What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Witchfinder
Jennet Stearne's father hangs witches for a living in Restoration England. But when she witnesses the unjust and horrifying execution of her beloved aunt Isobel, the precocious child decides to make it her life's mission to bring down the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act. Armed with little save the power of reason, and determined to see justice prevail, Jennet hurls herself into a series of picaresque adventures—traveling from King William's Britain to the fledgling American Colonies to an uncharted island in the Caribbean, braving West Indies pirates, Algonquin Indian captors, the machinations of the Salem Witch Court, and the sensuous love of a young Ben Franklin. For Jennet cannot and must not rest until she has put the last witchfinder out of business.
526 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2005
140 people are currently reading
2262 people want to read
About the author
James K. Morrow
102 books327 followersBorn in 1947, James Kenneth Morrow has been writing fiction ever since he, as a seven-year-old living in the Philadelphia suburbs, dictated “The Story of the Dog Family” to his mother, who dutifully typed it up and bound the pages with yarn. This three-page, six-chapter fantasy is still in the author’s private archives. Upon reaching adulthood, Jim produced nine novels of speculative fiction, including the critically acclaimed Godhead Trilogy. He has won the World Fantasy Award (for Only Begotten Daughter and Towing Jehovah), the Nebula Award (for “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge” and the novella City of Truth), and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award (for the novella Shambling Towards Hiroshima). A fulltime fiction writer, Jim makes his home in State College, Pennsylvania, with his wife, his son, an enigmatic sheepdog, and a loopy beagle. He is hard at work on a novel about Darwinism and its discontents.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 265 reviews
October 22, 2007
i cannot believe so many people loved this book. this book is awful.
the dialogue is stilted (its so obvious that the author found a book about 17th century slang and then used those words as many times as possible...bleh) and the plot bends credulity past its breaking point several times over. While the names and dates might be historically accurate, the characters motivations and personalities are totally anachronistic, like when the minister scolds isobel for keeping servants(!). i should have stopped reading right there. also, i should add, if the book was intended to have a feminist overtone, i have to say i'm extremely disappointed that the author chose to say that a woman can be a good intellectual or a good mother, but not both. oh, and for someone who took such pains to use "period language," aka slang and big words, its amazing that no one bothered to ask why they were using modern-day french! seriously, do you not think french has changed in 300 years too? this and the myriad other problems are a shame, because the sections where the narrator, the principia mathematica, discusses itself are intriguing and very creative. but these brief passages can't save a book that is overall terrible, and a huge disappointment for me.
the dialogue is stilted (its so obvious that the author found a book about 17th century slang and then used those words as many times as possible...bleh) and the plot bends credulity past its breaking point several times over. While the names and dates might be historically accurate, the characters motivations and personalities are totally anachronistic, like when the minister scolds isobel for keeping servants(!). i should have stopped reading right there. also, i should add, if the book was intended to have a feminist overtone, i have to say i'm extremely disappointed that the author chose to say that a woman can be a good intellectual or a good mother, but not both. oh, and for someone who took such pains to use "period language," aka slang and big words, its amazing that no one bothered to ask why they were using modern-day french! seriously, do you not think french has changed in 300 years too? this and the myriad other problems are a shame, because the sections where the narrator, the principia mathematica, discusses itself are intriguing and very creative. but these brief passages can't save a book that is overall terrible, and a huge disappointment for me.
September 26, 2010
Jennet Stearnes is a young woman ahead of her time. Although she's the daughter of a witchfinder in England, she is fortunate to have an Aunt Isobel Mowbray who is a "natural philosopher." She tutors Jennet in science, mathematics, and philosophy. She also provides young Jennet with her treatise, "A Woman's Garden of Pleasure and Pain," which will greatly enrich Jennet's life for many years. When Jennet's father unwisely puts a member of English gentry to the torch for witchcraft, Jennet, her father, and brother Dunstan are sent to America. Her father's services are soon needed in Salem. Her brother Dunstan serves as their father's apprentice and is beguiled by one of the Salem young women suffering from "malaficiae". Jennet vows to put an end to witch hunting by turning to natural philosophy. She intends to prepare the ultimate argument that will be so powerful that Parliament will be forced to repeal the Conjuring Act passed during the reign of George II. Along the way Jennet will mingle with prominent figures in English and American history. Morrow's writing is sharp, sly, and a pleasure to read. Picaresque, ribald, and humorous, Morrow's "The Last Witchfinder" will find you comparing this novel to John Barth's "The Sotweed Factor." It's that good.
November 30, 2008
This one took what seemed like forever to read (but since it spans the onset of the Enlightenment through to today, that's perhaps to be expected). I dipped in here and there, reading a section--a chapter--an hourglass at a time (if you've read it, that will make sense). The black humour, the delightfully anachronistic voice, the historical characterizations...I found it all utterly charming and compelling and altogether unique.
It's tempting to draw comparisons to Vonnegut and Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume springs to mind, in particular), not just in the whimsy of the prose and unlikelihood of the story's events, but also Morrow's ability to combine sardonic humour with a deep rational humanism. But mostly, Morrow's voice appears to be solely his own and the parallels exist primarily in an ability to condemn religious hypocrisy, ignorance, injustice, and brutality all the while painting scenes rich with humour, complex characters and quirky details.
Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the device of the narrator--Newton's Principia Mathematica--cleverly deployed to timeshift the reader through historical events and keep the story galloping along. It's a book written by a book that pays the deepest respect to booklovers and the pursuit of knowledge. (The book war thing--silverfish? egyptian moths? a vacant lot in NYC?--seemed a bit unnecessary and odd, but that was just one off-note in nearly 600 pages of otherwise exhuberantly solid writing.)
The whole thing requires the suspension of disbelief on more than a few occasions, but it's truly remarkable how well the story holds together and makes sense, despite its more outlandish plot twists and turns. Mostly, I think this has to do with the grounding provided by Jennet Stearne's life's mission and her single-minded desire to avenge her Aunt's horrific death by proving, through scientific enquiry, logic and evidence, the fallacy of witchcraft, and the hypocrisy and unspeakable cruelty of the witchhunters. The courtroom scenes are simultaneously gripping and jaw-clenchingly angering, exactly as they should be. Despite Morrow's lilting prose and wide ranging topics (law, government, the founding of America, the laws of physics, the slave trade, Newton, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Ben Franklin ... you name it, it's in here), never does he stray too far from the tragic, real-life events that inspire the novel and its heroine.
And let me finally comment on the ending--a more satisfying one I've not encountered in a novel in some time. Not only is the plot tied up neatly and justice served, but it provides a satisfying denouement, and never seems too neat or contrived.
Solid 4.5 stars from me.
It's tempting to draw comparisons to Vonnegut and Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume springs to mind, in particular), not just in the whimsy of the prose and unlikelihood of the story's events, but also Morrow's ability to combine sardonic humour with a deep rational humanism. But mostly, Morrow's voice appears to be solely his own and the parallels exist primarily in an ability to condemn religious hypocrisy, ignorance, injustice, and brutality all the while painting scenes rich with humour, complex characters and quirky details.
Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the device of the narrator--Newton's Principia Mathematica--cleverly deployed to timeshift the reader through historical events and keep the story galloping along. It's a book written by a book that pays the deepest respect to booklovers and the pursuit of knowledge. (The book war thing--silverfish? egyptian moths? a vacant lot in NYC?--seemed a bit unnecessary and odd, but that was just one off-note in nearly 600 pages of otherwise exhuberantly solid writing.)
