A review by jaswoahreads
The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore
5.0
‘...he knows already what most women come to learn: the men will not save you.’
Over the course of approximately 4 years Matthew Hopkins, ‘Witchfinder General’, was responsible for the deaths of over 100 women who were executed for their crimes of dealing with the devil as witches. I like to believe in the existence of witches; of charms and curses and broomsticks and familiars, however I don’t believe Hopkins ever found any.
Blackman gives a voice to the victims of the witch trials - we see the events through the eyes of Rebecca West, a pauper who lives in a hovel with her mother, and we see how easily a society can turn on its most vulnerable. The crime of many of those who were tried as witches were that they were women who lived on the fringes of society; they were poor, brash, non-conforming. As I said, I don’t think Hopkins ever found a witch. I think instead he was able to play on the feelings of contempt towards women who do not fit a societal expectation. For a book set in the 17th century, there were definitely some undeniable parallels with the modern day.
I loved the narrative voice provided through Rebecca. She was all at once witty and boring and bold and submissive and at times entirely awful to her mother and those who looked after her. She’s callous and unsympathetic and entirely selfish and self-serving and it was fantastic. She felt realistic. Similarly, a lot of the women in the novel reminded me of the women I know and love - frankly formidable and audacious and vulgar and all-together brilliant.
I may be biased in my love for this novel; it is always a delight to have a book set where you’ve lived. Most of the book takes place in Essex, but there are mentions of Suffolk and Norfolk too. I’ve lived in Colchester, which Blackmore says is ‘smelt before it is seen’ (still true) and rode the train through Manningtree. Reading The Manningtree Witches felt like being connected to women of the past who lived and breathed where I now stand. I wonder how they would feel about how much - and how little - has changed.
Over the course of approximately 4 years Matthew Hopkins, ‘Witchfinder General’, was responsible for the deaths of over 100 women who were executed for their crimes of dealing with the devil as witches. I like to believe in the existence of witches; of charms and curses and broomsticks and familiars, however I don’t believe Hopkins ever found any.
Blackman gives a voice to the victims of the witch trials - we see the events through the eyes of Rebecca West, a pauper who lives in a hovel with her mother, and we see how easily a society can turn on its most vulnerable. The crime of many of those who were tried as witches were that they were women who lived on the fringes of society; they were poor, brash, non-conforming. As I said, I don’t think Hopkins ever found a witch. I think instead he was able to play on the feelings of contempt towards women who do not fit a societal expectation. For a book set in the 17th century, there were definitely some undeniable parallels with the modern day.
I loved the narrative voice provided through Rebecca. She was all at once witty and boring and bold and submissive and at times entirely awful to her mother and those who looked after her. She’s callous and unsympathetic and entirely selfish and self-serving and it was fantastic. She felt realistic. Similarly, a lot of the women in the novel reminded me of the women I know and love - frankly formidable and audacious and vulgar and all-together brilliant.
I may be biased in my love for this novel; it is always a delight to have a book set where you’ve lived. Most of the book takes place in Essex, but there are mentions of Suffolk and Norfolk too. I’ve lived in Colchester, which Blackmore says is ‘smelt before it is seen’ (still true) and rode the train through Manningtree. Reading The Manningtree Witches felt like being connected to women of the past who lived and breathed where I now stand. I wonder how they would feel about how much - and how little - has changed.