Daughters of the Witching Hill
April 16, 2010 by Waverly Fitzgerald
Filed under WAVERLY'S BLOG
I haven’t participated in a virtual blog tour before but I’m delighted to be able to feature Mary Sharratt’s historical novel, Daughters of the Witching Hill. Yuo may not know this but I’m a devoted fan of historical novels (long ago I wrote historical romances under the name of Nancy Fitzgerald). For over fifteen years I’ve been working on a novel about a witch living in 1642, during the middle of the English Civil War, but I’ve had a hard time with the darkness of the plot and the themes of betrayal and abandonment. So I was eager to see how Mary Sharratt handled this material in her book.
I had even read one of the many earlier novels written about the very Pendle witches on which Mary Sharratt focuses. As with many earlier novels about witches, they are portrayed as evil women who gather in covens to plot the destruction of their wealthy neighbors.
The Pendle witches were victims of one of the first waves of witch hysteria in England, when James I came to the throne, following the death of Elizabeth I (who had her own astrologer on staff, the famous Dr. Dee). James had written a book called Daemonologie, calling for the denouncement of witches and describing how to recognize them. The lurid imagery in this book informed the subsequent trials during which over 500 English men and women were condemned and executed.
I also read the books written by sociologists and historians trying to explain the witch craze. Unlike the fiction writers (who chose the most lurid of details, like naked dances around midnight bonfires, and thus accepted magic as real), these mostly academic writers never considered the possibility of magic. Instead they pointed to changes in society, like the dissolution of the monasteries which had provided care and healing for the sick, and the additional burden on society of the old and sick, especially older widows with no visible means of support. Accusations of witchcraft were blamed on cultural changes, misogyny and greed.
Sharratt has taken the middle way. She absolutely accepts the fact that Bess Southerns (also known as Demdike), the most notorious of the Pendle witches, the matriarch of a family living on the edge of poverty, known throughout the area as a blesser, could heal the sick with charms, what Sharratt calls Catholic folk magic. She quotes several of these in the book; they remind me of the equally fascinating jumble of Catholic saints and pagan charms found in Carmina Gadelica, a collection of hymns and incantations collected by Alexander Carmichael in the Hebrides during the 19th century.
Sharratt also accepts as valid Demdike’s belief in her familiar, who sometimes comes to her as a beautiful young man, sometimes as a brown dog or hare. Sharratt based her descriptions of the magical practices of Demdike and those accused with her on the account of the trial written by a court clerk. In deciding which elements to use in her story, she had to discern the true beliefs from wilder and more sensational statements which were probably coerced during the interrogations the accused underwent at the hands of the local authorities.
While Demdike first uses her powers for positive purposes, eventually she is asked to use her powers to harm and to repel, for instance, to protect a daughter from the unwanted advances of a nobleman’s son. Gradually she becomes as feared as she is appreciated. All the time, Sharratt makes it clear how precarious is her very existence and that of her family, totally dependent on the good will of others, as she has no property of her own, choosing to live in an abandoned, and reputedly, haunted stone tower. It reminded me of the homeless people in my urban neighborhood. Contact with their poverty evokes hostility and fear as well as pity.
Sharratt captures the atmosphere of the place, the flavor of the time, and the sound of the language, both the dialect of Lancashire and the tone of conversation. She tells the story from the point of view of Demdike and her grand-daughter, Alizon, who tries to resist the pull towards using magic, but ultimately brings down the authorities upon her family when she curses a peddler who refuses to show her some pins and he falls down, paralyzed, obviously afflicted by a stroke. The language is colorful and authentic throughout, with a lilt to it and many old-fashioned expressions, for instance, “I made to follow,” “Upon a dark moon,” “Well important it was, that someone remained to tell young folk that the world hadn’t always been the way it was now.”
