The Witch in the Well

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Wimbish, Whitney Curry (25 October 2019). "Opinion | Thar Be Witches, and Us". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 6 March 2020. The building upon which it is affixed (now containing the Tartan Weaving Mill) was built in 1851, for the Castlehill Reservoir. [4] [7] [5] The 1851 building replaced its 17th-century predecessor, constructed when act of parliament in 1624 enabled the bringing of fresh water into the city from the nearby Pentland Hills. [8] [9] In 1674 the reservoir was connected to 12 wells around the city, eventually closing in 1992, and converted into the Tartan Mill in 1996. [8] [9] In the small, storybook town of F—, two women – once childhood friends – become rivals when they both decide to write books about the same subject: Ilsbeth Clark, a local woman who was ostracised from the community and denounced as a witch in the 19th century. The first author, Elena, is a relentlessly optimistic free-spirit type who has achieved success and minor fame after publishing a bestselling ‘spiritual guidance’ manual. The second, Cathy, is a teacher who’s been researching Ilsbeth for years and becomes bitter and paranoid when she hears about Elena’s proposed book. The Witch in the Well opens with reports of Elena’s death, and is told through her journal, Cathy’s blog and documents reportedly written by Ilsbeth herself... in the present day. Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s unclear exactly when witches came on the historical scene, but one of the earliest records of a witch is in the Bible in the book of 1 Samuel, thought be written between 931 B.C. and 721 B.C. It tells the story of when King Saul sought the Witch of Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel’s spirit to help him defeat the Philistine army. Then I'm not sure, there's like an Adult version of a prank war, there's a handsome repairman turned suitor, and most confusing to me was a lot of content regarding a horse, or a ghost horse, and a horse as an embodiment of a demon. In Virginia, people were less frantic about witches. In fact, in Lower Norfolk County in 1655, a law was passed making it a crime to falsely accuse someone of witchcraft. Still, witchcraft was a concern. About two-dozen witch trials (mostly of women) took place in Virginia between 1626 and 1730. None of the accused were executed. Are Witches Real? Reporter, Record (29 March 2016). "Should the women burned as 'witches' in Edinburgh be immortalised in a memorial?". dailyrecord . Retrieved 6 March 2020.Cathy is presented as embittered and jealous, never accepting responsibility for anything happening to her or the things she does, and always finding someone else to blame. She also refuses to compromise. The court decided to use a controversial water test to determine her guilt or innocence. Sherwood’s arms and legs were bound and she was thrown into a body of water. It was thought if she sank, she was innocent; if she floated, she was guilty. Sherwood didn’t sink and was convicted of being a witch. She wasn’t killed but put in prison and for eight years. The Manor is old and not in the best shape. This creates the perfect stage for the creepy, dark feel of the book. An old manor home, the forest and the infamous well provide the atmospheric and sense of impending doom. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was okay, but I am not lying, or exaggerating, when I tell you that I RARELY knew whose perspective I was reading from and where the events fit in time. Betty realized the old woman sitting by the well was no ordinary member of the game, she was a real witch and they were in real trouble.

Today’s witchcraft spells are usually used to stop someone from doing evil or harming themselves. Ironically, while it’s probable some historical witches used witchcraft for evil purposes, many may have embraced it for healing or protection against the immorality they were accused of.But witches—whether actual or accused—still face persecution and death. Several men and women suspected of using witchcraft have been beaten and killed in Papua New Guinea since 2010, including a young mother who was burned alive. Similar episodes of violence against people accused of being witches have occurred in Africa, South America, the Middle East and in immigrant communities in Europe and the United States. Sources Bruce expertly shows us the perspectives of both of her characters, with each section demonstrating their rivalry with the other whilst they inadvertently highlight their own personal flaws. The Witch In The Well recalls Christopher Priest’s superlative The Prestige (1995) in its compelling depiction of two destructively obsessive personalities that mirror each other’s flaws. As with Priest’s novel, as Bruce’s narration progresses, both Cathy and Elena tell the reader more about their own selves as they ostensibly talk about each other. The novel also has echoes of Arthur Machen’s terrifying short story ‘The White People’ (1904), in which a faux naïve voice is used to imply truly horrific events behind the scenes that the story’s narrator is oblivious to until it is too late. Similarly, much of the almost unbearable tension in The Witch In The Well comes from how both Cathy and Elena have absolutely no idea about the malevolent forces that they are inviting in, and when they do realise it it’s far too late to do anything about it. Bruce is in masterful control throughout, and the reader can only look on in horror as events draw to their inevitable conclusion.