In 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.
After being alone for a long time, that witch learns about kindness, what truly matters, and she has a bit of magical fun with her new, spooky friends along the way.
As Witch Child ends so Sorceress begins. Alison Ellman is still searching for information about Mary Newbury; she has a diary and some scattered information about other people in Mary's life, but Mary has disappeared into the forests and Alison has no way of following her. But when she meets Agnes Herne, Alison encounters the person who is going to tell her all about Mary's life after she leaves Beulah. Agnes is a descendant of Mary's and has a special skill which allows her to be in touch with Mary in the spirit world. And Mary has a story to tell. A story of love and friendship, sadness and loss. A story that takes her across the New World in an epic search for a home. We fell under the spell of Mary in Witch Child and now at last we find out what happened to her after her ill-fated time in Beulah. Just as Mary's story has to be told to Agnes, it has to be read by us for it is passionate, compelling and utterly wonderful.
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.
_______________ 'Historical fiction at its very best' - Waterstones' Guide to Kids' Books 'Prolific, erudite and consistently brilliant ... breathtaking' - Guardian 'Powerful, absorbing and unusual' - The Bookseller _______________ An updated edition of this outstanding historical novel, in a stunning new package to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication. When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days – paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.
When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.
Desiring a child of her own, Rosina the witch fashions one out of straw and scraps, but when she cannot bring the rag child to life she becomes enraged and turns the village children into shrubs, where they stay until a kind girl discovers the discarded doll and saves her.