The whole thing requires the suspension of disbelief on more than a few occasions, but it's truly remarkable how well the story holds together and makes sense, despite its more outlandish plot twists and turns. Mostly, I think this has to do with the grounding provided by Jennet Stearne's life's mission and her single-minded desire to avenge her Aunt's horrific death by proving, through scientific enquiry, logic and evidence, the fallacy of witchcraft, and the hypocrisy and unspeakable cruelty of the witchhunters. The courtroom scenes are simultaneously gripping and jaw-clenchingly angering, exactly as they should be. Despite Morrow's lilting prose and wide ranging topics (law, government, the founding of America, the laws of physics, the slave trade, Newton, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Ben Franklin ... you name it, it's in here), never does he stray too far from the tragic, real-life events that inspire the novel and its heroine.
And let me finally comment on the ending--a more satisfying one I've not encountered in a novel in some time. Not only is the plot tied up neatly and justice served, but it provides a satisfying denouement, and never seems too neat or contrived.
Solid 4.5 stars from me.
January 17, 2011
What a stupid book! I don't like the word stupid but no other word comes close so I'm stuck with it. It's totally unbelievable, filled with historically uncorrect atitudes and behaviour. For some reason I wanted to know what happened to everyone. I also liked the idea of a book telling the story even though the book wars was an idea that should either have been abonded or have been explored differently. That's why I gave this book 2 stars, but really I wanted to give it one star. If you want to read this book to learn more about the withchunts then don't even start it, because it doesn't tell you anything that's worthwhile. If you want to read it for the sheer pleasure of reading you'd be better off with the Encyclopdia Brittanica or a dictionary.
did-not-finish
January 22, 2011Crap.
(Not even crap-tastic)
Just crap.
Couldn't finish this one.
Don't care what happens.
Don't care what I missed.
Waste of good paper.
Waste of my time.
(Not even crap-tastic)
Just crap.
Couldn't finish this one.
Don't care what happens.
Don't care what I missed.
Waste of good paper.
Waste of my time.
March 25, 2010
If someone had told me that I would be reading a book in which the heroine is an Enlightenment natural philosopher, daughter and brother to witchfinders, witness to the Salem witch trials, a member of an Indian tribe, beloved of a young Ben Franklin, one of two people who knows the coordinates of an island on which escaped slaves debate the merits of government, and the personified end to witch hunting, I would have cocked an eyebrow. If that someone had then breathlessly explained that the book was in fact written by another book, Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica , I would have given that person the finger for wasting my time with such nonsense.
And yet, here it is: The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow. And it’s amazing.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be able to stomach a book that tries to shove everything mentioned above into one book, let alone one character. It smacks of a high schooler trying to combine as many awesome 17th—18th century events into a single story, fashioning a Mary Sue to triumph over each trial, and then uploading it to fanfiction.net. It would be too, if the Principia Mathematica hadn’t been telling the story.
James Morrow gives the Principia perhaps the most understandable voice of the whole novel, both in word and in concept. While the characters speak in a quick, Enlightenment-era patter, the Principia has had the benefit of surviving to the modern day, picking up the up to date slang and a wry sense of humor. While the non-physicist reader stares dumbly as Jennet, our heroine, and Ben Franklin debate Newtonian theories, the very being that embodies these theories molds them into beautiful, non-obtrusive metaphors. It’s the Principia ’s very human voice that turns these philosophically-minded characters into relatable beings.
The Last Witchfinder is a book that can span disparate genres of bookworms. Scientifically-minded readers can revel in Reason overcoming superstition and actual Newtonian philosophy; English majors can marvel in the prose that is gorgeous enough to make some of the textbook sections a little less mysterious. It’s a book that I will read over and over—pausing only to pass it along to my engineer mother, who will undoubtedly love it as much as I do.
And yet, here it is: The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow. And it’s amazing.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be able to stomach a book that tries to shove everything mentioned above into one book, let alone one character. It smacks of a high schooler trying to combine as many awesome 17th—18th century events into a single story, fashioning a Mary Sue to triumph over each trial, and then uploading it to fanfiction.net. It would be too, if the Principia Mathematica hadn’t been telling the story.
James Morrow gives the Principia perhaps the most understandable voice of the whole novel, both in word and in concept. While the characters speak in a quick, Enlightenment-era patter, the Principia has had the benefit of surviving to the modern day, picking up the up to date slang and a wry sense of humor. While the non-physicist reader stares dumbly as Jennet, our heroine, and Ben Franklin debate Newtonian theories, the very being that embodies these theories molds them into beautiful, non-obtrusive metaphors. It’s the Principia ’s very human voice that turns these philosophically-minded characters into relatable beings.
The Last Witchfinder is a book that can span disparate genres of bookworms. Scientifically-minded readers can revel in Reason overcoming superstition and actual Newtonian philosophy; English majors can marvel in the prose that is gorgeous enough to make some of the textbook sections a little less mysterious. It’s a book that I will read over and over—pausing only to pass it along to my engineer mother, who will undoubtedly love it as much as I do.
April 22, 2021
The story of Jennet Stearne – whose father is the self-styled Witchfinder of Mercia and East Anglia and desperate to secure a title (either from James or William) of Witchfinder Royal.
Her brother Dunstan accompanies her Dad on his witch hunts (which commonly involve: denunciations from neighbours of misfortunes which struck them after upsetting the accused witch, finding boils and hidden nipples; trapping a familiar; immersing the witch in water and proving that the water forces her back out).
Jennet is left with her Aunt Isobel (sister to Jennet’s Mum who died giving birth to Dunstan) who teaches her and another pupil in science and natural philosophy. Initially Isobel seeks to use science to complement witch-finding but after failing to find any microscopic signs on dissected familiars and after a correspondence with Newton revealing his scorn of demonic ideas she becomes a sceptic. At that time the vicar father of her second pupil, shocked at her animal dissections and her philosophical discussions denounces her as a witch. Jennet’s father sees the trial of his own relative as proof of his unshakable hatred of witchcraft and pursues the prosecution vigorously and then lobbies to have her burnt rather than hung. Jennet in desperation travels to Cambridge with the eccentric Barnaby Cavendish and his museum of malformed foetuses to persuade Newton to testify. She is fooled by Hooke into believing he is Newton and Hooke uses his testimony to ruin Newton’s reputation (and any chance of an acquittal). Isobel while dying urges Jennet to find a scientific proof against witchcraft’s existence.
Jennet’s father is effectively tricked into exile in the US by government officials aghast at the execution of a landed lady. While there he joins in with the Salem witch trials although even he is shocked at the weight given to the testimony of the girls (particularly Abigail Williams who Dunstan falls in love with). On returning to their town, Jennet is abducted by Indians in a raid which kills her father. Initially settling into the life of an Indian bride she decided she needs to return when seeing the now married Dunstan and Abigail killing a witch. She gets her opportunity when a well meaning postmaster rescues her. They marry and have a child but drift apart as Jennet gets obsessed with her proof, and eventually her husband takes their child away and divorces her when the child nearly drowns while Jennet reads.
