When Mary’s grandmother is burned for being a witch, Mary is whisked away by a strange woman and given money and instructions to earn her a place on a ship with Pilgrims traveling to the new world. Mary is a witch too, but must hide it from the Pilgrims. Instead, she writes her private feelings in a private diary. During the ship voyage and in the new settlement, Mary must not betray her secret self to the religious radicals who would as soon burn any threat to their new way of life. Still, encounters with the local natives and journeys into the woods prove to be much too tempting to resist. Mary is accused of witchcraft and must do what she can to protect herself against encountering the same fate as her grandmother.

This book will appeal to those hungry for historical fiction relating to the witch trials of Colonial America. Slow-paced at times, especially during the voyage to the New World, the story nonetheless progresses to a riveting conclusion that leaves the door open for a sequel. The story is especially appealing because it takes the point of view of a true witch living during the time of the witch trials, and suggests that many more who lived during that period were witches.

Pensare che questa è una storia vera mette i brividi.
Bellissimo libro ❤️

Mary lives with her grandmother and is being trained to be a healer, but in the 1600s this is looked at as witch craft. When a witch hunter comes to her town, they quickly target Mary's grandmother and she is hanged as a witch. Mary has no one else and does not know what she is going to do. But as she stood in the crowd watching her grandmother's humiliation, a woman comes along and takes Mary away. This begins Mary's adventure. She is sent to America and hopes to start a new life; however, you cannot run away from who you are...

Mary is such a strong girl. Orphaned and alone, she takes a journey that most people would be terrified to go on alone. However, she never loses who she is and what she is good at. She is a strong young lady who is sometimes afraid, but always sticks with her guns.

Un romanzo dal ritmo lento e didascalico, con poco approfondimento di personaggi e ambientazioni ed una trama che poteva essere promettente ma sviluppata in modo grossolano, priva di colpi di scena.
Avrei dato due stelle ma il libro comunque si legge in fretta e risulta scorrevole perché di per sé è ben scritto, ma diciamo che non resterà tra i memorabili.

This was an interesting book. I picked it up during a United Way book sale for $1. And truth be told I picked it up based on the cover alone; it had such a haunting feeling to it. I had no idea what it was about. I don’t even think I looked at the title. But cover won out.

I am glad I gave it a shot though. It was written in a journal style, by Mary. It follows her through the capture of her grandmother, to her fleeing to the New World in 1659. On her journey she ‘joins’ a family of Puritans- all of whom are outcasts for one reason or another; none as detrimental as being a witch mind you- but they become friends. In their new village, things start happening. And of course back in the 1600s if you couldn’t explain it- it must be witchcraft!

I wish there was more witch craft involved. I mean, the title of the book is called Witch Child, and I was just waiting for Mary to perform some spells, do some incantations, something. All we got was that she was friendly with the Natives, people looked at her weird and got a sense that something was up. But really, there was no circumstantial evidence. And people who knew she was a witch only knew because they were witches themselves!

It was a short, easy read. I give it 3 stars because it didn’t blow me away, but it did keep me entertained. The way it was written also made you think if it is actually fiction or not.

I really liked it. The treatment of Indigenous people was nuanced and interesting.