Customer Reviews

The Witch's Trinity

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I have always had an interest in the "supernatural" and our perceptions of it, and have read a few non-fiction books about the witch hunts that have gone on both in the Colonies and in Europe. This book takes place at a time of great unheaval in Germany, when first plague and then famine has ravished many small villages in 1507. Güde is an older woman living with her son's family in one such villge.

The children are skinny and the parents are all starving, giving what they can to their children, including Güde and her son and daughter in law, Jost and Irmeltrud sacrifice for their children. All the villagers are hungry and a suspicious eye is cast when a Friar and his notary come to visit the village looking for witches. Güde's friend Künne is the first victim. Soon, Güde herself is taken, accused by her own daughter in law and Rome's representive Friar Fuch's in his scary black robes.

The frightening tale is told from Güde's point of view; she is an elderly woman, who has lived an exceedingly long life for her times, and her own confusion of time and place plays into the accusations against her. It is easy to see how simple it would be to accuse the older people of the village--they make good scapegoats and are often senile.

Not a perfect book, it is well written and has some very beautifully told passages evoking wonderful images, both dark and lovely. Many details play into the crafting of this cautionary tale. I thought of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible quite often. Güde's character is so well fleshed out, and we get to understand her and know her so well, the other players seem a bit flat at times. An excellent book.

Erika Mailman's novel about witch burnings in 1507 Germany is so compelling you'll feel like you can smell the smoke from the pyre. It's also a vivid reminder of what happens when religious leaders twist the tenets of their faiths for their own evil agendas. This is historical fiction that turns out to be remarkably timely. ---Kemble Scott, Editor, SoMa Literary Review

If you are a fan of Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders, my feeling is that you'll also be a fan of Mailman's truly engrossing novel THE WITCH'S TRINITY, given the similar themes of alienation, fear and mortality.

Set in the early 16th century, the novel delves into the darker side of the human spirit, where neighbors turn on each another and family members accuse one another of witchcraft for their own purposes. While the accusations of witchcraft are rooted in famine, mass hysteria and personal vengeance cause the German village of Tierkenddorf to become a frightening place to live, especially for the old and unprotected.

Pick this book up. You'll be really glad you did!

Human nature can be strange. The mentality of a mob for example, shows how brutal people can become when surrounded by others who are filled with passionate anger.

Erika Mailman shows us through the eyes of an elderly woman what it would have been like to live in the Middle Ages when witchcraft was thought to be the cause of any misfortune.

The famine described in this small village of Tierkinddorf, Germany is haunting. It made me feel strange reading the novel while having my lunch. I began to feel guilty knowing that the characters were willing to accuse others of witchcraft just to get a bite to eat.

A scapegoat was needed to place all the blame of the village's misfortune. It was thought that then, all things would revert back to days of plenty. That the famine would end.

The paranoia, the suspicion, the opportunity to point the finger of blame at someone whom you bear a grudge.

An accusation of milk spoiling was enough to damn someone to being burned to death, and you didn't even have to bring forth the spoiled milk as evidence. Your word was enough, if coupled with other such scurrilous complaints, to condemn someone to death.

Given today's sensibilities the thought of public execution is abhorrent. However, it is a gruesome part of our history that drawing and quarterings, beheadings, hangings, and burning at the stake were all done in the village square to serve as a lesson to all.

Beware or it may happen to you.

The Witch's Trinity is a potent tale whose ending surprised me.

I highly recommend it.

With a stroke of her pen and a quote from the Malleus Maleficarum -the witch hunter's bible- Mailman plunges into a terrifying period of history, where superstition combines with ignorance and mass hysteria to accuse helpless women of witchcraft. Set in 1507 in the German village of Tierkenddorf, famine-starved neighbors cast covetous eyes on one another, their bellies empty and their minds fevered. In the home of Jost Muller, his wife, Irmeltrude resents each morsel shared with her elderly mother-in-law, Gude. Jost's son and daughter, silent, watch with widened eyes as Irmeltrude harries old Gude, one starless night pushing her from the hut, barring the door against the grandmother's return: "It was a winter to make bitter all souls."

Arriving in the village in response to a letter from the local lord, the stern-visaged Friar Johannes Fuchs, his voluminous black robes unfurling like wings against the snow, announces that he has come to purge this place of evil, the curse of witchcraft that has blighted the fields. The friar believes that just as "God punished the world with a flood... he is now punishing you with famine." Clearly witchcraft is at work. To discover and excise the source is to regain God's pleasure. All eyes fall on a solitary figure, Gude's girlhood friend, Kunne, now as bowed by age and hunger as the rest. An herbal healer, Kunne stands accused, neighbors stepping forward to complain of soured mild, hens that won't lay and barren wombs. Anguished, Gude watches as her dearest friend is stripped and burned on a pyre of wood, the village's lust for revenge temporarily sated.

But the famine does not abate. Most of the burg's able-bodied men take to the woods in search of game, knowing their quest may take them far; indeed, such are the odds that they may not return. Meanwhile, left to their empty larders and active imaginations, the women wait. Irmeltrude's rancor increases and Gude fears the malice in her daughter-in -law's eyes. Scheming to please the soul-hungry priest, Irmeltrude fastens upon the fact that the new friar gave meat to each family after Kunne's sacrifice. As hysteria mounts, the village turns one upon another, the innocent made guilty, the devil's malevolence at every hand. Without the men to temper their rampant emotions, new victims must be found to feed the beast of fear, even hunger forgotten in the heat of passion.