I asked Mary if it was hard to write the story, knowing the end, that Demdike, her daughter, and her two grandchildren would be tried and die, condemned as witches. She said; “Although it was harrowing to write of the injustice they suffered, it was my duty as a novelist to serve their memory and bear witness. And not just that—to me, their story is transcendent rather than purely tragic.”
If you’d like more information about Mary’s book, she’s created a beautiful book trailer available on youtube: Daughters of the Witching Hill. I’d love to hear about your favorite historical novel and why you love it. And if you post your comment below, I’ll send one person, chosen at random, a copy of Daughters of Witching Hill.
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Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is at the top of my list. I loved The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (Katharine Howe) too, though thats not strictly historical it does have an entertaining weave of past and present.
Looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for the review.
As a modern witch I find this kind of reading fascinating! Sometimes I wish I could take an invisible step back in time and observe what really happened, but since that’s not possible books like this are the next best thing. Great post! Love your website and blog!
I have a hard time picking one historical novel — I feel a connection to so many periods of time. The Tudor period, the old west, ancient China, and definitely ancient Egypt.
I also have an affinity to earth centered faith paths, and would love to win a copy of this book.
This is a far cry from 17th-century England, but my favorite historical novel has to be Leon Uris’s Mila 18. It’s about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, and although it follows a fairly standard Uris formula of telling everybody’s story one by one and then collectively as they all come together, I love that formula, so I won’t complain.
Uris starts the story before the Germans come to Warsaw, when people were going about their lives and just getting hints of what was to come, and goes through the fight–when a few starving people carrying homemade weapons took on NAZIS WITH TANKS and held them off for nearly a month–and the aftermath, when the survivors escape through the sewers. A couple of the characters make an appearance later, in Exodus (I actually first discovered this book when I read Exodus and wanted to know more about those characters).
I’m not sure why I love it so much. I’ve probably read it 10 times since I discovered it in the 80s (it was about 20 years old then). I just love the bravery of these characters who start out as everyday people and end as heroes.
My favorite historical novels are written by Morgan Llywelyn. I first found Bard my senior year of HS, staring into what I saw as the void of college and then *gasp* adulthood and suddenly there was this book about a great voyage and the natural kind of magic that lives in Nature. It gave me hope that adulthood might not need to be all that bad after all. Other of Llywelyn’s books have enchanted me, bringing history to life, but none like that first one.
Thank you for posting this review! I feel in my bones, my DNA, a connection to this part of history. I send you encouragement to keep on writing!
I look foward to reading both the Daughters Of Witching Hill as well as the “kindred spirit”, book-in-progress authored by Mr.Fitzgerald.I am currently engrossed in The Burning Times by acclaimed historical novelist,Jeanne Kalogridis.It is rich in lore that chronicles aspects of witchcraft,the Black Death,and the Knights Templar and is set in medieval France.Previous to that,I enjoyed reading The Owl Killers by Kathryn Maitland whose literary depiction of English lore,religion,and magick also evoked a worthy historical drama of the afore-mentioned time period.I am on the perfect reading path for me and will continue to seek books that are in the same vein.Thank you for the reccomendation sir.
Ah, my all time favourite historical novel is by Pauline Gedge, called “The Eagle and the Raven.” It is about the efforts of the native tribes of ancient Briton to resist the invading Romans, and it ends with Boadicca’s ill-fated final battle. This book was published in the 1970s and I have read it three times already. The atmosphere of the ancient land and the people and gods is hauntingly portrated. We all know the Romans successfully conquered and spent 500 years in Albion, but my heart broke at the ending and still breaks each time I reread it.
I’m torn right now as to which is my favorite historical novel. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant or The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. But, if i go by the total number of times I’ve read it (and also how many corners of pages are folded and dog eared) then The Red Tent wins.
The Birth of Venus is so lush in its descriptions, I feel the humid stink of the city as well as the spices and incense. Beautiful book with a number of strong female characters.
