Review `As psychologically acute account of moral panic as you could hope to read and a fine weapon with which to arm any child in the battle against all its modern forms' --Guardian Synopsis When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hung for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity and once more she finds herself having to make important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish. About the Author Celia Rees is one of Britain's foremost writers for teenagers and her titles for Bloomsbury have enjoyed huge success. Witch Child has been adopted by educational boards up and down the country and is required reading in secondary schools in the UK, with life sales of over 180,000, and has been translated into 25 languages. Celia has a degree in history, a strong interest in which is evident in her brilliantly researched books. Sorceress, Pirates! and Sovay have all met similar critical acclaim and are loved fro their strong characters and skillfully plotted adventures. Celia Rees lives in Leamington Spa, with her husband.
C**K
Witch travels to Puritan America to avoid persecution. That should work.
Witch Child is presented as a collection of found journal entries written by Mary Newbury between March 1659 and October 1660. Mary comes from a family of witches and therefore defines herself as a witch (even though she doesn’t really practice much). After Mary’s grandmother is hanged she must flee to avoid the same fate. She boards a ship to the New World where she hopes to leave behind her witchy ways and live a life of freedom and free of persecution. Unfortunately, this is Puritan America… need I say more?!I love stories of historical witches, and I have an interest in 17C America, so I was like a pig in muck with this. Picture that. Picture me, dressed in a pig suit, rolling in mud. You’re welcome. I really enjoyed going on the journey with Mary. I also enjoyed the tough, no nonsense Martha. There are aspects of magical realism which ticks another huge yes please box for me. Give me more magical realism please! Om nom nom.There really isn’t too much that happens in this. It’s really a coming of age story. It’s a slow burner and if the setting doesn’t interest you, I think it would be easy to get bored with it. There also isn’t much mystery, action, or tension. Because we are all really smart, we all know when we read a story about historical witches what is going to happen and unfortunately, this doesn’t break the mould.There isn’t much more to say about this. It isn’t breaking any new ground and probably won’t leave a lasting impression on me. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless. I may read the sequel (Sorceress) as I am interested to know what happens next.
B**R
Hardship in early New England
Easily readable as this is told as diary entries. Based loosely on the Salem witch trials and other witch trials of the C17th, this tells the story of Mary who escapes England for a new life in the colonies, only to meet more distrust and hardship. Whilst there however she also make friends with a local Native American - Jaybird, which presumably will be picked up in Book 2 - The Sorceress. Reminded me of other books I've read, including Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper.
S**Y
Love this book.
Arrived fast and in good condition. Good value for money. It's a lovely story that gets the imagination working! Very well written so as to transport the reader straight into the times and setting. I first read this in school and are brought it recently. I was not disappointed reading it as an adult the story still captivates and enchants the reader.
J**K
Fantastic and riveting
I downloaded the Kindle Version of this book, and immediately thought I would review the first few lines! Well that did not happen as I was immediately hooked and drawn into a tale which is so vivid and real, I was enraptured. The characterisation is astounding and all the characters jump off the page, and can be well associated with. The flow of the book is easy going, and well paced. I especially liked the layout as it was well "chaptered" in bit size pieces, and I have put Chaptered into parentheses, as the headings are numbered as Diary entries by number and date. I will certainly look forward to reading other stories by This Author.
N**K
Interesting
It is very short but I look forward to the next book ,and hope this is a follow on, think my niece will like it!
A**G
Great read
Bought this for a friend she enjoyed it
C**S
On my top 5 best list
This book was dynamic....I had little expectation as I started this read....it blew me away. I am not sure if it was the excellent narration of the story or the possibility this really happened....or just the great writing. It left me wanting more and It took me ages to get I to another good book without being disappointed. I would recommend this to anyone and will defo read it again.
K**3
Interesting story for teenagers
This is being read in my 13 year olds class, it's slightly heavy for my son but he has enjoyed it.
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