She then meets the much younger printer and investigator of electricity Benjamin Franklin and they become lovers and co-partners in the quest for a proof. Travelling to London (having realised the Hooke trick) they meet Newton but find him obsessed with coiners and with his Arian and biblical mystical beliefs. Returning Jennet finally produces and Ben prints her scientific dissection of witchcraft. In order to publicise it Jennet allows herself to be accused of witchcraft hoping that at the trial (with Dunstan prosecuting) she can win the case by her logic. With the help of Ben’s aggressive reporting in his newspaper she almost succeeds until Abigail’s theatrics in the court room lose her case. On the way to the gallows she is rescued and goes into exile with the Indians, but the evidence in her trial draws attention to her book and leads first of all to the suspension of witch hunting in the US and then the overturning of the Witchcraft Act (in what is actually an emotional and happy ending).
Set in exactly the same period as Quicksilver trilogy, with Newton a key character and with a similar worldview of the clash between superstition and rationality (Quicksilver begins with a witch hanging).
The book is narrated by Principia Mathematica itself and the story is interwoven with its thoughts (which often give a good perspective on the issues as well as some historical colour) and updates on its battles with a famous witchcraft treatise (this part which could work well never really takes off – and often ends up as a simply a list of bizarre interactions between famous books).
Overall though an enjoyable and thought provoking read.
Her brother Dunstan accompanies her Dad on his witch hunts (which commonly involve: denunciations from neighbours of misfortunes which struck them after upsetting the accused witch, finding boils and hidden nipples; trapping a familiar; immersing the witch in water and proving that the water forces her back out).
Jennet is left with her Aunt Isobel (sister to Jennet’s Mum who died giving birth to Dunstan) who teaches her and another pupil in science and natural philosophy. Initially Isobel seeks to use science to complement witch-finding but after failing to find any microscopic signs on dissected familiars and after a correspondence with Newton revealing his scorn of demonic ideas she becomes a sceptic. At that time the vicar father of her second pupil, shocked at her animal dissections and her philosophical discussions denounces her as a witch. Jennet’s father sees the trial of his own relative as proof of his unshakable hatred of witchcraft and pursues the prosecution vigorously and then lobbies to have her burnt rather than hung. Jennet in desperation travels to Cambridge with the eccentric Barnaby Cavendish and his museum of malformed foetuses to persuade Newton to testify. She is fooled by Hooke into believing he is Newton and Hooke uses his testimony to ruin Newton’s reputation (and any chance of an acquittal). Isobel while dying urges Jennet to find a scientific proof against witchcraft’s existence.
Jennet’s father is effectively tricked into exile in the US by government officials aghast at the execution of a landed lady. While there he joins in with the Salem witch trials although even he is shocked at the weight given to the testimony of the girls (particularly Abigail Williams who Dunstan falls in love with). On returning to their town, Jennet is abducted by Indians in a raid which kills her father. Initially settling into the life of an Indian bride she decided she needs to return when seeing the now married Dunstan and Abigail killing a witch. She gets her opportunity when a well meaning postmaster rescues her. They marry and have a child but drift apart as Jennet gets obsessed with her proof, and eventually her husband takes their child away and divorces her when the child nearly drowns while Jennet reads.
She then meets the much younger printer and investigator of electricity Benjamin Franklin and they become lovers and co-partners in the quest for a proof. Travelling to London (having realised the Hooke trick) they meet Newton but find him obsessed with coiners and with his Arian and biblical mystical beliefs. Returning Jennet finally produces and Ben prints her scientific dissection of witchcraft. In order to publicise it Jennet allows herself to be accused of witchcraft hoping that at the trial (with Dunstan prosecuting) she can win the case by her logic. With the help of Ben’s aggressive reporting in his newspaper she almost succeeds until Abigail’s theatrics in the court room lose her case. On the way to the gallows she is rescued and goes into exile with the Indians, but the evidence in her trial draws attention to her book and leads first of all to the suspension of witch hunting in the US and then the overturning of the Witchcraft Act (in what is actually an emotional and happy ending).
Set in exactly the same period as Quicksilver trilogy, with Newton a key character and with a similar worldview of the clash between superstition and rationality (Quicksilver begins with a witch hanging).
The book is narrated by Principia Mathematica itself and the story is interwoven with its thoughts (which often give a good perspective on the issues as well as some historical colour) and updates on its battles with a famous witchcraft treatise (this part which could work well never really takes off – and often ends up as a simply a list of bizarre interactions between famous books).
Overall though an enjoyable and thought provoking read.
March 26, 2011
It has been on very few occasions that I have read a novel that has the moral strength, the mental challenge and the entertainment value that this book held for me. I am in awe. While the story captivated me at every turn, Morrow kept me delighted with the witty observations put forth by the book's true author, the Principia Mathematica. While I was absorbed in the historical grounding of the setting, I was empathizing with and admiring Jennet.
I cannot think of a single thing that this book lacked, and have found myself completely satisfied on all fronts. There were historical characters, but the book never became stuffy, or so tied to it's historical leanings as to become dull. It remained whimsical and action packed throughout, only slightly stretched the bonds of disbelief for me.
There was an important moral and philosophical statement made, but I never felt as though I was being preached at. There's real human emotion at work in this novel, dealing with levels of complexity that many other novels aspire too, yet it never takes itself too seriously.
This is a must read, for pretty much everyone I can think of
I cannot think of a single thing that this book lacked, and have found myself completely satisfied on all fronts. There were historical characters, but the book never became stuffy, or so tied to it's historical leanings as to become dull. It remained whimsical and action packed throughout, only slightly stretched the bonds of disbelief for me.
There was an important moral and philosophical statement made, but I never felt as though I was being preached at. There's real human emotion at work in this novel, dealing with levels of complexity that many other novels aspire too, yet it never takes itself too seriously.
This is a must read, for pretty much everyone I can think of
September 22, 2008
i usually make it a habit to finish a book even if i don't like it...
i started reading this book last night and i'm already having trouble with it...not because i don't like it, it's actually really good and i'm really enjoying the premise...the story is being told from the point of view of isaac newton's 'principia mathematica'...a book writing a book...morrow goes on very intriguingly about how, in essence, all books are written by other books, so this is really not all that remarkable an achievement...
my problem is with the subject matter, namely that of "witchfinding"...
sometimes the weight of human atrocity becomes too much for me to bear...
even in a setting of fiction you can't stop thinking about the unfathomable suffering and pain that real people (mostly poor helpless women) had to endure...
burning people alive?...what the hell is that?...is there seriously any more horrific a circumstance that can happen to a person?...
it's appalling and sickening on a level that can't really be completely expressed in words...
i think this era of human history should probably be dealt with in very careful terms...i would be happy if we would simply work hard to both remember the names of the victims and to universally and publicly revile the names of the perpetrators, and then to just leave the issue there...
some horrors of history don't necessarily require endless scrutiny...they just need remembering...in the Morrisonian sense of the word...we need to remember the nature of these crimes, to keep them connected to our consciousness, in order to recognize the signs of similar misdeeds as they might occur in modern times...
but i'm not sure that reading about the details is beneficial to anyone...
if it is of benefit, maybe it'll have to be left to hardier souls than mine...
i started reading this book last night and i'm already having trouble with it...not because i don't like it, it's actually really good and i'm really enjoying the premise...the story is being told from the point of view of isaac newton's 'principia mathematica'...a book writing a book...morrow goes on very intriguingly about how, in essence, all books are written by other books, so this is really not all that remarkable an achievement...
my problem is with the subject matter, namely that of "witchfinding"...
sometimes the weight of human atrocity becomes too much for me to bear...
even in a setting of fiction you can't stop thinking about the unfathomable suffering and pain that real people (mostly poor helpless women) had to endure...
burning people alive?...what the hell is that?...is there seriously any more horrific a circumstance that can happen to a person?...
it's appalling and sickening on a level that can't really be completely expressed in words...
i think this era of human history should probably be dealt with in very careful terms...i would be happy if we would simply work hard to both remember the names of the victims and to universally and publicly revile the names of the perpetrators, and then to just leave the issue there...
some horrors of history don't necessarily require endless scrutiny...they just need remembering...in the Morrisonian sense of the word...we need to remember the nature of these crimes, to keep them connected to our consciousness, in order to recognize the signs of similar misdeeds as they might occur in modern times...
but i'm not sure that reading about the details is beneficial to anyone...
if it is of benefit, maybe it'll have to be left to hardier souls than mine...
