D is for Daughter of Pendle

Paula reviews 'Daughter of Pendle' by Rowan Scot-Ryder

This story is set in the early 17th century in Lancashire in the north west of England. Anyone who has grown up in this area (like me) knows the story of the ‘Pendle Witches’, a group of women who were found guilty of witchcraft and hanged.

Pendle Hill is a long, low hill about 1,800 feet high which dominates the landscape of the eastern part of the county. In the 17th century, it was covered with more forests than today, and was surrounded by small villages, some with less than a dozen cottages. The area was said to be wild and lawless, and superstition was rife. Anyone who was ‘different’ was open to suspicion, including those who mixed potions of herbal remedies for the poor families who had no recourse to any other medical help.

In addition, King James I, convinced that he was being plotted against by witches, enacted a law imposing the death penalty on any practitioners of witchcraft or the ‘magical arts’. Of course, the local justices of the peace were only too anxious to obey the king’s demands and, hopefully, to earn promotion by doing so.

As Rowan says in her introduction to the story, history is written by the accusers, and not the accused i.e. in this case, the official record of the trial. Rowan, however, looks at the ‘other’ side of the story, mainly through the eyes of eleven-year-old Jennet Devize. When her family was accused of witchcraft, Jennet stood up in the crowded court room at Lancaster Assizes, and denounced them all. History has portrayed her as a vindictive child from an abusive family – but is there another explanation?

Blurb:
Jennet Devize is the last of the Demdike clan, and a true daughter of Pendle.
Known for centuries as the child of witches, she spoke against her whole family at the Lancaster Assizes in 1612, condemning them to death. What was the truth behind her betrayal? What happened after the trials?
Could she build a life and be loved, become a mother and a healer, or would the accusation of witchcraft follow her forever?

This story was a fascinating glimpse of Jennet’s family and the events leading up to the trial, as well as the aftermath for Jennet during the next 25 years, based both on fact and also on Rowan’s vivid, but very believable, imagination. I felt I got to know the characters well, and I was transported back to the days when belief in witchcraft was very strong. And, believe me, the last line of dialogue will bring goosebumps to every reader who has heard or read anything about 17th century accusations of witchcraft .