The Bewitching (Paperback) - Jill Dawson

A dazzling, shocking novel that speaks to our times, drawing on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys.

'OUR MOST CONSUMMATE HISTORICAL NOVELIST' Philip Hoare

'Brilliant'
Paula Hawkins

'Devastating'
The Times

'Terrific'
Mail on Sunday

From the award-winning author of The Language of Birds and The Crime Writer, a chilling tale of a witch-hunt

Alice Samuel might be old and sharp-tongued, but she's no fool. Visiting her new neighbours in her Fenland village, she finds Squire Throckmorton's family troubled and, she suspects, not as God-fearing as they seem. Yet when one of the daughters accuses her of witchcraft, Alice has no idea of the danger she is in or how quickly matters will escalate.

The Throckmortons' maid Martha, uneasy herself about strange goings-on in the household, is reluctant to believe that Alice is a witch. But as the entire village gets swept up in the frenzied persecution of one of their own, she struggles to find a voice . . .


PRAISE FOR JILL DAWSON

'A skilful storyteller'
Hilary Mantel

'A magnificent writer'
Cathy Rentzenbrink

'A spark fires throughout Dawson's work'
Guardian

About the Author

Jill Dawson's novels include Fred & Edie, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Whitbread Novel of the Year Award, Watch Me Disappear, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, and The Crime Writer, winner of the East Anglian Book of the Year. An award-winning poet, she has also edited several poetry and short story anthologies.
She has held many fellowships, including the Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia. In 2008 she founded a mentoring scheme for new writers, Gold Dust, and in 2020 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in the Cambridgeshire Fens.