A witches story, 350 years ago, has relevance today. (Witch Child - Celia Rees)

Member Name: Rhiana

Product:	Witch Child - Celia Rees
Date:	24/05/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Captivating, educational, just brilliant.

Disadvantages: It ended.

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 this is seen as proof she is indeed a witch and shall be hung. A lose-lose situation, Mary's Grandmother floats, and is sentenced to hanging.

In the crowd, Mary is aware of feeling turning against her, but is determined to be with her beloved Grandmother to the end. Just as the deed is about to be done, Mary is covered in a cloak, and whisked away in a grand carriage by a mysterious upper class woman, who feeds and clothes Mary, and provides her with a means to escape. A ship carrying a brethren of Puritans heading for a new life in America. Salem to be exact.

I came across this book quite by accident when offered a swap for one of my books on ReadItSwapIt. I chose the book as I am interested and intrigued in this period of time, and the persecution of witches and in Paganism in general.

I hadn't realised until I received the book that this was actually a teenage/children's book. I'm sad to say it actually got shelved for quite a while. However, this week I resolved to make a dent in the large 'To Be Read' shelf before acquiring any more books and decided to tackle the shortest books first to get them 'out of the way'.

So yesterday saw me starting 'Witch Child' And from the first page I could not put it down and had I not other distractions (pesky kids!) and needed to sleep I would have finished it in one sitting.

The book is told in diary form throughout, by Mary, our heroine. It charts just over a year in her life, from the cruel murder of her Grandmother, through the turbulent journey over the Atlantic, and the life of the first settlers in New England.

It is rare that such a book can pull you in with such ferociousness, yet I felt this book did from the very first page. Mary tell's her story in a way that makes you feel every feeling with her, hope every hope and fear every fear. As I read this book, I became Mary, such is the authors skill at getting inside our heroine and giving her a voice. The characters around her are told with depth and colour, making them easy to imagine. And the sights, smells and sounds of hope and fear in a new land fills the reader with the emotions felt by those first pilgrims.

It's been a long time since I read a book aimed at teenagers, over 18 years ago probably. Yet I know that as a teenager I would have adored this book, and can see how it would be loved today too. While set 350 years ago, it's easy to relate the troubles Mary encounters then, in today's world. As a teenager, there is nothing more frightening than feeling different. While prejudices have changed, they are very much still prevalent. The effect of rumour and gossip can be make or break in the school yard, as it was in these times, and the 'In crowd' can wreck havoc in life now, for those they choose to. The consequences may differ now, we don't hang people on rumour and prejudice in this country any more, but the catastrophic effects of power, jealousy, intolerance, ignorance, fear, misunderstanding and rumour will always be relevant, particularly to teenagers finding their own way in life.

I read The Crucible by Arthur Miller at school, aged around 13 and was affected deeply by it at the time. There's little doubt that this book borrows heavily from it, but by taking the angle of the teenage Mary and written in personal diary form, makes it more accessible and readable to the teenage generation of today. At 250 pages, it's not too long, and engages the reader throughout making the pages turn themselves. Witch Child is now required reading in secondary schools in the UK.

The book begins and ends with small fore and afterwords, from a woman named Alison Ellman. These suggest that the manuscript was found in a quilt, 300 years after it was written and asks for information from any one who knows anything of the families listed. This made me wonder whether the book was actually based on fact. A bit of research shows that it is fiction. The author, Celia Rees studied American History at university, and also at the same time read a book on Matthew Hopkins, witch finder general during the English civil war and was inspired to write a book about a girl who travelled between the two worlds of the Puritan pilgrims and native Americans.

There is a sequel to Witch Child, titled The sorceress which I am about to seek out. Celia Rees has also written other historical fiction books aimed at the teenage market which received rave reviews. Although sadly not a teenager any more, I shall be collecting them all, to read myself and then pass on to my children.

Witch Child is a book that creeps under your skin from the first page. I have little doubt that this book will become a classic. As an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it, as a teenager I know I would have loved it. Credit is indeed due to the author who writes in a simple yet intelligent way, never dumbing down or becoming patronising in an attempt to appeal to a younger audience. It is a book that stops you in your life, and question humanity. I absolutely recommend.

www.witchchild.com
written by Celia Rees
Published by Bloomsbury uk in 2000

ISBN 0-7475-5009-3

Summary: A teenage story which spans generations.