In Halls’s novel, that would be Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the 17-year old lady of the manor, Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham. Given that Alice Grey was poor and was not allowed to speak in her own defence at the trial, she would have had to have support from a more influential member of society. As it’s not clear from the records how her innocence was established, Stacey Halls imagines how it might have happened. Twelve women were put on trial at the Lancashire Assizes in 1612: one died in prison, 10 were executed, only one was found innocent. Can we believe their confessions, not knowing how they were extracted? Can we believe the evidence given to the court by the only witness – a 10-year old girl, who for who knows what reason, was happy to testify against and send her whole family to the gallows. And yet, some of the Pendle Witches confessed their guilt to murder by satanic means. I have always felt that many (if not all) of the women who were tried and executed as witches back in the day were what we now call herbalists. Lancashire was full of the former, and the infamous Pendle witch trials would make you think it was full of the latter too. Very hard to resist if you love a beautiful book … but can you judge this book by its cover? The short answer, yes! (The long answer follows.)ġ612 James I is on the throne.
I’m talking about the design of Stacey Hall’s The Familiars. Sumptuous, luxurious, stunning from cover to cover.
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