Witch Child (Paperback)

by Celia Rees (Author) "I am a witch..." (more)
Key Phrases: great cabin, Reverend Johnson, Elias Cornwell, John Rivers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
During the witch hunts of the mid-1600s, many young Englishwomen died on the gallows, innocent victims of false or hysterical accusations of witchcraft. But what of those women who actually claimed the name "witch" as their own? In the pages of her secret journal, Mary Nuttall reveals what it is like to live in a climate of mistrust and piety in which differences are dangerous and rumors can kill, where she must hide her heritage as a healer and pagan. With a sure hand, she describes her beloved grandmother's trial and hanging as a witch, her own rescue by a mysterious noblewoman, and her eventual passage to the New World and the forest settlement of Beulah. There Mary falls under a curtain of suspicion when she willingly chooses to explore the dark woods shunned by the fearful colonists and makes friends with some of the spiritual native people. When several girls in the community begin to shriek and swoon, and the same minister who damned Mary's grandmother comes to search for signs of witchcraft, Mary is subjected to close and deadly scrutiny.

Breaking with most historical fiction about witchcraft (such as Elizabeth Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond), British author Celia Rees raises the stakes and the tension by placing a real witch at the center of her story. Witch Child is an engrossing, suspenseful novel that will cast a spell over both readers of historical fiction and fans of witchcraft series from Circle of Three to Sweep. --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Though much of Rees's debut novel moves at a lackadaisical pace, its opening scenes are riveting: Mary, 14, watches as her grandmother the only family she has ever known is tortured, tried and finally hung as a witch. Afterward, a mysterious protector sends Mary away from England with a group of Puritans bound for a remote Massachusetts settlement an odd haven indeed for a girl reputed to be a witch. The book unfolds through Mary's diary entries. She tries to be "the perfect little Puritan maid" during the voyage and, upon reaching America, travels with her fellow passengers to a new settlement. But there Mary is drawn to the forest and a Native American boy, Jaybird (grandson of an elder who is, of course, a wise healer), raising the suspicions of her neighbors. Crisis looms when Mary becomes the scapegoat of a witch trial centering on the hysterical behavior of a gaggle of privileged Puritan girls (shades of The Crucible). Though the story is filled with authentic-seeming historic detail, Mary behaves more like a 21st-century teenager with a penchant for things New Age than a product of her own era: she is, for example, one of the only settlers enlightened enough to appreciate the local Native Americans ("The Indians go lightly in the world, that is all"). An afterword provides links to a Web site, as well as a request for "information regarding any of the individuals and families mentioned." A sequel is forthcoming. Hampered by wandering story lines and some stereotyped supporting cast members, this seductive material never quite comes together. Nevertheless, it will likely attract teen horror fans who flocked to The Blair Witch Project (a "foreword" hints at similar trappings, claiming that the story has been pieced together from a collection of papers found sewn into a colonial-era quilt). Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763618292
• ISBN-13: 978-0763618292
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #510,670 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense!!!!!!, July 8, 2002

A Kid's Review

I bought this book thinking it was going to be similar to The Witch of Blackbird Pond. In fifth grade, I read that book for class. While I enjoyed that book, I like this one much better. Witch Child shows you Mary's thoughts, so you feel like you are right next to Mary. Because it is in a diary form, you don't feel like you are an outsider happening to look into someone's life. Instead of knowing the thoughts of everyone, all you know is what Mary would know, and you find out information when Mary finds out. I like history, and I but what I like even better are books that don't have a textbook feeling to them, and this is definetly the latter. Celia Rees put a lot of suspense into this book, so there is never a dull moment. No one else I know has read it, but I hope that boys don't think that it is "girly", and that just because girls like it, it is dumb. This is NOT a girly book, it is a wonderful book about trying to survive during the time of the witch hunts. And, NO, witches were not always women, they were men sometimes, too.

What is the best part, I think, is that she can actually see into the future, and only a few close friends who are trying to help her know. She is struggling to keep her secret a secret, because if someone found out, she would be killed imediately.

I think that this is one of the best books ever, and I can't wait for the sequal to come out.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't have been any better., July 14, 2001

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Witch Child (Paperback)

Mary was raised in a small English village by an old woman she knew as her grandmother. The year is now 1659, and Mary is fourteen. Suspicion has fallen on her grandmother, a healer, and she ends up being hung for witchcraft. Mary herself is a witch - but has never hurt anyone. She was born with powers she never asked for and does not understand. The villagers plan to turn on Mary next, but she escapes with the aid of a wealthy woman who turns out to be her mother. Her "grandmother" is not her grandmother at all, but her mother's childhood nursemaid. Her mother still will not care for her, but she does provide Mary with a ticket for a ship bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Disguising herself as a Puritan, Mary sets out. But trouble and sorrow follow her across the ocean and into the wilderness. Even in the New World, Mary's life is threatened by the powerful leaders of the community, who are prejudiced against anyone who is different. The story was told through the form of diary entries written by Mary. Since there was an open ending, I really hope there is a sequel. Over the course of the book, I came to really care about what happened to Mary, and I'd love to read about what happened to her.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A COMPELLING STORY EXPRESSIVELY READ, July 19, 2001

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Witch Child (Audio Cassette)

This compelling and sometimes heartbreaking story is given an indelible reading by British actress Jennifer Ehle. A Tony Award winner for her performance in "The Real Thing, " she also appeared on Broadway with Alan Cumming in "Design For Living." Miss Ehle's expressive voice adds dramatic resonance to an already commanding narrative.

Set in 1659, "Witch Child" is the story of young Mary Newbury, the granddaughter of a witch. Mary witnesses the torture and death of her adored grandmother and fears for her future until she is offered sanctuary across the ocean in America.

However, upon arrival on these shores Mary discovers that she is among not only strangers, but people who fear and hate. She must disguise herself as a devout Puritan or imperil her life.

Celia Rees, who is described as an "aficionado of the supernatural" has recreated a time when being different was not tolerated and brought it to vivid life through the fictional diary of Mary Newbury.