Daughters of the Witching Hill
Ratings4
Average rating4.3
The first half of the book is from the point-of-view of Mother Demdike, an elderly healer in mid 1500s through early 1600s Lancashire, England. She gains a familiar and uses the knowledge and magic of now-illegal Catholic rites (this is during the reign of Protestant Elizabeth I) and other charms to help her small village survive during famine and the hard life of every-day Tudor England peasants. Her son marries and moves away with his family while her daughter, born out-of-wedlock and with a lazy eye, is seen as evil by the superstitious villagers but Demdike gains their trust by being a formidable healer and elder and manages to help them both survive.
The latter half of the book is from the point-of-view of Demdike's granddaughter (from her daughter), who has also been gifted with healing prowess, but which ultimately leads to the village's downfall.
This is a gripping, well-written look into the lives of those who are mostly forgotten (peasants and country-folk of bygone eras) that seems to be very well researched with just enough of the supernatural to make it more than a historical narrative.
As it says in the afterword, it's based off of a real witch trial in Lancashire, which characters based off of the actual women and men who were wrongly accused of witchcraft and subsequently tortured and killed for their “crimes”.
Another excellent book about the people accused of witchcraft on Pendle Hill in 1612. This time the story is told by Demdike and her granddaughter, Alizon. I found this interpretation to be as heartbreaking as Mist Over Pendle was entertaining. It describes a family's slow slide to absolute ruin as, one after another, each member suffers mistreatment at the hands of others, forcing them to turn on each other and take dire measures just to survive. Unfortunately, their friends and neighbours are dragged down with them.
What a gripping story. as the tale neared its climax I was devastated because I knew what was going to happen. If you enjoyed The Heretic's Daughter you should read this.