The Minister's Daughter
-
-
4.8 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $7.99
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
"Powers of the air, be here now. So mote it be."
Conceived on May Morning, Nell is claimed by the piskies and faeries as a merrybegot, one of their own. She is a wild child: herb gatherer and healer, spell-weaver and midwife...and, some say, a witch.
Grace is everything Nell is not. She is the Puritan minister's daughter: beautiful and refined, innocent and sweet-natured...to those who think they know her. But she is hiding a secret -- a secret that will bring everlasting shame to her family should it ever come to light.
A merrybegot and a minister's daughter -- two girls who could not have less in common. Yet their fates collide when Grace and her younger sister, Patience, are suddenly spitting pins, struck with fits, and speaking in fevered tongues. The minister is convinced his daughters are the victims of witchcraft. And all signs point to Nell as the source of the trouble....
Set during the tumultuous era of the English Civil War, The Minister's Daughter is a spellbinding page-turner -- stunning historical fiction that captures the superstition, passion, madness, and magic of a vanished age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Hearn makes a memorable American debut with this tightly woven tale of a witch hunt. She pits 15-year-old Grace, the daughter of a hypocritical Puritan minister, against Nell, the granddaughter of a midwife and healer who has taken Nell as her apprentice. The novel alternates between the dangerous times of the English Civil War during April 1645 January 1646, and the confessions of Patience Madden, the minister's "simple" daughter, from the New World in 1692. Patience reveals how she colluded to throw fits in order to conceal Grace's pregnancy and to damn Nell as a witch. Hearn effectively contrasts the sanctimonious minister and the creepy town "Watchers" ("women who like nothing better than a good hanging") with the magical, impish piskies and fairies that populate the countryside plus the knowledge of herbs and spells (offered with a liberal dose of humor) passed down to Nell. Hearn places actual historical figures (including Matthew Hopkins, "Witch-finder General") among her stellar cast and, through Nell's scenes, reveals prevailing attitudes toward religion: "The little church is full.... There are those who truly believe; some who are trying to; and a few who never will, but need to pretend, for the look of it." Those in the know will not be surprised when Patience's recollections lead to the doorstep of the Salem witch trials, while others less knowledgeable may be inspired to find out more. With its thought-provoking perceptions about human nature, magic and persecution, this tale will surely cast a spell over readers. Ages 12-up.
