4 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

This book was originally published in 2000, but is being reprinted with a new cover for it's 20 year anniversary this year!

In this story - written in diary format - we follow Mary. A girl who, at the beginning of this novel, witnesses her grandmother be charged with being a witch and hung. After this event, Mary flees England to start a new life in America. I have to say, this wasn't quite what I had expected going into it. I had expected witchcraft to be a big part of the story but actually it's more about following Mary on her journey to America and her life there afterwards. Around half of the story is spent travelling to America, which wasn't my favourite part to read about and felt too stretched out. Once the journey was over though, I started to enjoy it more and found it really interesting seeing the settlement get built from nothing. I also really enjoyed meeting some of the Natives, who lived on the land too.

I did find the writing to be quite basic - I feel like this book would be suited to younger readers/teens.

Volevo strapparmi le unghie dalla noia.

Popsugar reading challenge A book published the month of your birthday

Around the world in 52 books A book related to witches

*sighs* The Purtians! I am so damn sick of these people! They wouldn't have known reason if it hit them in the face! I am so glad I didn't live in the 1600s for many reasons, the main one being they probably would've hung me for shouting, "What is wrong with you crazy people!" I did like Mary and some of the other characters, but I hated the ending. Of course she had to run away in the end. *sighs again* Not sure if I'll read the sequel. Been a while since I read this once. I think I got it in a book order in middle school.

Loved this book! You can read my full review here:
https://taleofabookworm.blogspot.com/2017/10/witch-child.html

It got a bit boring.
And I was reading something much more interesting.
And it was due.
So I stopped.
Maybe I'll come back to it later.

After reading Celia Rees' Pirates! over a rainy camping weekend when I was a preteen, I immediately sought out everything she'd written that was in my hometown library. Her stories are never reeeally that substantial, but I love/d historical fiction, and her books are always an easy read.

In re-reading Witch Child as an adult, it was quick and engrossing, if I didn't think too hard. It's themes were simple and obvious, and didn't carry much weight, but I needed a reading confidence boost, and it provided!

'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.