Customer Reviews

The Burning Time

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Though immediately intrigued when I saw this book in a bookstore, I hesitated to pick it up because I thought, given the subject matter, it might be a story that went from grim to grimmer to grimmest. I couldn't have been more wrong. This poetically told tale opens a window on new aspects of a sad time in history, highlighting moments that actually make you think better of your fellow beings. It's not just that Alyce Keteler fights back hard, and wins. It's how she's portrayed - her high confidence, her generosity to the people dependent upon her, and her decidedly spiritual approach to her age-old beliefs. Here is a pagan saint, and there's something glorious in that. The author's storytelling skill shows itself in the way she ekes real drama out of the masses of material yielded up by historical research - not an easy thing to do, as life does not unfold like a plot; she has consolidated this story well, and given it a satisfying beginning, middle and end. The confrontations between Alyce Keteler and the bishop who brings the Inquisition to Ireland are wonderful - the two play a wicked and harrowing chess game with the lives of many people hanging in the balance; it's unnerving and exhilarating at the same time. And this enemy is complex - the bishop despises the way the nobility (of which Keteler is a member) stride through the world crushing everything in their path - and his criticisms struck a mark within me. It makes their duel all that more interesting. Bad things happen here, to be sure; Dame Keteler doesn't win one hundred percent - but at the end, I had a sense of a well-rounded tale that taught me something I needed to know about a great woman who's generally unknown, a heroine who rose above a dark time.

Eloquent prose with spell-binding mystery, The Burning Time gives ringing voice not only to the daring, courageous and creative Lady Alyce Kyteler of medieval Ireland but to the serfs of her coven as well. Locating witch trials in the context of the Inquisition, Morgan delivers new richness to the history of women and the history of Ireland with this well researched novel. And as if that is not enough to hold the reader, this novel is an herbal pharmacopia and healing based spirituality that becomes the story of what is at risk when greed and religious intolerance conquer not only lands but hearts.

"The Burning Time is at once epic and intimate. . . It gives the reader the privilege of a close-up view of the rituals, stories, poems, and potions of the Wiccan community and the women and men who populate it. Morgan's extended portrayal of the celebration of Lugnasad Eve, from the high priestess's self-anointing before the gathering to the final feast, is remarkable, spirited, celebratory writing. . . . The story is the thing in The Burning Time. The unstoppable course of events that makes this sophisticated book a genuine page-turner also makes it indelible, and the puzzling out of connections between our times and the Burning Time is an activity that is sure to follow this most entertaining and edifying read."--<a href="http://www.nimblespirit.com" target="_blank">Nimble Spirit: The Literary Spirituality Review</a>. For full review, click on link.

Morgan spins a fantastic tale, one that is definitely worth a read. She puts sentences together seamlessly and pulls you into an intriguing tale. This book takes place in a harrowing and horrible time for humanity and yet Morgan also shows us examples of kindness and love as well. Interesting characters, a great plot, and vividly descriptive writing -- read it!

What can I say about the great Robin Morgan? She should be as familiar a name as other great feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan for her immense contributions. First,about 2 years ago I was inspired by her radical essays from the book Going Too Far, then I read her "Sisterhood" anthologies, her book on the roots of terrorism, subscribed to Ms magazine in which she still does editorial work, got advice from her in Fighting Words: Combating the Religous Right, read an article which made me stand up and just yell, "Yes, I support Hilary and I'm not going to remain silent anymore!" with her recent essay "Goodbye to All This" about the media and Hilary. I also have to give her kudos for the great book of poetry she wrote called Monster...one of my favorite poems. So now, I've read a fiction book by her and once again, I felt such a connection to her brilliance, compassion, strength and love of women. I'm 28 and I swear I wish i had been involved in the movement with Robin. From this book, you will learn a fictionalized story of a REAL group of people who suffered the starts of the Inquistion in Ireland in the 1300's. The book focuses on 2 main ladies...one a noblewomen/ wiccan priestess and her serf/ surrogate daughter coming into conflict with one Archbishop whose hatred and fear of learned women as well as his greed for property is frightening. I won't ruin the ending but it is very suprising and empowering to all individuals who "fight the power". Too bad that during the 600 year "Burning Season" the church killed millions of people as witches, mainly women and girl children. From Robin's description of "witchcraft" it is nothing like the nonsense put into our heads. READ!

