Book Review: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

By Carlotta G. Holton

Decades before America’s infamous Salem witchcraft trials, men and women were being hanged for similar crimes in England. Such is the case in this fictionalized account of the true story of the Pendle Witches who were believed to be responsible for the murder of seventeen people in 17th century Lancashire.

This spellbinding tale dredges up the very real hysteria and societal pressures that pitted neighbor against neighbor in a time when Catholicism and the old folklore religions were being replaced by Protestantism. The memorable cast of characters is led by widow Elizabeth “Bess” Southerns, aka Mother Demdike. Living with her in a crumbling old watchtower in the countryside of Pendle Forest is her dependent daughter, Liza Device; her dim-witted grandson, Jamie; and her granddaughters, Alizon and Jennet.

Demdike has always had a way with animals, and can calm and heal them with periodic help from her familiar, Tibb. In this time of religious transition under King James I, Demdike must recite her prayers to the Virgin Mary and the saints to help with her healing in secret. She is well aware of her precarious situation. Demdike notes that she is “known as a cunning woman and she who has the power to bless may also curse.”

The wealth of historical research involved in this book is apparent as the reader learns that during the Jacobean era, there was a fine line between being cunning and being a witch. Anti-papism resulted in statues being smashed, and abandonment of the celebration of saints and the recitation of prayers. Priests were driven underground and those who had the means to hide the priests within their own homes did so to save them from being drawn, quartered and beheaded.

If the characters are memorable, so too is the vividly described setting in which nature rules the lives of these poor individuals seeking their daily bread in exchange for a full day’s work in the fields, barns or kitchens of those who are better-off. There is poetry in the magical, Robin Hood-type atmosphere of the forest, described in passages such as, “the air is tangy with wood smoke, filled with wild primrose and violets,” and the “trees are crowned in buds set to burst forth into leaves.”

The reader can relate to Sharratt’s story on many levels. Multiple friendships are ruined over misunderstandings. For example, when Demdike’s childhood friend Anne comes seeking help to protect her daughter from a cruel landlord, Demdike balks at using her powers for evil. Her answer is to teach Anne her spiritual ways so she can work her own herbal magic. When things go awry and Anne cultivates the powers of evil, a downward spiral ensues between the two families. As a result of a man’s death, Anne is labeled a witch and is shunned.

Generational differences occur as Demdike’s grandchildren mature. While dim-witted Jamie seems to have some talent, he is unable to differentiate good from evil. It is Alizon who possesses the true talent. But like her mother Liza, she refuses to learn how to channel those powers – including accepting a familiar in the form of a dog - fearing suspicion and reprisal from the law. Ironically, it is Jamie’s deeds that finally lead to the family’s arrest.
Through all of their tribulations, Demdike remains strong. This trait carries her and her family through much humiliation, starvation, and eventual disaster. In a time when men ruled every facet of the culture, Demdike is a rare and shining example of a matriarch of goodness in a world of drastic change and political upheaval.

Sharratt builds suspense as the family is arrested and innocent intentions are misinterpreted when Alison’s efforts to purchase pins for her dress from an arrogant peddler seem to result in a paralytic stroke and accusations that she bewitched the man. As the women sit in the lice- and rat-infested jail, Alizon notes that her grandmother “worked for good and her every charm was a prayer of the old religion. Yet her many hardships went to show that there was no way you could win at this game.”

Daughters of the Witching Hill is a compelling look at the upheaval and changes of 17th century England that provided a ripe setting for the suspicion and paranoia that resulted in accusations of witchcraft and the murders of innocent men and women. It is a very worthwhile read for fans of historical fiction.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact, Touching The Dead and Vampire Resurrection, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.