Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt. © 2010 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547069678. Hardback. Historical Fiction. 333 pages. $24.00 US. Source: copy from publisher.

Synopsis
Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow, lives with her children in a crumbling old tower in Pendle Forest. Drawing on Catholic ritual, medicinal herbs, and guidance from her spirit-friend Tibb, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future in exchange for food and drink. As she ages, she instructs her best friend, Anne, and her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft. Anne ultimately turns to dark magic, while Alizon struggles to accept the power she has inherited and dreams of a simpler life. But when a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate tricks her into accusing her family and neighbors of witchcraft. Suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights as friends and loved ones turn on one another and the novel draws to an inevitable conclusion.

Review
Though other books have tackled a fictitious account of Lancashire Witchcraft Trials of 1612, Mary Sharratt is the first author among them to give Mother Demdike and her granddaughter, Alizon Device, their own say. Daughters of the Witching Hill is told in two voices. The first section being narrated by Bess Southerns and the second by Alizon. Through this we see how both women viewed their world and their gift of cunning craft. Of course, some liberties were taken with the novel but this is what makes it historical fiction and not a boring textbook (the changes are clearly addressed in Afterword for those interested). Read the rest of this entry »

Today we are joined by historical fiction author, Mary Sharratt (The Vanishing Point; Bitch Lit; The Real Minerva). Mary’s latest book, Daughters of the Witching Hill, was released last month through Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This vividly crafted novel tells the story of Mother Demdike, a cunning woman from Lancashire, England who was never given the chance to speak on her own behalf against allegations of witchcraft. In Daughters of the Witching Hill, Mary gives Mother Demdike her say.

I’m currently reading the book and so far I’m loving it, but as my review is not ready yet, please take a moment to read Mary’s encounter with the famous Pendle Hill and how the voice of Bess spoke to her as she wrote. Also, be sure to enter to win a copy of Daughters of the Witching Hill here (open internationally; ends 14 May 2010 @ 12am; one winner will be chosen at random).

How I Became a Daughter of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

In midwinter 2002, I moved from the Bay Area in California to Lancashire, England. I’ve travelled around the world and lived in many different places, from Germany to Belgium. But what ensued from this relocation was the biggest culture and climate shock of my life. In Northern England, the winters are so dark and oppressive—I felt as though I were trapped inside some claustrophobic gothic novel. My husband and I moved to an old industrial town, our newly built house on the site of a demolished factory. Surrounding all this post-industrial bleakness was a landscape straight out of a fairy tale. In spring the hedges were lacy with hawthorn. Ewes birthed their lambs in the meadow behind our house.

Our house looks out on Pendle Hill, famous throughout the world as the place where George Fox received his vision that moved him to found the Quaker religion in 1652. But Pendle is also steeped in its legends of the Lancashire Witches. Read the rest of this entry »

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith and Jane Austen. © 2010 Quirk Classics. ISBN 9781594744549. Paperback. Classics/Horror. 288 pages. $12.95 US. [ Pre-order ] Source: copy from publisher

Ah, April in Meryton. The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, the temperature is rising … and so is the undead body count. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls tells us the origin of how the Bennett girls of Longbourn became masters of the art of zombie-killing seen in the first book.

As the novel dawns, we are introduced to the first ‘dreadful’. Mr. Bennett quickly takes the reign of this tense situation and instructs Elizabeth and Mary on dealing with the ‘unmentionable’—and with that they witness their first killing. From here on out, the girls begin intense training in the Shaolin tradition of martial arts, first from their father and then from Master Hawksworth. From here …

“We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naïve young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchucks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry.” (back cover) Read the rest of this entry »

Bodies from the Bog by James M. Deem. © 1998 Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-85784-8. Paperback. Children’s/Archaeology. 42 pages. $7.99 US. [ Purchase ] Source: local library

Bodies from the Bog opens up with the discovery of The Grauballe Man from Denmark in 1952. While the book focused mainly on bog bodies discovered on the continent, insular discoveries were mentioned as well.

Along with discussing the bodies themselves, in Chapter 3 we are also told about the life cycle of a bog and why these play such an important role in the preservation of these people. Of how a bog is born from sphagnum moss growing on layers of fen peat. This is what plays a pivotal role in the creation of bog bodies.

While fen peat alone allows for the growth of bacteria, and the eventual decay of human remains, sphagnan (a substance found in sphagnum moss) prevents the development of bacteria. It is sphagnan which preserves human remains, and even wood and leather objects from thousands of year ago, however, materials made from plants (i.e., linen) will decay. This is the reason bog bodies are most often nude, their clothes have deteriorated. It is also sphagnan which turns the bodies tan and leathery. So bodies become skeletal remains from fen peat and mummies from bog peat. Another topic covered briefly, and I do mean briefly, in this chapter is how special the meeting of land and water was to the ancient of Europe. Read the rest of this entry »

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. © 2009 Dial Press Trade Paperback. ISBN 0385341008. Paperback. Epistolary Fiction. 290 pages. $14.00 US. [ Purchase ] Source: bought at Target

If you’ve seen any other reviews of this book, it is not unlikely you’ve seen comparisons to 84 Charing Cross Road. It’s somewhat inevitable, given the format of this novel, presented as it is in the form of letters between the various characters. It is a leisurely and familiar way to go about telling a story, and in this case works quite effectively.

As I’m finding it hard to pinpoint what exactly prompts me to give this book 4.5, if not 5, stars out of 5, I wonder if it is the authors’ skillful ability to represent humanity not only accurately but optimistically. While the recent history of World War II casts a shadow over the lives of the characters, from the start the reader knows there is more to this story than the devastation wrought by war – there is the constant hope of deliverance and the perseverance of a people not willing to submit themselves docilely to the invaders.

Not only does the method work and the story embody reality in a touching and poignant way, the characters pull one in with their life. They truly come alive in the pages of the book, and as the book progressed I think I came to think of them less as characters in a book than relatives who had given me the joy of this window into their earlier lives. We see relationships blossom and the fruits of life-long friendships. We cheer on our favorite character and have to chuckle a little when the busybody gets her comeuppance.

Shaffer and Barrows’ writing draws the reader into the world of this small island of the English channel. It is not a difficult read, but it is sprinkled throughout with gems of wisdom and wonder. One character observes that “Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.” And The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a good book.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. © 1998 Wordsworth Editions. Originally Published 1854. ISBN 1853260932. Paperback. Classic Fiction. 448 pages. $4.99 US. [ Purchase ]

Synopsis
Set in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, Margaret Hale’s life is turned upside-down when her father gives up his parish and moves their family to Milton, a city in the north of England. Milton is so much different than everything Margaret had been used to – going from the south of England to the harsher northern part of the country, where the people all depend on the cotton mills for their jobs – and she and her family have a very tough time adjusting. Margaret’s father takes up teaching, and one of his students is the proud Mr. Thornton, owner and manager of a local mill.

In a story not unlike Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Margaret and Mr. Thornton soon discover they have feelings for each other, but pride, bruised egos and major misunderstandings seem to be in the way of their ever forming a more lasting attachment.

Read the rest of this entry »