Thursday, June 18, 2020

Ten top books about witch-hunts

Eleanor Porter has lectured at Universities in England and Hong Kong and her poetry and short fiction has been published in magazines.

The Wheelwrights Daughter – her historical fiction debut set in Elizabethan England – was published last month.

At the Guardian, Porter tagged ten top books and stories books about witch-hunts, stories that show how societies in turmoil turn on the most vulnerable. One title on the list:
The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown

“Once, I scarcely believed in the devil,” Alice Hopkins begins, before widowhood forces her to go and live with her brother Matthew Hopkins, who is collecting names. We follow Alice’s attempts not only to document but to fathom her brother’s cruelty. “Turn over the stone,” she says, “and find another history, struggling to escape.” We need more of these histories.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue