The Manningtree Witches: A. K. Blakemore

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Which brings me to the fact that first person narration is a bit of an odd choice for historical fiction. In particular, when the author tries to include manners of speech and vocabulary from the 17th century in dialogues and text. It just disconnects the reader from the story and the characters. A weird mix of first and third person narrative was also used in parts where our MC wasn’t present and that’s just odd overall. Puritans sought to reform themselves by purifying from their churches the last vestiges of Roman Catholic teaching and practice. It was a movement that gained popular strength in the early 1600s, especially in East Anglia.

Today, with the 18th century development of Mistley Quay nearby, we're not far from urban development.Three hundred years ago this would have been a much wilder area, a feral forest outside the confines of the town. It’s not hard to imagine this as a place to hide and seek sanctuary from the fear and loathing, accusation and uncertainty happening in the streets. We are like two tree’s that have grown entangled in the denseness of the wood. Ripping at each other’s branches in the wind.” The Manningtree Witches brings to life the history of a small English town set in the mid-seventeen century where there is the sudden upheaval of witch trials. In this small community that is mostly populated by women due to men joining war, Rebecca West finds herself and the women around her accused of being witches. The new man in town, Matthew Hopkins, self-proclaimed witch-hunter, leads the charge against these women. This rendering of the witch trials is charged with betrayal, first love, suspicion, and the desire for freedom at any cost. Manningtree has traditionally claimed to be the smallest town in England, but its 2007 population of 700 people in 20 hectares [3] and the 2011 census population for the civil parish of 900 are much higher than the 351 population of Fordwich, Kent. [4] However, it is believed to be the smallest town by area. [5] That being said, there is a definite focus in Wicca on the female aspect of the Deistic entity, as in “Goddess Moon” and “Mother Nature”. Perhaps this is a counterbalance to life in a misogynistic society? Regardless of the reason, that we here at manningtreewitches.com believe, at a personal level, that Wicca, with its emphasis on the feminine, is an ideal spiritual path for the empowerment of women.There have been several books recently on witch trials( with another one from author Chris Bohjolian soon to be releasesd) and despite the fact that this is material has been covered before I was still anxious to read this, the synopsis of course was intriguing but this one had me really exited to read and I was thrilled when NetGalley approved me for it. That tolerance was lost when King James I, a staunch Catholic and vehement critic of the Occult, ascended the English throne in 1603. Within a year, he had sponsored yet another in a succession of British laws aimed at suppressing perceived anti-Christian acts. The Witchcraft Statute of 1604 ruled that “witchcraft” was a crime punishable by death. More significantly, it prescribed that guilt in such cases was no longer to be decided by the ecclesiastical courts but by the courts of the common law. While this change in jurisdiction afforded the accused some semblance of a trial before punishment, the burden of proof was lower. Witnesses could be called against the accused where the only evidence was hearsay. a b c d Peers, Deborah (February 2009). "Once upon a time in... Manningtree". Essex Life. Archant Life. p.52. There were times when I was confused about whose point of view I am currently reading about. This slightly interrupted my concentration, but the story was wonderful in terms of timeline and storytelling.

Without any legal representation, the women were arrested, interrogated and kept prisoner in the cells of Colchester Castle before being tried at the Assize courts in Chelmsford. Fifteen of them were executed in Chelmsford, but the four named above were brought to Manningtree to be hung here on the village green before a gathered crowd. I’m sorry to say but I was bored throughout the whole book. The writing although lyrical was very uneven and jumpy. The novel also feels remarkably modern. A situation where society is destabilised and women face violence. Those who do not conform are scapegoated and persecuted. The novel allows readers to reflect on their own time, but never lets them forget that their time and the time of the novel are substantially different.

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In April 2009 it was proposed that Manningtree should merge with Mistley and Lawford to form a single parish, losing its separate identity as a town. [6] As of 2023 such a merger has not occurred. Lewis, Russell (1975). Margaret Thatcher: a personal and political biography. Routledge and Kegan Paul. p.16. ISBN 0-7100-8283-5.

In a novel about horrific historical injustices, what do you feel is or would be the difference between using a historical fiction genre and the horror genre to tell the story? What does the writing style bring to the story, and why do you think AK Blakemore has chosen to write it in this way? The Manningtree Witches" by A. K. Blakemore, written in beautifully crafted literary prose, describes the Witch Craze of the English Civil War and is interspersed with excerpts from the Essex Witch Trials of 1645. Rebecca West's coming-of-age included accusations of witchcraft, imprisonment, teenage angst, stirrings of romance and the reading and understanding of the gospel. Her character development, as well as the detailed descriptions of other women and girls accused of bewitchment, was masterfully penned. This debut work of literary fiction from poet A. K. Blakemore is a read I highly recommend. There is one long, narrow road that runs alongside the riverbank, from the little port of Manningtree...to old St. Mary's Church in Mistley...". People living a marginal existence occupy "a few dozen houses...in various states of disrepair...all moldy thatch and tide-marked...away from the river...rolling hills and fields where the true wealth of Essex [lives]...cows...full of milk...herds mill about neat little manor houses of the yeomen and petty gentry...". The year was 1643. Manningtree had been depleted of men since the English Civil War began. "For most in Manningtree the loss of a healthy steer or a good milker ranks among the greater calamities. The loss of a child, especially a girl child is a more miner misfortune." Hopkins’ new witch-finding method was successful. Elizabeth Clarke not only confessed but named five other women as witches: Anne West, Rebecca West, Anne Leech, Helen Clarke, and Elizabeth Gooding.O’Donnell, Paraic (12 March 2021). "The Manningtree Witches by AK Blakemore review – a darkly witty debut". the Guardian . Retrieved 1 September 2022. As Imogen Simon argues strongly in her documentary, these eight women of Manningtree were victims of misogyny as much as religious fervor. The highlighting of misogyny is correct and is often overlooked in discussions of witch-trials. Eastern England of the 1640s was a Puritan stronghold, a society in which women were considered culturally inferior to men. It was a culture in which women could be accused so readily of being witches. Manningtree is on Holbrook Bay, part of the River Stour in the north of Essex. It is the eastern edge of Dedham Vale.

The outline of the story that follows is in some ways terribly familiar – not least to anyone who, like me, studied Arthur Miller’s ���The Crucible” for A-Level: arguments, allegations, hysterical reactions, accusations, arrests, confessions – forced or tactically volunteered, recantations, trials, and executions. And of course it was Hopkins actions and treatises which partly inspired the Salem trials.Here's Professor Alison Rowlands: "That’s something which usually gets missed out of the local story because it’s very hard to think that your community actually invested a lot of effort in trials. I think somehow it’s easier to say, 'Oh it was Hopkins'. He’s an easy villain and you see that in other parts of Europe where it’s nice to blame one villainous person. Actually you can’t have a trial unless there’s somebody willing to make an accusation. So every single person who was tried, somebody from their community has accused them of causing harm through witchcraft." England has been a religious mess since Henry VIII, and the “true faith” has changed so many times it feels understandable that Rebecca and her kind have developed a kind of cynicism over the whole subject. Hopkins, however, is a righteous man, sure of his faith, the most important line in his personal Bible being “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”. Or is it that he’s simply a straightforward religious misogynist, interpreting his sexual feelings towards women through the prism of his Biblical belief that all women are a) sinful and b) cursed? Blakemore gives the reader room to believe either version of him, or both.