It was fascinating to look behind the legend of the “Witchfinder General,” Matthew Hopkins, alongside John Stearne. Together, the two travelled through towns and villages around Essex and beyond, helping…
Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy by Malcolm Gaskill (Book review)
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis (Book review)
Are they girls or are they hell-hounds? This was a beautiful and poignant book about what happens in a small community when suspicions start to swirl around the beautiful and…
Something Wicked: The Lives, Crimes, and Deaths of the Pendle Witches (Book review)
This book gives a thorough analysis of the infamous Pendle witch trials; I really appreciated the depth of research that went into it. Carol Ann Lee has clearly worked painstakingly…
Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials by Marion Gibson
This was a really fascinating non-fiction read. I started this in November and finished in early December, and it completely held my interest. Pictured: the book in Lancaster Castle, in…
Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
This book is a document of mass hysteria and trauma. First published in a collection in 1861, I love this Penguin Archive edition. Set in 17th century Salem, you know…
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
This was the quintessential autumnal #spinsterseptember read with a supernatural feminist twist: a woman escapes family obligations and relocates to a small village in the Chiltern Hills and becomes a witch! 🧙♀️…
The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill
Rather than focusing on witch trials as a form of sensational true crime, this book is rooted in theology, community dynamics, and the psychological and religious tensions of early New…
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
This was actually a bit of fun! A novella/short story by Atwood about the funny yet sinister suburban mum who is documented through her daughter’s eyes. It’s great to see…
Hex by Jenni Fagan
This is an interesting read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in witches, witch-hunt history, and feminism! This is an intimate look at the Jacobean witch paranoia whipped up by…