Customer Reviews

The Minister's Daughter (Aesop Accolades (Awards))

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Early in 17th century England, the country is beset by civil war, the old religion at odds with the Puritanism that is sweeping the land. The old ways smack of superstition and an untoward reverence for pagan feasts and celebrations. The Puritans want none of the trappings of such a religion, sure that Satan has a hand in excessive merrymaking and frolicking on Sundays. In one small village Nell, the village cunning woman's granddaughter and Grace, the minister's daughter, are about to act out the scourge that will spread throughout the country, an accusation of witchcraft that sets off a firestorm of hangings of the accused.

Grace is carefully observed by her strict Puritan father, but she is young and headstrong, running off with a young man on the first day of May, the birthday reserved for Merrybegots, children that are sacred to nature. Grace views the consequences of her actions as impossible, begging the plain Nell for help. As the village cunning woman's protégé, Nell is trained in the healing arts, learning all she can before the old woman's mind shatters completely. Nell herself is a Merrybegot, born from the May Day celebrations. She informs Grace that she cannot help her and a feud is born, one in which Grace holds all the power in a class-conscious society. Desperate to avoid her father's ire, Grace begins throwing fits to avoid anyone learning her secret, drawing her less-attractive sister, Patience, into the infernal chaos that develops. Over time, to avoid the reality of her impulsive judgment come to fruition, Grace accuses Nell of witchcraft. And who will doubt a minister's daughter?

The author cleverly weaves history, fiction and magic into an engrossing tale of witchcraft, Puritanism, superstition and the unnamable fears of an ignorant public who believe in God and magic spells in the same measure, Nell symbolizing everything female and uncontrollable in a patriarchal belief system. This fiction is a perfect introduction to a fascinating period in English history, where both God and Satan walk the streets, larger than life, more powerful than incantations. In the throes of hysteria, a small village turns on one of their own, suddenly mistrustful and superstitious, looking to the minister's daughter for answers. Those provided, though quenching the villagers' thirst for blame, only serve to ignite a conflagration that will leap from across continents, settled finally in Salem, in the New World. Luan Gaines/2005.

In the year 1645, England was torn in two, caught between the warring factions of the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. The people, particularly those who still lived in rural areas, were also torn between the old ways (those of pagan ritual and superstition) and the new ways (those of rationality, order, and a particularly austere form of Christianity). Julie Hearn's tremendous new novel, THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER, vividly embodies these conflicts in the deeply personal story of two young women from opposite sides of the divide.

Nell is the granddaughter of the local cunning woman. Nell herself is a Merrybegot, a child conceived on Mayday, one of the most magical festivals of the year. Part healer, part midwife, part wise woman, Nell's grandmother feels the change in the air and, fearing for her own sanity as well as for her ability to continue practicing her arts in the changing political and religious environment, eagerly apprentices Nell to her craft. Soon enough, Nell is ministering not only to laboring human women and to flatulent men but also to piskies and other magical creatures, one of whom recognizes her as a chosen Merrybegot and rewards her with a gift more precious than anything she could have imagined.

Grace, on the other hand, is the older daughter of the village's Puritan minister. Virtuous, devout and submissive, Grace is nothing like wild, bold Nell. Smitten with a handsome local boy, Grace soon finds herself pregnant with her own Merrybegot. Desperate to hide her pregnancy from her authoritarian father, she convinces her naïve younger sister Patience that her condition is the result of witchcraft practiced by Nell and her grandmother. Soon the villagers, torn between loyalty to the past and fear of the unknown, don't know whom to trust.

In THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER, Julie Hearn masterfully condenses so many of the vast political and religious conflicts of the day into what seems on the surface to be a very small story about one girl's unwanted pregnancy and its unforeseen consequences. At the same time, she manages to craft a tale that is both historically resonant and genuinely magical, peopled as it is with real-life historical characters such as Charles II as well as by piskies (pixies). These magical creatures are not just your average diaphanous fairies, though; like much of the magic in the novel, their influences are far-reaching and, although they provide comic elements, their concerns are great. Nell herself acknowledges the power of the supernatural the first time she attempts to perform significant magic after her grandmother's death: "This is a trip of the most terrifying kind, so weird yet so utterly believable that to suffer it is to know yourself at the mercy of whatever devils your mind cares to spit in your face."

The narrative structure of the book also contributes to its effectiveness. The bulk of the novel is narrated in a third-person present tense voice set in 1645 but carrying an oddly prescient tone, often prophesying events that will happen to minor characters months or even years in the future. Interjected with these chapters, though, is the voice of Grace's younger sister Patience. In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, Patience narrates the events of 1645 through the lens of the Salem witch trials and her own tragic miscomprehension of those earlier days, in a tone that grows increasingly hateful until it reaches the chilling climax.

THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER is Julie Hearn's first novel to be published in the United States. If this superb tale is any indication of her talents, readers soon will be clamoring to read much more from this accomplished writer.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I read a lot of YA fiction, but when I picked this one up, I didn't notice that it was a "teen read," and there is no reason for it to have an age-limited audience.

Hearn's novel (her first to be published in the United States) can be viewed as a prelude to the well-known witch hysteria of colonial Salem, MA. The Minister's Daughter is set in 1645 England, during the English Civil War. When the minister's daughters start speaking in tongues and spitting pins, all while the elder daughter's belly grows suspiciously larger, suspicion falls on the village healers. The healers, or cunning women, are a grandmother and her granddaughter, Nell, who fix herbal remedies for the village in exchange for donations of food and supplies.