The clarity of Mailman's prose, the recreation of a simple village haunted by hunger, prey to the cajoling of the priest who claims authority to determine God's will and the helpless innocents who stand accused portray humanity at its most craven. Hearts turn to stone in self-preservation. Exposing the atavistic nature of survival, famine drives friends and neighbors to obscene behavior, blessed by a wild-eyed friar with a lust for sacrifice. Pulled back from the edge of despair, civilization is restored, but the ugly events of the recent past leave a mark upon the collective soul of this village, the same irrational fear that will erupt again and again over the years, innocent victims burned on the pyres of those seeking to placate God and point an accusatory finger at the devil. Mailman captures the madness in this place, at this time, a poignant reminder of our basest instincts left unchecked. Luan Gaines/2007.

An amazing intense read--with evocative language and a unique point of view. With the author's great storytelling ability, this gripping tale feels so real as it unfolds from the point of view of the accused. It reinforced for me how we humans must continue to guard against our worst instincts--how quickly we can lose our humanity! I also like the afterward with the brief story of Ms. Mailman's own ancester in New England who was also accused of witchcraft. This would be a great book club choice.

This is a terifying novel, but not in the a cheesy, horror-story way suggested by the title--indeed the title might be the one flaw in this icy, beautifully written book. No, this story is terrifying because of how incisively and subtly it gets at the way we are, the things we'll do when we're frightened, the things we'll excuse. In that way, it feels creepily contemporary to me, even though it also credibly pulls you into a very "other" time and place: I mean to say, it's satisfyingly Germanic, medieval, peasant-ish. I especially like how Mailman understands that the victims here are of the same culture that is victimizing them, they buy the premise that some people are witches and should be burned for the greater good, they're not sure if they themselves are witches or not. Good work, Mailman. Write some more. Can't wait for your next one.

By 1507, the Germanic villagers of remote Tierkinddorf fear a witch has cast an evil spell on them as they experience famine that has left many in dire straits of starving to death. A friar arrives claiming he can perform a miracle that will return opulence to the townsfolk as he affirms the whispers that a witch has in deed cursed the town. His tome the Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch's Hammer) will enable him to obtain a confession from the guilty woman, who upon her burning at the stake will lift God's ire.

Elderly resident Gude Muller fears she is losing her mind as she begins seeing evil beings including her late husband as the devil; these visions frighten her. She also believes her daughter-in-law Irmeltrud wants her dead as she is useless to the family of four (not counting her) while eating their meager food supply. Meanwhile her best friend the town healer is burned at the stake after the condemnation by the Friar. When that fails to turn things around, he looks towards Güde with Irmeltrud encouraging the Friar and the townsfolk to claim her mother-in-law is a witch.

Readers will wonder throughout most of this strong historical fiction whether Gude is mentally incompetent, a coven is practicing nearby, or some supernatural essence is causing the crop failures. Because of her questionable sanity; Gude is a well drawn difficult character to understand; the friar is also complex as his motive might be a pious need to destroy the devil's followers but could also be an avaricious selfish use of the "terrorists" of that age; whereas Irmeltrud is simpler as her belief is that a person is a worthless consumer if they are not producing. Although the townsfolk never come across as fully developed and are easily interchangeable, readers will appreciate this interesting look at the superstitions of early sixteenth century Germany.

Harriet Klausner

I'm not a fan of stories on witch trials and the like. However, the blurb in the book fascinated me. I'm so glad that I bought this book because I liked it, except for one part.

This story is set in Germany in the 16th century. The people of Tierkinddorf are suffering through one of the worst winters of its history. To make matters worse, famine is upon them. No thanks to the visiting friar, witchcraft is suspected. Everyone soon backtracks their memories to find the instigator.

Among the people is one particular family: Jost, Irmeltrud, his wife, and his two children. Also living with them is a widowed grandmother, Gude (Jost's mother).

Gude's childhood friend, Kunne, the local healer, is soon accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. However, when the famine continues, the town soon looks for another instigator. At this point, Gude is nervous because she is not sure if she's involved with witchcraft. Lately, at nights, she's seen a coven of witches, a black cat, and some ungodly creatures. However, she's not sure if she was physically involved or if she was just dreaming them up.

With everyone on the verge of starvation, the men have no choice but to band together and hunt far away. Without the protection of her son, Jost, Gude comes under scrutiny for witchcraft, including her own family.

I thought *The Witch's Trinity* was a wonderful book! I loved the build-up of suspension and the heated dialogues between Gude and her daughter-in-law, Irmeltrud. I loved it all except the author had to ruin it by adding her own personal story/research on an ancestor who was twice accused of witchcraft. Bragging rights are ok, except this part was dry.

I really enjoyed this book. It was scary and eerie and juicy...oh my.
This is a talented author with an keen ability to write so much in so few words. This book would be a great discussion book for a more serious book group. Although it is about "witch hunts" there are incredible family dynamics, trust and honor issues as well as what we would today call radical propoganda.