What a fun read! A total page turner, and so beautifully written. Morgan weaves a gripping story while immersing the reader in the rich world of medieval Ireland. You will not be able to put it down...something to truly enjoy!

What a great book, I read the whole thing in 2 days. I couldn't put it down. At first I wasn't sure about it, because I don't normally like books like this, but this one is incredible. Robin Morgan kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Excellent Read.

I loved the idea of this book. And for the most part I enjoyed it because I love historical fiction. I admire authors who can weave fact with fiction to create an absorbing tale that teaches at the same time. This book accomplished that and for that I'm appreciative. I loved learning about Alyce and Petronilla and this book prompted me to learn more about them, which is always a sign to me that a book was good. What bothered me is that I think the author let her feministic views intrude too much in her writing. I'm a feminist, no doubt, but the fact that the author even chose this topic was a victory for women. The persecution of women by the Catholic Church (and others) is a story that needs to be told, again and again, until women achieve full equality. But the truth of history is sufficient to make this point; there was no need to make all the female characters infallible, strong, independent, intelligent, while making almost all of the male characters either evil or stupid (she gave us a small reprieve with Sean Fergus). Women are just as fallible as men, and we can be evil and stupid too. A better balance of gender characteristics would have made this book more enjoyable, more credible and less open to criticism from people who claim feminists are simply "man-haters."

Mention the Inquisition and images of people, mostly women and Jews, being burned alive come to mind as do instruments of almost unimaginable torture. While the Spanish Inquisition has probably received the most thorough inspection over time, the Church's ultimate punishment of those who would not acquiesce to it's power and control, occurred wherever humanity questioned that very power.

In The Burning Time, author Robin Morgan brings the true story of the Inquisition's coming to Ireland, and a tribal queen's struggle against it. Originally, the "new" religion wasn't terribly troublesome for the Celts. St. Patrick himself, had eased the transition by "saining" (christianizing) many of the symbols and celebrations of the "old" religion so that the two could fit quite comfortably together in the minds of the people. The Celtic cross is one such example. In addition, Ireland was a very remote part of the Holy Empire (the Romans themselves never ventured that far) so strict adherence to the practices of Rome, were not part of the mix.

Probably one of the most problematic discrepancies between the old and new, was the role of women in society. The Celts had always respected women as equal to men and had no difficulty respecting and honoring the wisdom of either. It was not unusual for women to be clan chieftains or to lead armies into battle. And it was not unusual then in some parts of the Celtic world, for women to preside over monasteries and fulfill priestly duties since Jesus had shown similar regard for women.

Were it not for the Church's all-consuming desire to subjugate every aspect of a believer's life to it's will and to relegate women to nothing more than the vessels from which, disgustingly, a man's seed would be born, this story and others like it would never have needed to be told.

The main characters were true persons whose names can be found in records from that time. The story itself grows out of what is known of customs of the day and legends of the event. Records show that over a 600 year period ending as late as 1793 in Poland, the Church was responsible for the holocaust of between eight and nine million persons, most of whom were women.

This is a book that should be required reading for every Christian, not just to inform of the past but to warn of a future that seems to be taking shape. To forget history is to suffer repeating it. The Inquisitions were undoubtedly the Church's darkest moments and no good ever came of it. One can't help but make comparisons to the attempts of the current Conservative Protestant Church in it's ambition to take control of the Government and to relegate women to the home. The herbalists of medieval days are the scientists of today, to be met with distrust and suspicion.

The fear-mongering of today has much the same purpose as it did then, to "relieve" us of our freedom of thought and will. To know history is to shape a better future.