The Witch's Trinity: A Novel [Paperback]

Erika Mailman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2008

“A gripping, well-told story of faith and truth.”
—Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner

“A disturbingly effective historical novel.”
—Boston Globe

“Beautifully written, nary a word out of place, and with a few moments that throw you beyond—the way good books do ... deeply satisfying.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2007

The year is 1507, and severe famine strikes a small town in Germany. A friar arrives from a large city, claiming that the town is under the spell of witches in league with the devil. He brings with him a book called the Malleus Maleficarum—“The Witch’s Hammer.” It is a guide to gaining confessions of witchcraft. The friar promises he will identify the guilty woman who has brought God’s anger upon the town, burn her, and restore bounty.

The elderly Güde Müller suffers stark and frightening visions; none in the village knows this, and Güde herself worries that the sharpness of her mind has begun to fade. Yet of one thing she is absolutely certain: She has become an object of scorn and a burden to her son’s wife. In these desperate times, her daughter-in-law would prefer one less hungry mouth at the family table. As the friar turns his eye on each member of the tiny community, Güde dreads what her daughter-in-law might say to win his favor, and that her secret visions will be revealed.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Agrandmother's family turns against her in Mailman's uneven debut historical about witch trials in 16th-century Germany. The people of Tierkinddorf, on the brink of starvation following years of bad weather and poor crops, suspect a witch has cast a spell on them. Under the guidance of a visiting friar, the townspeople burn at the stake a local healer. When their luck does not improve, attention turns to the healer's longtime friend, Güde Müller, the novel's narrator and a widow who lives with her son, Jost; her daughter-in-law, Irmeltrud; and their two children. Güde has been recently tormented with visions of witches and of the devil disguised as her late husband, and is uncertain whether the apparitions are real. When Jost and the other village men strike out on a hunting expedition, Irmeltrud begins, in her husband's absence, a campaign to finger Güde as a witch. Mailman creates an intense atmosphere of hunger, fear and claustrophobic paranoia, though the secondary cast is flat and Güde's mental state doesn't always allow for lucid narration. Fans of supernatural fiction will want to give this a look. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

No one escapes suspicion when a famine afflicts a medieval German village. Eager to identify a scapegoat, the starving residents of Tierkindorf fall under the spell of an itinerant friar claiming to be able to extract confessions of witchcraft from transgressors. When elderly Gude Muller begins to experience blackouts and confusing visions, her daughter-in-law Irmeltrude seizes the opportunity to rid herself of the burden of her husband's mother. In an ironic twist, the villagers turn not only on Gude but on Irmeltrude as well. In searingly simple prose, Mailman probes the human psyche, peeling back the layers of the basest human instincts to expose the dangerous frailties of the human soul. Flanagan, Margaret --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030735153X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307351531
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fictionalized Case Study in "Witchcraft", October 22, 2007

By 

Kiki (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Witch's Trinity: A Novel (Hardcover)

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.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding!, October 5, 2007

By 

Kemble Scott (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witch's Trinity: A Novel (Hardcover)

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

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, November 7, 2007

By 

M. Moran - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Witch's Trinity: A Novel (Hardcover)

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!