Mr. Roger's Review: Witch Child by Celia Rees

Set in England and the New England colonies during the 1650s, Witch Child is a book that explores how superstition, prejudice and fear can overwhelm people and cause them to react with terrifying results. Mary, the narrator, struggles with several blows to her young life: the death of beloved relatives and friends; new friendships discouraged because "they" don't belong; personal rejection and mistreatment as an outsider who is begrudgingly allowed into the community and, in a tense ending, confronting the person who caused the whole chain of events as he tries to finish the job he attempted in England: Kill her as a suspected witch. Filled with facts as to the everyday life of the time (food, herbal lore, social customs, etc.) I was hooked on this book as soon as I read the first paragraph.