December 1, 2013
James Morrow's novel about early American witchcraft pulls off so many dazzling feats of literary magic that in a different century he'd have been burned at the stake. Forget "The Crucible," Arthur Miller's dreary classic. Forget the repugnant kitsch of modern-day Salem. The Last Witchfinder flies us back to that thrilling period when scientific rationalism was dropped into the great cauldron of intellectual history, boiling with prejudice, tradition, piety and fear. The result is a fantastical story mixed so cunningly with real-life details that your vision of America's past may never awaken from Morrow's spell.
His heroine is Jennet Stearne, born in England in 1677. Her widower father is a "bald-headed, sweat-spangled practitioner of a vanishing trade." He's a witchfinder; he tests people accused of demonology. As a young girl, Jennet looks forward to the day when she might accompany him on this sacred work: pricking moles and warts, dropping bound prisoners into water, listening to frightened old women recite the Lord's Prayer. The Bible provides the authority -- "Thou must not suffer a witch to live" -- but winning a conviction is all a matter of careful, expert examination.
To assist him, Jennet's beloved aunt searches for more reliable physical symptoms of necromancy. A wealthy woman with a keen interest in the latest discoveries, including a radical outlook called "the scientific method," she leads Jennet through a study of physics and biology, peering through her new microscope at the innards of captured familiars. But "they hide their diabolism well," she notes with rising frustration, unable to find any convincing proof of Satanism among all the dissected cats and toads brought to her from witches' dens. Unfortunately, before she can articulate her budding skepticism of the whole enterprise, she's accused of witchcraft, convicted by Jennet's father and burned alive in one of the novel's many blistering scenes. Jennet witnesses the entire ordeal and hears her aunt's defiant cries on the pyre. In that moment, she takes the title "Lady Jennet, Hammer of Witchfinders," denounces her father and dedicates her life to proving that no such thing as witchcraft exists.
What follows over the next 400 pages is the story of her endlessly exciting quest. When Jennet's father is sent to Massachusetts, the assignment feels more like exile, but those dark woods are full of savages, and at "one guinea per detected Satanist," he hopes to make a fortune. Indeed, he arrives in the early 1690s and is quickly engaged to assist the Rev. Parris with an infestation of malevolence in Salem, one of the many real events that Morrow cleverly laces through his story. Jennet's father finds most of the proceedings hysterical and unorthodox (though not for the reasons we do), but her brother falls in love with Abigail Williams, the instigator of that famous paranoid tragedy, and together they take over his father's work throughout New England.
Jennet, meanwhile, continues collecting evidence, studying the latest scientific treatises and trying to compose an argumentum grande so lucid, so convincing, so illuminating that it can finally demolish the witchcraft laws that sent more than half a million people to their deaths in Europe. It's no easy task for a poor young woman alone in the world to take on the age's deepest fears, but she's an extraordinary blend of curiosity and passion. Morrow drives her through a gauntlet of adventures, from Indian attack to shipwreck, from desert island to jail, a grand picaresque tour of England and the American colonies.
Along the way, she interacts with some of the 17th century's most illustrious characters. Her long-delayed meeting with Sir Isaac Newton reveals the English scientist as a basket case of preoccupations and jealousies. Baron de Montesquieu is dazzled by her beauty and intelligence, even as he works out ideas that will later form the basis of our Constitution. But the most marvelous encounter is her relationship with a horny young printer named Ben Franklin. By this time, Jennet is old enough to be his mother, but Franklin, you'll remember, had a thing for older women: "They have more Knowledge of the World and . . . they are so grateful!!" Morrow brings Franklin alive here in all his delightful wit and enthusiasm. Together Jennet and Ben plumb the mysteries of electricity (both in the lab and, hilariously, in the bedroom) and dedicate their lives to explaining the apparently occult actions of nature: Why do the geese get sick? Why does the milk curdle? Why are men sometimes impotent? Morrow shows that their challenge is not just to present new evidence, but to change what their frightened peers consider evidence, to fundamentally shift the basis of thought. Their efforts eventually provoke a spectacular confrontation with the old world view, a conflict that threatens not only Jennet's lifework but also her life.
The most startling element of the novel, though, is its narrator -- so strange that I almost hesitate to mention it for fear you'll think I'm bewitched. Newton's Principia Mathematica tells this story of Jennet's life. It turns out that that seminal work of "natural philosophy," which formed the basis of classical mechanics, has a cheeky personality and an immortal consciousness wholly distinct from Newton. It's a weird act of personification that seems at first an intolerably cute bit of post-structural gamesmanship: "May I speak candidly," the narrator begins, "one rational creature to another, myself a book and you a reader?" But Morrow carries this off with such humor and heart that it quickly sounds like the most natural thing in the world to imagine books writing other books and watching history move through ghastly fits and starts. Most important, Morrow uses this strange narrator to frame Jennet's struggle in terms of the long battle between rationalism and superstition that's still being played out today.
The result is so enchanting that when I finished the novel, I sat for a moment wondering when I could visit Jennet's grave in Philadelphia. She's such an extraordinary character captured in the crucible of human progress that I can't imagine how we got here without her. Watch out for James Morrow: He's magic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
His heroine is Jennet Stearne, born in England in 1677. Her widower father is a "bald-headed, sweat-spangled practitioner of a vanishing trade." He's a witchfinder; he tests people accused of demonology. As a young girl, Jennet looks forward to the day when she might accompany him on this sacred work: pricking moles and warts, dropping bound prisoners into water, listening to frightened old women recite the Lord's Prayer. The Bible provides the authority -- "Thou must not suffer a witch to live" -- but winning a conviction is all a matter of careful, expert examination.
To assist him, Jennet's beloved aunt searches for more reliable physical symptoms of necromancy. A wealthy woman with a keen interest in the latest discoveries, including a radical outlook called "the scientific method," she leads Jennet through a study of physics and biology, peering through her new microscope at the innards of captured familiars. But "they hide their diabolism well," she notes with rising frustration, unable to find any convincing proof of Satanism among all the dissected cats and toads brought to her from witches' dens. Unfortunately, before she can articulate her budding skepticism of the whole enterprise, she's accused of witchcraft, convicted by Jennet's father and burned alive in one of the novel's many blistering scenes. Jennet witnesses the entire ordeal and hears her aunt's defiant cries on the pyre. In that moment, she takes the title "Lady Jennet, Hammer of Witchfinders," denounces her father and dedicates her life to proving that no such thing as witchcraft exists.
