Pendle Witch Library
Pendle Witches: Further Reading on the Pendle Witches, Historical Cunning Folk, and WisewomenFiction:Harrison Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches: A Romance of Pendle Forest (EJ Morten) (First published in 1849, written in dialect, very long, gothic, and dense.)Robert Neill, Mist Over Pendle (A lovely novel for both adults and young adults but not very kind to the witches!)Nonfiction, Primary Source:Thomas Potts, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (Published in 1613, these are the official transcripts of the 1612 trial. Though not infallible, Potts’s account...
Read MoreThe Charms of the Pendle Witches
From Thomas Potts’s A Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, the official trial transcripts:Mother Demdike’s family charm “to get drink”: Crucifixus hoc signum vitam Eternam. Amen.(Literal translation: the crucifix is the sign of eternal life.)This charm to cure bewitchment is attributed to Chattox: A Charme Three Biters hast thou bitten, The Hart, ill Eye, ill Tonge: Three bitter shall be thy Boote, Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost a Gods name, Fiue Pater-nosters, fiue Auies, and a Creede, In worship of fiue wounds of our Lord.(In modern language the last part would...
Read MoreDaughters of the Witching Hill: What the critics are saying
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharrattpublished April 7, 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt“Gorgeously imagined . . . . Sharratt crafts her complex yet credible account by seamlessly blending historical fact, modern psychology, and vivid evocations of the daily life of the poor whose only hope of empowerment lay in the black arts.”-Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review“What makes this story stand out are the strong voices of the two main characters, stalwart Bess Southerns (aka Demdike) and her feisty granddaughter Alizon Device . . . . a fascinating tale. The story unfolds without...
Read MoreDaughters of the Witching Hill: The Launch Party
Daughters of the Witching Hillpublished April 7 by Houghton Mifflin HarcourtWhat a voice Mary Sharratt has. She brings a haunting, ancient story to life. –Karleen Koen The wild, brooding landscape of Pendle Hill in Lancashire, Northern England, my home for the past seven years, gave birth to my new novel, Daughters of the Witching Hill, which reveals the true and unforgettable story of the Pendle Witches of 1612.Take a sneak peak of the novel Who were the Pendle Witches of 1612?Read what the critics are sayingJoin me on my traditional and virtual book tourWatch my docudrama of the...
Read MoreNew video, live events, audio rights, and new reviews
I’ve just returned from New York and the stellar Virginia Book Fesitval.In Brooklyn, artist and author Kris Waldherr hosted my exclusive prepublication reading and signing at her Art & Words Gallery, pictured above. You can see some of her gorgeous art work on the wall behind me. You can also see how beautiful the finished book jacket for DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is. It shimmers like a hologram and completely conveys the essence of the magic I sought to capture in the novel.The event was livestreamed on the internet and you can see it here.At the Virginia Festival of the Book...
Read MoreKing James I: Royal Demonologist
Even by the standards of his age, King James VI of Scotland, who later became James I of England, stood out as a deeply superstitious man, ruled by his obsession with the occult.Before his reign, witchcraft persecutions had been rare in Britain. But that all changed in 1590 when James personally oversaw the trials by torture for around seventy individuals implicated in the North Berwick Witch Trials, the biggest Scotland had known. The witches’ alleged crime? Raising a storm which nearly sank James’s ship when he sailed home from Norway with his new bride, Anne of Denmark. Possibly dozens of...
Read MoreAbout Mary Sharratt
An American author living on the Silver Coast of Portugal, Mary Sharratt is on a mission to write women back into history. She is the author of Revelations and seven previous critically acclaimed novels, including Daughters of the Witching Hill, the Nautilus Award–winning Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen, The Dark Lady’s Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Muse, and Ecstasy, about the life, loves, and music of Alma Mahler. When she is not writing, you can find her riding her beautiful Welsh mare.
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