Witch Child - Celia Rees

A while back a friend of mine plonked a book in my hands with the instruction "read that, you'll love it". Luckily I have the kind of friends who really do know what I like so as soon as I found myself with an evening to spare I curled up on the sofa and began to read. The cover for the book is in itself inviting. I do have a thing about book covers - they can put me off a book. Witch Child however is beautifully covered. A stunning enigmatic young girl looks out at you in sepia tones and it immeditaely sets the stage for the words inside. It may sound odd to say it but gives a sense of richness - like you know that you're just not going to be ...  Read the complete review

I should probably warn you now, I am still reeling from reading this book. I finished it not half an hour past, and am so affected by it, felt compelled to share it with others immediately. Witch Child tells the story of Mary. A witch. The book begins in 1659 England in the grip of civil war, when Mary's grandmother, who has reared her since a baby, is hanged for witchcraft. Aged just 14, she witnesses the various 'Witch tests' her Grandmother is subjected to, the final one being 'float or Drown' where the suspected witch is tied by her hand to her foot and submerged in water. Should she drown, she is vindicated as a witch. Should she float, then ...  Read the complete review

I am not afraid to say I have a short attention span for books, and though I love to read, I find a lot of adult books tedious, so often I find myself reverting to my favourites when i was younger. and Witch Child is one of those books. Witch Child is aimed at young teens. Its a story of a girl called (or re-named) Mary living in the 17th century, who's grandmother is a witch and gets hung for being one. Mary is also a witch, and is kidnapped by a mysterious woman before the village elders get a chance to hang her too...she is then given a new name and a new identity, and put on a ship to America with a load of Puritans, who are also escaping religious ...  Read the complete review

I first came across the book Witch Child in Year 8 when my teacher chose to focus on it for a few weeks as part of a topic for English, because it also tied in what we were doing in history at the time. I really liked the book when we were reading it, and so when I saw it at a second hand book shop, I couldn't resist and had to buy it. The cover is very simple with just the author and title on the front and the spine, a blurb on the back and a black and white sepia picture of a girl on the front, assumed to be the main protagonist. The plot of the book is very complex and leaves you guessing as to what really did happen because there are lots of things ...  Read the complete review

"I am Mary. I am a witch" This is our introduction to the central character in Celia Rees' story 'Witch Child' Mary is a teenage girl living during the seventeenth century. She tells us her own story through the pages of her journal, which are discovered sewn into an old quilt that's being restored centuries after her death. Brought up from birth by her grandmother Eliza Nuttall, Mary knows neither her mother nor her father and so has nobody to turn to when Eliza is tortured and hanged for the crime of witchcraft. Then out of the blue, a mysterious lady rescues Mary from her former neighbours and does her best to hide her ...  Read the complete review