The story of the countryside witch hysteria is told from both the healer girl Nell's point of view and from a retrospective confessional by the younger of the minister's daughters. Nell's world is filled with miniature troublemakers/watchers in the form of piskies, as well as interactions with faeries. She is desperately trying to learn the spells and potions of her grandmother as the elderly lady's mental agility starts to decline. The minister's younger daughter, Patience, is naive in the ways of the world and often deemed slow by the villagers. Patience doesn't fully catch on to the strange ministrations going on in her own house until it is much too late.

Hearn's novel closes with an informative author's note and suggested reading about the reality of the English royalty, the famed witch hunter Matthew Hopkins, the folklore of the English countryside, and the hysteria of the time. Prepare to be transported several centuries back, to a magical and mad place, by this touching novel.

Set in a small English village in 1645, this is the story of Nell and her grandmother, both healers, who are accused of witchcraft. Nell is learning the craft of healing from her grandmother as the book opens; her grandmother still practices the "old ways" and supplies the village with potions and curatives as needed. Neatly tied into this mix is the existence of piskies and fairies, all of which conspire to help Nell and her grandmother as they are seen as kindred spirits. The existence of the two healers takes a sinister turn when the minister's eldest daughter finds herself with child and turns to Nell for a potion to rid her of the burden. Once Nell refuses, accusations of witchcraft are brought against the two women by the minister's two daughters. Grace the Puritan minister's is the golden child of the village, delicate and pure, refined and elegant. Nell, the healer's daughter, is her polar opposite. She's a Merrybegot, a child conceived on May Morning. She is wild and unrestrained, a healer and midwife. When Grace and her sister, Patience, are suddenly taken by a violent illness, Nell is accused of witchcraft. In this powerful good-versus-evil story set during the English Civil War, both Grace and Nell's lives are follow

from http://www.matrifocus.com/IMB06/review-fiction.htm
"This is another of those wonderful books officially targeted at young adults which really has no age limit to the audience it reaches. A reader needs only to have the desire to read a well-crafted, magical yet authentic-feeling story of the clash between the old and the new ways of looking at the world and religion." I couldn't say it better.

I didn't have any idea that The Minister's Daughter was a YA novel, either, until coming here to write a review. I just finished it an adored it. Not only does it treat both Pagan and Christian beliefs with respect and impartiality, but it's just a great story. The characters are vivid and compelling, the story is suspenseful, and the writing itself is highly skilled. I read an awful lot of books, and this one will have a permanent place on my shelf where others may be passed on to friends or sold. The Minister's Daughter isn't going anywhere - I'll want to re-read it many times!

This incredible and mystical story, The Ministers Daughter, takes place in a land full of adventure,excitement and danger lurking behind every rock.
The Ministers Daughter,is a haunting tale that took place in Salem, where there was the two minsters daughter,Grace and Patience Madden. Grace was the one born beautiful and perfect at age fifteen.While on the other hand Patience not born as beautifulbut smart, keeps having bad dreams about the devil.
Also, in this story there is a healer and the healers grandaughter Nell, who she was training to become the next village healer. In the beginning of the book Grace gets herself pregant by the blacksmith's son and dosent tell anyone about it.So throughtout the book she blames the grandmother for doing witchcraft on her,then the villages take the grandmother and decide to do a test. They are going to drown her and if she lives shes a witch, but sadly enough she dies anyway. Graces stomach is getting bigger and more villagers are getting more suspicious.
At the end of the book, the villagers accused Nell of being a witch,but do theyend up hanging her?Or do they find out that Grace id lying?
I really liked this book because it was full of adventure and excitment. If you like books that have you guessing the whole way with enormous amounts of action and chills going up your spine, then this is the book for you!

When I picked up this book, I must confess I was a tad skeptical because I don't read fantasy novels much. To my surprise, the novel was so well written that I finished it within 12 hours. THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER is a great read for anybody whose interested in the witchcraft trials of England and fantasy.

The Minister's Daughter, or as it is also called The Merrybegot, was a great historical fiction book. Half the book is about a young girl named Nell. This part takes place in 1645. She lives in England with her grandmother, the town's healer. A puritan minister and his two daughters move into town and force their ways onto the town's people. The other half of this book talks place in Salem during the witch trials of 1692. It's about Patience, the minister's younger daughter. She is confessing who the real witch is. Patience tells her side of the story of what happened back in England. The end leaves you guessing to who the title is referring to.
Julie Hearn did an astonishing job when writing this book. It is full of lies and drama, and the ending leaves you guessing. I believe that the ending could have used a little more detail. Still, I enjoyed her idea of every other chapter being "The Confession of Patience Madden." This would be an excellent book for most teens. Other books by Ms. Hearn are Hazel, Ivy and Follow Me Down.

Set in England in 1645, the story of the minister's two daughters and the local cunning woman's granddaughter, Nell. The daughters conspire to have Nell and her grandmother condemned for witchcraft. The three girls have more in common with each other than first guessed, and the addition of fairies and piskies keeps things interesting. This is a dark tale, and I would not lump it with other young adult books. Well-written, imaginative, and interesting switching between 1645 (present tense, 3rd person) and 1692 (1st person) narrative.