What follows over the next 400 pages is the story of her endlessly exciting quest. When Jennet's father is sent to Massachusetts, the assignment feels more like exile, but those dark woods are full of savages, and at "one guinea per detected Satanist," he hopes to make a fortune. Indeed, he arrives in the early 1690s and is quickly engaged to assist the Rev. Parris with an infestation of malevolence in Salem, one of the many real events that Morrow cleverly laces through his story. Jennet's father finds most of the proceedings hysterical and unorthodox (though not for the reasons we do), but her brother falls in love with Abigail Williams, the instigator of that famous paranoid tragedy, and together they take over his father's work throughout New England.
Jennet, meanwhile, continues collecting evidence, studying the latest scientific treatises and trying to compose an argumentum grande so lucid, so convincing, so illuminating that it can finally demolish the witchcraft laws that sent more than half a million people to their deaths in Europe. It's no easy task for a poor young woman alone in the world to take on the age's deepest fears, but she's an extraordinary blend of curiosity and passion. Morrow drives her through a gauntlet of adventures, from Indian attack to shipwreck, from desert island to jail, a grand picaresque tour of England and the American colonies.
Along the way, she interacts with some of the 17th century's most illustrious characters. Her long-delayed meeting with Sir Isaac Newton reveals the English scientist as a basket case of preoccupations and jealousies. Baron de Montesquieu is dazzled by her beauty and intelligence, even as he works out ideas that will later form the basis of our Constitution. But the most marvelous encounter is her relationship with a horny young printer named Ben Franklin. By this time, Jennet is old enough to be his mother, but Franklin, you'll remember, had a thing for older women: "They have more Knowledge of the World and . . . they are so grateful!!" Morrow brings Franklin alive here in all his delightful wit and enthusiasm. Together Jennet and Ben plumb the mysteries of electricity (both in the lab and, hilariously, in the bedroom) and dedicate their lives to explaining the apparently occult actions of nature: Why do the geese get sick? Why does the milk curdle? Why are men sometimes impotent? Morrow shows that their challenge is not just to present new evidence, but to change what their frightened peers consider evidence, to fundamentally shift the basis of thought. Their efforts eventually provoke a spectacular confrontation with the old world view, a conflict that threatens not only Jennet's lifework but also her life.
The most startling element of the novel, though, is its narrator -- so strange that I almost hesitate to mention it for fear you'll think I'm bewitched. Newton's Principia Mathematica tells this story of Jennet's life. It turns out that that seminal work of "natural philosophy," which formed the basis of classical mechanics, has a cheeky personality and an immortal consciousness wholly distinct from Newton. It's a weird act of personification that seems at first an intolerably cute bit of post-structural gamesmanship: "May I speak candidly," the narrator begins, "one rational creature to another, myself a book and you a reader?" But Morrow carries this off with such humor and heart that it quickly sounds like the most natural thing in the world to imagine books writing other books and watching history move through ghastly fits and starts. Most important, Morrow uses this strange narrator to frame Jennet's struggle in terms of the long battle between rationalism and superstition that's still being played out today.
The result is so enchanting that when I finished the novel, I sat for a moment wondering when I could visit Jennet's grave in Philadelphia. She's such an extraordinary character captured in the crucible of human progress that I can't imagine how we got here without her. Watch out for James Morrow: He's magic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
January 19, 2021
Jennet Stearne is the daughter of a rather unimaginative man who pricks and hangs suspected witches in Restoration England. Her aunt Isobel, by contract, tutors her about everything then known in natural sciences, from the cosmos to microscopic life. The mix of scientific inquiry and hard-nosed religious certainly cannot hold, and Isobel is burned as a witch. Thereafter, Jennet makes it her life's mission to stop the insanity of witchfinding, armed only with her first-rate mind and her righteous fury. A series of quixotic adventures ensues, as she meets a traveling quack who shows oddities, tries to recruit Isaac Newton to her side, travels to the North American colonies, meets and loves Ben Franklin, gets shipwrecked, is captured by a tribe of native Americans, and finally ends up right in the middle of the Salem Witch trials with Montesquieu as her lawyer. But her brother, a single-minded zealot who uses Biblical quotes to justify his and his wife's cruelty, is as determined to bring her down as she is to dismantle the notion of witchcraft itself.
I enjoyed this epic whirlwind tour through 17th-century philosophy, mores, and natural science. For the erudite, deeply researched, darkly funny prose (the scene in which young Jennet recruits a man calling himself Isaac Newton to speak at Isobel's trial is a highlight), and for the clever blending of fiction with historical fact, I would give this book five stars. However, the book is not without its flaws. The conceit of having Isaac Newton's book Principia Mathematica "narrate" the book, for example, while a clever trick, ends up as a rather silly side plot about book wars and doesn't, as I had hoped, serve any purpose to the main plot. And, while the prose is indeed to be savored, the book's somewhat overlong at 520 pages. Overall, I'd highly recommend it as an entrancing and intricately detailed work of historical fiction with a formidable female protagonist.
I enjoyed this epic whirlwind tour through 17th-century philosophy, mores, and natural science. For the erudite, deeply researched, darkly funny prose (the scene in which young Jennet recruits a man calling himself Isaac Newton to speak at Isobel's trial is a highlight), and for the clever blending of fiction with historical fact, I would give this book five stars. However, the book is not without its flaws. The conceit of having Isaac Newton's book Principia Mathematica "narrate" the book, for example, while a clever trick, ends up as a rather silly side plot about book wars and doesn't, as I had hoped, serve any purpose to the main plot. And, while the prose is indeed to be savored, the book's somewhat overlong at 520 pages. Overall, I'd highly recommend it as an entrancing and intricately detailed work of historical fiction with a formidable female protagonist.
December 26, 2019
I was not expecting this book to be so metatextual; I thought I was getting a straight historical novel but instead got a picaresque about the ongoing battle between rational and magical thinking, narrated by Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica itself.
I enjoyed the way the protagonist, Jennet, seemed always to be in the right place at the right time to witness key events and meet key people in history. There was a rollicking, fabulist quality to the narrative but when I looked up the timelines and characters, I admired the author’s craftiness for so neatly weaving fact and fiction.
I read that some people struggled with the characters’ reconstructed 17th-century speech, but I really enjoyed it. I really like the combination of modern orthography with archaic vocabulary and grammar.
The earnest zest with which early natural philosophers pursue their work here seems missing now from accounts of science, which has become thoroughly taken for granted to the extent that we have the luxury of forgetting these hard-won discoveries and retreating again into the religious dogma and fear of the Other that drove the witch hunts of the 14th to 18th centuries. There was such an exuberant celebration of life and learning in this book.
I enjoyed the way the protagonist, Jennet, seemed always to be in the right place at the right time to witness key events and meet key people in history. There was a rollicking, fabulist quality to the narrative but when I looked up the timelines and characters, I admired the author’s craftiness for so neatly weaving fact and fiction.
I read that some people struggled with the characters’ reconstructed 17th-century speech, but I really enjoyed it. I really like the combination of modern orthography with archaic vocabulary and grammar.