The Red Tent…the story of Dinah. Just beautiful. Finding her self after losing everything. Sigh…
My favorite historical novel is When Alice Lay Down with Peter by Margaret Sweatman. It spans 100 years near the Red river in Winnipeg Manitoba and follows the love, hardships and turmoil of a family and their subsequent generations. The story has just a little magic and whimsy worked in to make it unforgettable.
FAVORITE HISTORCAL NOVEL(S);
Hey Waverly:
My absolute favorite historial novels are the “Brother Cadfael” mysteries all by Ellis Peters. I think she finally finished with 20 books. Sorry I couldn’t just choose one! I am intrigued by the lifestyles of Medieval times and mystery tales in general, so this combination of who-done-it stories, usually a murder involved and the details of life in Medieval days was a double blessing!
PS Now my all-time favorite book through out my life has been HARRIET THE SPY! Not a historial novel though!
I have an all time favorite. “Gone With The Wind”. I’ve read it more times than I can count. I just love the pluckiness of Scarlett, the loyalty of Melanie, and all of the detail.
I really appreciate all the comments so far. I’ve got some new titles to reserve at the library plus you have reminded me of many old favorites. Of all the books mentioned so far, I think the Brother Cadfael series is my favorite of those mentioned so far. I have read all of them twice and always feel like I am living in that time period when I read them, which is what I want from historical fiction. I also love Leon Uris (Trinity, in particular) and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Gone with the Wind is such a classic–I never think of it as historical. I look forward to reading the ones you mentioned that I haven’t read yet.
My all time favourite historical novel is ‘The White Witch’ by Elizabeth Goudge. Froniga, the White Witch has played a great part in my life since I discovered her in my teens. She even led me to you, Waverley! Elizabeth Goudge is buried in the churchyard of the town where I live, New milton, Hampshire, UK. I came to Hampshire from Lancashire and was amazed to find that Elizabeth Goudge had lived here. Synchronicity! I will look forward to reading Mary Sharratts book.
I already had this book on “to read” list for my library but was glad to hear your perspective as well. I, too, love historical novels (I just added a couple of Nancy Fitzgerald ones to that library list — thanks for that insight into the pen name!). Two of my favorites are The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier and The Lady and the Unicorn by the same author. Part of the reason is that I love books set in France. These combine France, historical fiction, myths and legends, mysticism and more. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse is another one that I really like — some people don’t care for the books that flashback between a modern story and another story, with some connection, going on in the past, but I love them.
Without a doubt my favorite historical novels are those that have come to be known as The Lymond Chronicles. Written by Dorothy Dunnett the six books, in order, are: The Game of Kings, Queens Play, The Disorderly Knights, Pawn in Frankincense, The Ringed Castle, and Checkmate. This far ranging tale begins in the lowlands of Scotland then, like a game of chess played upon a map, criss-crosses Europe to Malta, the Ottoman Empire of Suleiman, back to France, east to Russia before returning to Europe and, ultimately, Scotland. Beginning in 1547 a few months after the death of Henry VIII the story winds up just as Elizabeth I ascends the throne in 1558. The research into not just the historical record of politics and ruling but also music, poetry, religion, production of silk, harem life, European court life, and ever so much more is fabulous and beyond my capability to describe.
Each book begins with a list of the characters, their relationships and role in that book. The characters are well developed and fascinating whether historic or fictional. Ms. Dunnett’s writing is sublime.
I first learned of Dorothy Dunnett from a fellow bookstore employee in 1974. It took a few years to track any down and I began with the third novel. In the thirty-two years I have been reading them they have never failed to take me on an emotional and intellectual journey that are like no other. Writing this has me itching to dive into them again!
_The Dorothy Dunnett Companion_ by Elspeth Morrison is an encyclopedia style resource book that adds to the historical information, includes the full text of many poems and songs, and contains translations of many items left untranslated in the books. Along with The Lymond Chronicles it covers her House of Niccolo series, another fascintaing journey into an earlier time period.