The Bewitching is based on the true story about the witches of Warboys. Alice Samuel is a wise women and is called to the Throckmorton House to help one of the daughters who is having fits. Alice is then accused of bewitching the young girl and is accused of being a witch. The story then goes on from there.

The story is told mainly from the pov of Martha, a maid in the Throckmorton house. We follow the family as not one daughter is afflicted by the fits so do the others. I couldn't help but think that the affictions of these young girls was very similar to what happened in Salem and the witch trials there.

I enjoyed the story. Firstly because of it being based on real events that I knew nothing about and secondly because it's witchy. I did find myself enjoying the story but did find at times however it was a little repetitive especially in the middle section. The final part 'The Trial' did make up for it and also included more about Alice and her story.

Overall an interesting book based on real events. ( )

Martha has served the Throckmorton family for years, looking after their children, and now the family has moved to a large and comfortable house in a fenland village. However the girls start suffering fits and then one of them accuses a neighbour, Alice Samuel, of bewitching them. What chance does Alice have against the godly and highborn family who accuse her?
Set in Tudor times, this story predates most of the tales of witchfinding in the 17th century but it does not fall into the trap of being a 'tudor' novel. The book is a fictionalised account of a true story in which a local woman was accused of causing death by witchcraft which was a hanging offence. The story is ambiguous in places, particularly with regard to the relationships with the Throckmorton family but is sympathetically written and very sad. ( )