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Czarownice z Walwyk
Czarownice z Walwyk Petera Curtisa (w rzeczywistości Norah Lofts, wybitnej, nieżyjącej już brytyjskiej powieściopisarki historycznej) to klasyczna literatura grozy.
Bohaterka, panna Mayfield – stara panna, uboga, mało atrakcyjna nauczycielka, mająca za sobą długoletni pobyt w Afryce zakończony tajemniczym załamaniem nerwowym, osoba sprawiająca wrażenie bezradnej i potulnej – zostaje zatrudniona na stanowisku nauczycielki i dyrektorki w prywatnej szkole wiejskiej w Walwyk we wschodniej Anglii.
Szczęście panny Mayfield zakłócają drobne, dziwne wydarzenia. Atmosfera staje się coraz bardziej tajemnicza i niepokojąca. Pojawiają się sygnały zbrodniczych działań tajemniczych sił zła. Panna Mayfield znajduje w sobie zaskakująco dużo siły i uporu, by szukać rozwiązania zagadki. Z jakim skutkiem? Czy samotna, zdawać by się mogło niezaradna, hołdująca dobrym manierom kobieta nie okaże się przypadkiem wytrawnym detektywem? I kogo uda się jej pokonać?
Bohaterka, panna Mayfield – stara panna, uboga, mało atrakcyjna nauczycielka, mająca za sobą długoletni pobyt w Afryce zakończony tajemniczym załamaniem nerwowym, osoba sprawiająca wrażenie bezradnej i potulnej – zostaje zatrudniona na stanowisku nauczycielki i dyrektorki w prywatnej szkole wiejskiej w Walwyk we wschodniej Anglii.
Szczęście panny Mayfield zakłócają drobne, dziwne wydarzenia. Atmosfera staje się coraz bardziej tajemnicza i niepokojąca. Pojawiają się sygnały zbrodniczych działań tajemniczych sił zła. Panna Mayfield znajduje w sobie zaskakująco dużo siły i uporu, by szukać rozwiązania zagadki. Z jakim skutkiem? Czy samotna, zdawać by się mogło niezaradna, hołdująca dobrym manierom kobieta nie okaże się przypadkiem wytrawnym detektywem? I kogo uda się jej pokonać?
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
31 people are currently reading
689 people want to read
About the author
Norah Lofts
106 books309 followersNorah Ethel Robinson Lofts Jorisch (27 August 1904–10 September 1983) was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote over fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote non-fiction and short stories. Many of her novels, including her Suffolk Trilogy, follow the history of a specific house and the residents that lived in it.
Lofts was born in Shipdham, Norfolk in England. She also published using the pseudonyms Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis. Norah Lofts chose to release her murder-mystery novels under the pen name Peter Curtis because she did not want the readers of her historic fiction to pick up a murder-mystery novel and expect classic Norah Lofts historical fiction. However, the murders still show characteristic Norah Lofts elements. Most of her historical novels fall into two general categories: biographical novels about queens, among them Anne Boleyn, Isabella of Castile, and Catherine of Aragon; and novels set in East Anglia centered around the fictitious town of Baildon (patterned largely on Bury St. Edmunds). Her creation of this fictitious area of England is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy's creation of "Wessex"; and her use of recurring characters such that the protagonist of one novel appears as a secondary character in others is even more reminiscent of William Faulkner's work set in "Yoknapatawpha County," Mississippi. Norah Lofts' work set in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s shows great concern with the very poor in society and their inability to change their conditions. Her approach suggests an interest in the social reformism that became a feature of British post-war society.
Several of her novels were turned into films. Jassy was filmed as Jassy (1947) starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. You're Best Alone was filmed as Guilt is My Shadow (1950). The Devil's Own (also known as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can) was filmed as The Witches (1966). The film 7 Women was directed by John Ford and based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts.
Lofts was born in Shipdham, Norfolk in England. She also published using the pseudonyms Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis. Norah Lofts chose to release her murder-mystery novels under the pen name Peter Curtis because she did not want the readers of her historic fiction to pick up a murder-mystery novel and expect classic Norah Lofts historical fiction. However, the murders still show characteristic Norah Lofts elements. Most of her historical novels fall into two general categories: biographical novels about queens, among them Anne Boleyn, Isabella of Castile, and Catherine of Aragon; and novels set in East Anglia centered around the fictitious town of Baildon (patterned largely on Bury St. Edmunds). Her creation of this fictitious area of England is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy's creation of "Wessex"; and her use of recurring characters such that the protagonist of one novel appears as a secondary character in others is even more reminiscent of William Faulkner's work set in "Yoknapatawpha County," Mississippi. Norah Lofts' work set in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s shows great concern with the very poor in society and their inability to change their conditions. Her approach suggests an interest in the social reformism that became a feature of British post-war society.
Several of her novels were turned into films. Jassy was filmed as Jassy (1947) starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. You're Best Alone was filmed as Guilt is My Shadow (1950). The Devil's Own (also known as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can) was filmed as The Witches (1966). The film 7 Women was directed by John Ford and based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
August 8, 2022
The Little Wax Doll reads like a lost collaboration between Barbara Pym and Agatha Christie albeit with embellishments more suited to pulp horror. First published in 1960 as The Devil’s Own under the pseudonym Peter Curtis, at a time when Dennis Wheatley’s lurid tales of devilish deeds were hugely popular and occult horror was increasingly fashionable, it inspired a Hammer Horror feature The Witches starring Joan Fontaine and scripted by Nigel Kneale of Quatermass fame. Since championed by writers like Grady Hendrix, Norah Loft’s quirky, occult mystery has attracted a cult following in pockets of the horror-reading community, cited as an influence on canonical folk horror The Wicker Man.