The earnest zest with which early natural philosophers pursue their work here seems missing now from accounts of science, which has become thoroughly taken for granted to the extent that we have the luxury of forgetting these hard-won discoveries and retreating again into the religious dogma and fear of the Other that drove the witch hunts of the 14th to 18th centuries. There was such an exuberant celebration of life and learning in this book.
January 13, 2012
-----------
Recommended by AuntiePam - also fan of author
Jennet Stearne, the main character of the novel, is a stubborn, inquisitive natural philosopher - not the most appropriate profession for a woman in the early 1700's. A loss early in her life makes her determined to disprove witchcraft with science in order to save lives.
Her adventures take her from England to America, from Native American bride to mistress of a future Founding Father, while matching wits with the likes of Sir Isaac Newton and John Hathorne (magistrate at the Salem Witch Trials), as well as pirates and a freed slave king.
Oh yes - and Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica occasionally puts in its 2 cents worth as a narrator.
It's not an easy read (Morrow never is), but if you're a fan of historical fiction & challenging the status quo, I'd highly recommend it.
Recommended co-reading (covering similar topics/timeline)
Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation Vol. 1: The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
Notes and Quotes
Book as narrator = sentience. Also books begetting/writing other books/literary endeavors: "Mein Kampf can claim credit for most of the Hallmark cards printed between 1958 and 1967... after Waiting for Godot acquired a taste for writing Windows software documentation, there was no stopping it." Books also go to war - Newton's Principia Mathematica (the narrator) vs Malleus Malificarium.
"She [Jennet] pictured God as a pregnant woman, wincing and gasping as lovely Eden spilled from her womb... Whereupon the great messy placenta came forth, Eden's afterbirth, inferior to Paradise in every way save habitability, and God called it America."
[From a discussion on modern-day Salem MA's attitude towards its past --> tourism:] Suggestion of other activities:
* Cat Pressing on the Green
* All Night Noose Dance
* Dorcas Good Memorial Leg Iron Run
Also presented potential for "Holocaust Happenings at Nuremberg".
"I needn't remind you that readers have always been a minority in your species... I salute you all, as do my fellow books."
"I see the best counter to a malicious idea is a bon mot, not a bonfire."
-------------------
Thoughts after my re-read Jan 2012
I find myself drawn to historical fiction where the main character interacts with actual people from history (see Carter Beats the Devil and On Stranger Tides) so I enjoyed revisiting this novel.
Jennet Stearne is a strong protagonist whose adventures are an entertaining read; tho I don't know if I'd really care to spend any time with her. Morrow's version of Benjamin Franklin, on the other hand... :^) And I'd forgotten how cleverly Morrow presented the transitions between the story and the Principia Mathematica's commentaries!
The Last Witchfinder is probably the most accessible and least philosophical of Morrow's works that I've read (I would say "least preachy", but considering his anti-religious views, it seems inappropriate) and I'd recommend it as a good starting point for exploring his work. Now I want to go re-read Quicksilver!
July 23, 2008
As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:
*The Last Witchfinder* is one of the best historical fiction novels that I've read in recent years.
Jennet Stearne is furious because her father, the Witchfinder General Walter Sterne, had no choice to investigate the accusations that her aunt, Isobel Mowbray, educated and wise, is a witch. With plenty of witnesses, the Witchfinder has no choice but to burn her at the stake. This act has disgraced the Witchfinder and the Sterne family has no choice but to move from England to Massachusetts. The father is able to convince the government that a witchfinder is needed and is employed.
Not long after settling in Massachusetts, Jennet is abducted by the natives, which she marries and bears a child. Years later, she is rescued by the Americans, which she then marries a postmaster.
Somewhere along the lines, she learns that her brother has since become the next witchfinder. In addition, she's accused by her brother and his wife in dabbling with witchcraft. Jennet must now convince the court that she is innocent or she'll suffer the fate as her aunt.
This novel is filled with interesting characters, whom Jennet meets throughout her life. She meets Sir Isaac Newton, whom she carried a life-long grudge. She also has romantic trysts with Benjamin Franklin. She remains friends with a man who collects jars of deformed children and embryoes, who appears in her life at the oddest times.
Witchfinding is a practice that Jennet abhors ever since her aunt was erroneously accused and burned at the stake. Educated and brilliant like her aunt, Jennet, throughout her life, sought to convince the English Parliament and the American Puritan government to put an end to the witch hunts.
Wonderful novel of historical fiction that captured my attention from the first page of the book until the last page.
*The Last Witchfinder* is one of the best historical fiction novels that I've read in recent years.
Jennet Stearne is furious because her father, the Witchfinder General Walter Sterne, had no choice to investigate the accusations that her aunt, Isobel Mowbray, educated and wise, is a witch. With plenty of witnesses, the Witchfinder has no choice but to burn her at the stake. This act has disgraced the Witchfinder and the Sterne family has no choice but to move from England to Massachusetts. The father is able to convince the government that a witchfinder is needed and is employed.
Not long after settling in Massachusetts, Jennet is abducted by the natives, which she marries and bears a child. Years later, she is rescued by the Americans, which she then marries a postmaster.
Somewhere along the lines, she learns that her brother has since become the next witchfinder. In addition, she's accused by her brother and his wife in dabbling with witchcraft. Jennet must now convince the court that she is innocent or she'll suffer the fate as her aunt.
This novel is filled with interesting characters, whom Jennet meets throughout her life. She meets Sir Isaac Newton, whom she carried a life-long grudge. She also has romantic trysts with Benjamin Franklin. She remains friends with a man who collects jars of deformed children and embryoes, who appears in her life at the oddest times.
Witchfinding is a practice that Jennet abhors ever since her aunt was erroneously accused and burned at the stake. Educated and brilliant like her aunt, Jennet, throughout her life, sought to convince the English Parliament and the American Puritan government to put an end to the witch hunts.
Wonderful novel of historical fiction that captured my attention from the first page of the book until the last page.
September 10, 2007
Telling the story of Jennet Stearne is a scientific treatise written in Latin, Sir Isaac Newton's "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica." As the story opens Jennet is studying science and philosophy with her beloved aunt. Her father is a noted witchfinder. Tragedy strikes when her aunt is accused of witchcraft and her father's zeal for his profession leads him to have her burned at the stake. Jennet spends the rest of her life trying to scientifically prove that demons do not exist in the rational world. Her destiny, it seems, is to end the witch trials forever. During her life she immigrates to America and interacts with a wide variety of famous personages including having a romance with no less than Ben Franklin although she always lets go of the people in her life in order to continue her quest.
The best thing about this book is that all of the events are conveyed with a slightly fantastical air to them that gives this book a slightly surreal edge.
This is one of those books that would (in the normal course of things) cause me to go out and find biographies on Newton and Franklin as well as some of the works cited during the course of the book to see where fact leaves off and supposition begins. With my current reading constraints I can't do that so I will have to rely on my memory and say that, without doing some fact checking this book seems to be quite historically accurate and even the fantastical elements have elements of truth. The author also is quite clever and plays with words in humorous and inventive ways. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for the more adventurous among you. (Being well-read doesn't hurt either.)
The best thing about this book is that all of the events are conveyed with a slightly fantastical air to them that gives this book a slightly surreal edge.
