From the Drop of Heaven by Juliette Godot is an engrossing and unsettling story set in the Salm region of France in the late 16th century. It begins against the background of the ascendancy of Calvinists in Geneva and the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre in Paris setting the scene for the dissentions, religious rivalries and … Continue reading Book Review – From the Drop of Heaven by Juliette Godot
Witchcraft trials
Book Review – The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown opens in December 1590 with James VI and his childhood friend William Broune making their way at dusk through the noisesome streets of Edinburgh in the company of a witch-pricker. In a dank room reeking of evil and cruelty at the Edinburgh’s gaol, the Tollbooth, David Seaton, Deputy … Continue reading Book Review – The Kings Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
Book Review – Weave a Web of Witchcraft by Jean M Roberts
Firmly based on fact, Weave a Web of Witchcraft tells the story of Hugh Parsons, a man accused of witchcraft by his wife Mary and tried in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1652. The novel begins in England with fifteen-year-old Hugh reluctantly beginning an apprenticeship as a brickmaker. This has been arranged by his father because although … Continue reading Book Review – Weave a Web of Witchcraft by Jean M Roberts
The Bridled Tongue – Some Background
Usually there are years of research over a wide range of topics involved with any historical novel. Although much of it is, thankfully, not described explicitly in the novel, it all helps to plausibly reconstruct the world as it was. I have drawn together here a number of the blog posts I have written on … Continue reading The Bridled Tongue – Some Background
Witchcraft Trials in Early Modern England
A far more succinct version of this post was published by The Coffee Pot Book Club on 9 March 2020. ‘The early-modern European witch-hunts were neither orchestrated massacres nor spontaneous pogroms. Alleged witches were not rounded up at night and summarily killed extra-judicially or lynched as the victims of mob justice. They were executed after trial and … Continue reading Witchcraft Trials in Early Modern England
Book Review – Crimen Exceptum: The English Witch Prosecution in Context by Gregory J Durston
Despite years of cool-headed scholarship over several decades, the idea still persists in the popular imagination that during the period known as the 'witch craze' millions of women were rounded up and burned at the stake often for nothing more than their skill with herbal remedies. While thousands of women, and men, believed to be … Continue reading Book Review – Crimen Exceptum: The English Witch Prosecution in Context by Gregory J Durston
One Minute Book Review – The Witch and her Soul by Christina Middleton
This is historical fiction at its very best, taking what is known and filling in the gaps in the record with plausible fiction. The story follows the life of Jane Southworth from her childhood to the Lancaster Assizes in 1612 where she was tried for witchcraft as one of the Samlesbury witches. It also touches … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Witch and her Soul by Christina Middleton
Catherine Meyrick 