Book Review: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt


Bess Southerns is a charmer, a wise woman, a healer - trained in the forbidden folk magic of the Catholic church. By helping her neighbors she risks bringing the law down on not only herself, but her family and friends. We watch as she has a family, some that stand by her and some that leave because they fear her skills. We follow the family through her daughter and her granddaughter.

When a neighbor accuses someone of witchcraft, however, the hunt for witches begins and Bess finds her family under scrutiny. This was an interesting look into not only the way the lower class lived, but also how the fear of witches could be contagious, drawing many innocents in along with the guilty.

The book could have been a tad bit shorter. There were a few times I had to set it down because I felt that it had stalled and I needed a break from it.

3.5/5