This is one of those books that would (in the normal course of things) cause me to go out and find biographies on Newton and Franklin as well as some of the works cited during the course of the book to see where fact leaves off and supposition begins. With my current reading constraints I can't do that so I will have to rely on my memory and say that, without doing some fact checking this book seems to be quite historically accurate and even the fantastical elements have elements of truth. The author also is quite clever and plays with words in humorous and inventive ways. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for the more adventurous among you. (Being well-read doesn't hurt either.)
November 5, 2007
I did not enjoy this book. The plot, especially the bits irrelevant to the main goal of disproving witchcraft and overthrowing the persecution of supposed witches, required not so much a suspension of disbelief as a complete trouncing of it. Yet as bad as the content was, the writing was even worse. The similes, metaphors, and descriptors used were absolutely ridiculous! I've never read anything else by James Morrow (and after this, I never will), so I don't know if he always writes in this self-satisfied, stuffed-shirt style or if he specifically chose it to represent the "scientific" content and that the narrator of this book was itself a book. This novel required quite a bit of will power for me to finish.
May 23, 2021
This novel I liked much better overall, though it did drag in places. Here, the narrator is a book itself and looks over the life of Jennet. Her father is a witch finder and ends up causing the death of her beloved aunt. She makes it her life quest to vanquish him and her brother because she knows--through science--that witchcraft is not real.
I like this book because it has some interesting techniques to move in and out of time periods and rants/diatribes to the events of the story itself. It also has interesting characters, including Benjamin Franklin. This author is most certainly creative and has a way with words. The ending was not as impressive as the beginning promised it to be, but it was still quite a good read. And an excellent look into the problem of witchcraft and society.
I like this book because it has some interesting techniques to move in and out of time periods and rants/diatribes to the events of the story itself. It also has interesting characters, including Benjamin Franklin. This author is most certainly creative and has a way with words. The ending was not as impressive as the beginning promised it to be, but it was still quite a good read. And an excellent look into the problem of witchcraft and society.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2023
It picks up in the second half. But I felt meh.
October 11, 2025
Picaresque novel about a one-woman crusade to end witch trials that seems to hit almost every famous Enlightenment figure of the era---qnd important historical event, group, etc, of the age. Narrated by the Principia Matematica by Isaac Newton (how???? very fun element, love the book within a book). Occasional fun structural element of a "magical" mathematical prose...hourglass? I guess is the term? two triangles inverted against each other that overlap in meaning on a word, very fun eye poetry. There were a lot of things that I liked about this---though the descriptions of witch-hunting are not for everyone---but I found the prose distancing in a way common to a lot of Enlightenment era or Enlightenment themed literature.
March 14, 2010
It has NEVER taken me 3 weeks to read 240 pages of a book.
This book was too wordy. (I had to sit with a dictionary for some of the words.) The initial premise was good, and I did wonder how it all was to turn out...
HOWEVER, by the 230th page (of 400 +) I found Jennet's, the main character, life so preposterous, I just couldn't read any more. Jennet was born the child of one of England's last "witchfinders." Mom died in the birth of her brother. She educated each summer with a science loving Auntie. She worshipped Auntie and her scientific experiments. Her last days in England brought her beloved own Aunt to the stake, by her dear ol' dad. Then they were shipped off to the Massachusetts colonies, where witchfinding was about to take hold (a-la-Salem-Witch-Trials). In the colonies they live a poor life until dad is 'discovered' for his talent. Shortly thereafter, Daddy-o is slain in a battle with the Nimacook Indians. Brother-dear is presumed dead in a ghastly house fire (set by the Indians, of course). Jennet is taken prisoner and lives peacefully as one of the Nimacooks for many years. After she is "rescued" by a distant admirer, she comes to live in Boston and marry her knight in shining mail armor. Her postal-hubby's career advances eventually land them both, and their child, in Philly. Then hubby leaves her and takes kiddo with. After years of solitude, she crosses life paths with a very young, handsome, Ben Franklin... all this time she was preparing her life's work - a thesis on how unscientific Witchfinding was and how spirits, enchantments, and other phenomenon could be explained through science, not spirituality.
This is where I stopped. I couldn't take it anymore. She was 42 and rolling in the hay with a founding father - - and I was only halfway through the book.
If anyone got to the end and can convince me it is worth picking this back up, I will. Otherwise, this one is as good as a dust collector to me.
This book was too wordy. (I had to sit with a dictionary for some of the words.) The initial premise was good, and I did wonder how it all was to turn out...
HOWEVER, by the 230th page (of 400 +) I found Jennet's, the main character, life so preposterous, I just couldn't read any more. Jennet was born the child of one of England's last "witchfinders." Mom died in the birth of her brother. She educated each summer with a science loving Auntie. She worshipped Auntie and her scientific experiments. Her last days in England brought her beloved own Aunt to the stake, by her dear ol' dad. Then they were shipped off to the Massachusetts colonies, where witchfinding was about to take hold (a-la-Salem-Witch-Trials). In the colonies they live a poor life until dad is 'discovered' for his talent. Shortly thereafter, Daddy-o is slain in a battle with the Nimacook Indians. Brother-dear is presumed dead in a ghastly house fire (set by the Indians, of course). Jennet is taken prisoner and lives peacefully as one of the Nimacooks for many years. After she is "rescued" by a distant admirer, she comes to live in Boston and marry her knight in shining mail armor. Her postal-hubby's career advances eventually land them both, and their child, in Philly. Then hubby leaves her and takes kiddo with. After years of solitude, she crosses life paths with a very young, handsome, Ben Franklin... all this time she was preparing her life's work - a thesis on how unscientific Witchfinding was and how spirits, enchantments, and other phenomenon could be explained through science, not spirituality.
This is where I stopped. I couldn't take it anymore. She was 42 and rolling in the hay with a founding father - - and I was only halfway through the book.
If anyone got to the end and can convince me it is worth picking this back up, I will. Otherwise, this one is as good as a dust collector to me.
June 26, 2011
I had to give this book only two stars (really, I'd say 2.5) because it took me for-ev-er to read. I kept putting it down in favor of other books. I didn't find the first half very engaging. It picked up after that.
The peculiar narrative device employed here is that the novel is narrated by a book - Newton's treatise the Principia Mathematica. The Principia, in turn, tells the story of Jennet Stearne, daughter of a late-seventeenth century witchfinder. Jennet's father condemns Jennet's beloved aunt as a witch, burning her at the stake, and Jennet then devotes her life to ending witch-hunting by developing a proof that demons don't exist.
I see other reviews (on Goodreads and Amazon) praising the book for its satire and wit. While I saw some satire, mostly it fell flat. I also found the writing style (like a 17th/18th century book) distracting here. Mostly, I was bothered by the seriatim over-the-top plot devices - one after another. Other reviewers seem to like this, I didn't.
Warning: spoilers in remainder of review.
Jennet attempts to seek out Newton himself to testify at her aunt's trial. Jennet winds up in Salem for the famous witch trials, then is kidnapped by Indians and lives for years among them. Returning to Western civilization, she carries on a decades-long affair with a young Ben Franklin. There's also a shipwreck and years on a desert isle, where she and Ben meet a hidden colony of former slaves who, basically, invent the concept of a bicameral government. All this precedes the main event of the book - Jennet is accused of witchcraft and stands trial. This really was the only time the book picked up for me. But then, when it should have ended, instead it dragged on.
