When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hung 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 finds herself having to make important choices to ensure her survival.
'Witch Child' is both astounding and brilliant. It is written in the form of a journal, kept by a fourteen-year-old girl in the 1650s and hidden for centuries in a quilt, until finally falling loose when the quilt is being cleaned. With a vividly evoked setting and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.
