read it at the time but there was just something about Mary that grabbed me.

I also remember the satisfying feeling when I got to the ending, too.

Maybe I'll read it again one day.

... once I get through all the other books on my TBR. Haha. Hahaha. Hahahaha. ( )