The peculiar narrative device employed here is that the novel is narrated by a book - Newton's treatise the Principia Mathematica. The Principia, in turn, tells the story of Jennet Stearne, daughter of a late-seventeenth century witchfinder. Jennet's father condemns Jennet's beloved aunt as a witch, burning her at the stake, and Jennet then devotes her life to ending witch-hunting by developing a proof that demons don't exist.
I see other reviews (on Goodreads and Amazon) praising the book for its satire and wit. While I saw some satire, mostly it fell flat. I also found the writing style (like a 17th/18th century book) distracting here. Mostly, I was bothered by the seriatim over-the-top plot devices - one after another. Other reviewers seem to like this, I didn't.
Warning: spoilers in remainder of review.
Jennet attempts to seek out Newton himself to testify at her aunt's trial. Jennet winds up in Salem for the famous witch trials, then is kidnapped by Indians and lives for years among them. Returning to Western civilization, she carries on a decades-long affair with a young Ben Franklin. There's also a shipwreck and years on a desert isle, where she and Ben meet a hidden colony of former slaves who, basically, invent the concept of a bicameral government. All this precedes the main event of the book - Jennet is accused of witchcraft and stands trial. This really was the only time the book picked up for me. But then, when it should have ended, instead it dragged on.
April 14, 2009
Seems I have been on a religious ficitonal bend, by chance. This is a scary novel because events that take place in this 'fictional' book aren't far from actual history. Thinking about the time when many inocents were burned as heretics often doesn't reach us to the core, because we have not witnessed such horror (sure we have our modern day forms of witchfinding I suppose) but to envision through text the horrid fact that someone could have their own family member, etc burned at the stake and with pure intentions, believing their GOD willed it so is very disturbing? Again, religion sure is scary in the wrong hands as is any form of power.
We begin the novel with a young Jenette Stearne studying natural history with her beloved Aunt Isobel, while her father witchfinder Walter Stearne, along with his son Dunstan travel the country on their quest to test out suspected satanists (and we can recall from history how ridiculously impossible such tests were to 'pass' so to speak). What befalls her aunt at her father's hand causes her outrage and having promised her aunt to see that the witchcraft act is destroyed Jenette's life opens up to adventure. We see her living life after being abducted by the Nimacooks and deciding to live the relative peace there to return again to the mission of bringing down the witchfinders. In her quest she is aided by great men such as Ben Franklin and Sir Isaac Newton.
I would have given this book four stars if not for the sections where I felt it dragged. Wonderfully written and a 'GOOD' read.
We begin the novel with a young Jenette Stearne studying natural history with her beloved Aunt Isobel, while her father witchfinder Walter Stearne, along with his son Dunstan travel the country on their quest to test out suspected satanists (and we can recall from history how ridiculously impossible such tests were to 'pass' so to speak). What befalls her aunt at her father's hand causes her outrage and having promised her aunt to see that the witchcraft act is destroyed Jenette's life opens up to adventure. We see her living life after being abducted by the Nimacooks and deciding to live the relative peace there to return again to the mission of bringing down the witchfinders. In her quest she is aided by great men such as Ben Franklin and Sir Isaac Newton.
I would have given this book four stars if not for the sections where I felt it dragged. Wonderfully written and a 'GOOD' read.
August 2, 2007
I enjoyed this book tremendously. So often when famous people from history are written into a fictional situation, blatant conflicts with historical fact and actions inconsistent with what is known about the person ruin my enjoyment of the story.
Morrow's skillful blend of historical fact with his fiction allows me to enjoy the characters and the flow of the story without feeling the need to grab my red pen and history books. (Though I did have a few occasions for a good wince.)
I also enjoyed the second plot involving the secret lives of books and a war between Newton's Principa and the Malleus Maleficarum. I can't look at my shelves without imagining a tangled web of alliances and rivalries! :)
Morrow's skillful blend of historical fact with his fiction allows me to enjoy the characters and the flow of the story without feeling the need to grab my red pen and history books. (Though I did have a few occasions for a good wince.)
I also enjoyed the second plot involving the secret lives of books and a war between Newton's Principa and the Malleus Maleficarum. I can't look at my shelves without imagining a tangled web of alliances and rivalries! :)
August 2, 2007
A book narrated by a book. Seriously. The conceit gets tiresome now and then, but for the most part, Last Witchfinder is a great read.
Period pieces have to be richly drawn for me to care, and this one sucked me right in, ranging from introspective to the edge of silly. To note: pirates, witches, freak shows, Robert Hooke, democracy, theology, kidnapping, shipwrecks, Isaac Newton, slavery, electricity, reason vs. fanaticism, a sex guide and more than I could list here.
It's worth it to know as little about the plot as possible going in. I'll just say that I may have a crush on Ben Franklin now ...
Period pieces have to be richly drawn for me to care, and this one sucked me right in, ranging from introspective to the edge of silly. To note: pirates, witches, freak shows, Robert Hooke, democracy, theology, kidnapping, shipwrecks, Isaac Newton, slavery, electricity, reason vs. fanaticism, a sex guide and more than I could list here.
It's worth it to know as little about the plot as possible going in. I'll just say that I may have a crush on Ben Franklin now ...
February 26, 2009
This is from a review:
From a writer who has been lauded as "an original -- stylistically ingenious, savagely funny, always unpre-dictable" (Philadelphia Inquirer) and "unerring" (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has been compared to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and John Updike,
Well let me tell you - ugh. I am not sure what the quality of this writer's other books are. I am also not sure how I slugged through this book. He took an interesting concept and stretched it to its limit with unbelievable and contrived connections between individuals and concepts in history that are unpalatable, poorly written and just terrible.
More time in my life that I will never get back.
From a writer who has been lauded as "an original -- stylistically ingenious, savagely funny, always unpre-dictable" (Philadelphia Inquirer) and "unerring" (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has been compared to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and John Updike,
Well let me tell you - ugh. I am not sure what the quality of this writer's other books are. I am also not sure how I slugged through this book. He took an interesting concept and stretched it to its limit with unbelievable and contrived connections between individuals and concepts in history that are unpalatable, poorly written and just terrible.
More time in my life that I will never get back.
January 10, 2008
Really enjoyed this book, not least of all because despite its 500 pages, I had the leisure read it in a relatively short time. Historical novel with a great narrator - up there with Bartimaeus and Humbert, and I kept hearing Stephen Fry in the book-on-tape in my mind - and even when you feel the author might have stacked the deck a little, he's still talking about witch-hunters, universally recognized as difficult to defend. I mean, anybody out there feel like they'd love to have hung out with Abigail Williams?
December 9, 2011
The clash between reason and superstition has never been written in such original manner. Intelligent and witty and many times hilarious, it is mix of true historical facts mixed with fiction. Set in Enland and America, with a range of characters as Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin and Abigail Williams from the Salem Witch Trials and narrated by a book, it is a thought-provoking book despite its tongue-in-cheek air. The battle between " Principia" and " Malleus..." are quite funny! Recommended.
April 15, 2009
I have enjoyed everything Morrow has written. But I was not able to finish this one. His writing style changed so drastically. His handling of his moral seems shallow. Ok, whitch hunters made stuff up to prove someone was a witch in order to make money. It was handled in such a predictable way.
December 15, 2008
Long and ridiculous - and by that I don't mean funny, although that's about the only thing this book didn't attempt. I don't recommend this unless you're really into absured linkages of top-ten mentions from the 1700s. The Forrest Gump of witchiness.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 265 reviews