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stellagramina's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in medieval history, Celtic lore, feminism, witch trials, and the Inquisition. If you're not interested in these things, you might be after you read the book; it's a quick, engaging read, a work of historical fiction. There's a lot of interesting interplay between good and evil, men and women, the colonizer and the colonized, the Church and God, and so on. It's an excellent book club book because it lends itself so well to discussion and comparison with the present.
I didn't rank it higher because I felt a strong sense of revisionism in the parts about witchcraft. Morgan seems to make the case that modern Wicca is a pretty pure survival/imitation of older ways, when it seems pretty clear to me that Gerald Gardner made most of it up. Some of the dialogue felt a little forced, too, when characters would have Important Political Discussions with one another, which reminded me of the heavy-handedness of Tolstoy's dialogue in Anna Karenina.
Criticisms aside, it's a good book and definitely worth a read. I will most certainly be reading more of Robin Morgan's work.
I didn't rank it higher because I felt a strong sense of revisionism in the parts about witchcraft. Morgan seems to make the case that modern Wicca is a pretty pure survival/imitation of older ways, when it seems pretty clear to me that Gerald Gardner made most of it up. Some of the dialogue felt a little forced, too, when characters would have Important Political Discussions with one another, which reminded me of the heavy-handedness of Tolstoy's dialogue in Anna Karenina.
Criticisms aside, it's a good book and definitely worth a read. I will most certainly be reading more of Robin Morgan's work.
sephranix's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in college for an English writing class on witchcraft, and I absolutely loved it at the time. Since it's been a few years, I'd love to re-read it and see what a second go through feels like.
kriff08's review against another edition
4.0
I came into this one blind, just looking for something to read at random, and I left pretty emotional. There were parts of this that didn’t hold my attention as much as others but overall I loved the flow of the story. I don’t know much on the subject of witch trials but the facts presented felt well researched to me and this wasn’t written to the point that it seemed too bogged down in fact. To the contrary I think taking the fictional approach was what got me immersed in the setting and had me emotionally tied to the trials and decisions these characters were forced to make. Overall pretty enjoyable read.
mezilla's review against another edition
4.0
I went into this expecting something slightly dry because it's based in history, and ended up with something completely different (and better.)
Coming from a standpoint of someone who left the church a long time ago, this book strikes home on levels I didn't predict. At first I hated the bishop, and then by the end I loved his scenes because they were such a perfect description of men of the church and the church's entitlement to what they see as theirs.
I thought I'd love Alyce the most, and ended up thoroughly loving the other characters more. The entire group as one is almost a character in itself.
Coming from a standpoint of someone who left the church a long time ago, this book strikes home on levels I didn't predict. At first I hated the bishop, and then by the end I loved his scenes because they were such a perfect description of men of the church and the church's entitlement to what they see as theirs.
I thought I'd love Alyce the most, and ended up thoroughly loving the other characters more. The entire group as one is almost a character in itself.
susanlee178's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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