But it’s markedly different in style and flavour from standard, commercial horror of its era, less overblown, almost understated in places, and centred on a marvellously unlikely heroine, spinster and schoolteacher Miss Mayfield. The impoverished Deborah Mayfield has returned to England after twenty years doing missionary-style work in Kenya, ill-health and isolation has left her struggling to find a foothold in a now-unfamiliar landscape. Then she’s offered a seemingly miraculous opportunity to reinvent herself as the head of a remote school in the East Anglian Fens. Walwyk village is gorgeous, Miss Mayfield’s provided with luxurious housing and high wages, she’s even adopted by an exceptionally-attentive, affectionate black cat. But there’s something not quite right about this place, the local children are identikit blondes, like something out of The Midwich Cuckoos and there are hints of nefarious happenings behind closed doors. Then the discovery of a strangely-disfigured, wax doll, alerts Miss Mayfield to the possibility that something sinister is afoot in this picture-postcard village. So, Miss Mayfield slowly morphs into a Miss Marple-like amateur detective determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Although it’s creaky and overwrought in places, particularly the concluding scenes, and there are some admittedly preposterous plot twists. I was completely caught up in Lofts’s story. There are unexpected bursts of gloriously wry humour and Miss Mayfield is a surprisingly rounded, highly sympathetic character - Lofts is particularly adept at representing the vulnerability of a woman so utterly alone in the world. She’s also meticulous in her detailing of everyday life, Miss Mayfield’s thoughts and experiences, the local countryside, the struggling village community. Lofts was born in East Anglia and lived there in later life, able to describe her setting with an insider’s eye, she draws too on the many tales of past evil, its rich, weird history tangled up with rumours of folk magic and witchcraft: home to the notorious Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, and once the site of the largest witch trial in England. Despite a few grating elements, this uniquely eccentric blend of spinster lit and over-the-top supernatural horror gripped me throughout - surely ripe for reprinting by a publisher like Valancourt.
Rating: 3.5
But it’s markedly different in style and flavour from standard, commercial horror of its era, less overblown, almost understated in places, and centred on a marvellously unlikely heroine, spinster and schoolteacher Miss Mayfield. The impoverished Deborah Mayfield has returned to England after twenty years doing missionary-style work in Kenya, ill-health and isolation has left her struggling to find a foothold in a now-unfamiliar landscape. Then she’s offered a seemingly miraculous opportunity to reinvent herself as the head of a remote school in the East Anglian Fens. Walwyk village is gorgeous, Miss Mayfield’s provided with luxurious housing and high wages, she’s even adopted by an exceptionally-attentive, affectionate black cat. But there’s something not quite right about this place, the local children are identikit blondes, like something out of The Midwich Cuckoos and there are hints of nefarious happenings behind closed doors. Then the discovery of a strangely-disfigured, wax doll, alerts Miss Mayfield to the possibility that something sinister is afoot in this picture-postcard village. So, Miss Mayfield slowly morphs into a Miss Marple-like amateur detective determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Although it’s creaky and overwrought in places, particularly the concluding scenes, and there are some admittedly preposterous plot twists. I was completely caught up in Lofts’s story. There are unexpected bursts of gloriously wry humour and Miss Mayfield is a surprisingly rounded, highly sympathetic character - Lofts is particularly adept at representing the vulnerability of a woman so utterly alone in the world. She’s also meticulous in her detailing of everyday life, Miss Mayfield’s thoughts and experiences, the local countryside, the struggling village community. Lofts was born in East Anglia and lived there in later life, able to describe her setting with an insider’s eye, she draws too on the many tales of past evil, its rich, weird history tangled up with rumours of folk magic and witchcraft: home to the notorious Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, and once the site of the largest witch trial in England. Despite a few grating elements, this uniquely eccentric blend of spinster lit and over-the-top supernatural horror gripped me throughout - surely ripe for reprinting by a publisher like Valancourt.
Rating: 3.5
February 14, 2021
Classic Hammer adaptation notwithstanding, I wouldn't exactly describe this as a horror. It's more like a psychological thriller that uses witchcraft as the McGuffin. But either way, it was good old-fashioned fun.
June 18, 2016
In a word: boring.
I don't mean it's boring because it's not explicit -- it's an older book from the Mary Stewart era, so I'd expect less detail in terms of the coven & their antics. That's perfectly fine. No, I mean it's BORING. The prose is bland & tepid, the heroine is bland & tepid (I wanted to scream every time she started banging on about her beloved bff Rose), the story is bland & tepid...it's just bland & tepid overall.
In terms of plot, this is no different from an episode of Midsummer Murders -- in fact, similar stories have been done on said show, & much more successfully IMO. This should have been chopped to half the length & published as a pulp gothic, not a full-length novel. And have I mentioned how much I HATE the amnesia device? Talk about ruining any suspense -- after our bland & tepid heroine lost her memory, all potential plot pacing was utterly shot to shit.
Yawn. This is my third Lofts novel & none have impressed me. Thankfully I've only got one left (the infamous Gad's Hall, which I've saved as the best for last).
I don't mean it's boring because it's not explicit -- it's an older book from the Mary Stewart era, so I'd expect less detail in terms of the coven & their antics. That's perfectly fine. No, I mean it's BORING. The prose is bland & tepid, the heroine is bland & tepid (I wanted to scream every time she started banging on about her beloved bff Rose), the story is bland & tepid...it's just bland & tepid overall.
In terms of plot, this is no different from an episode of Midsummer Murders -- in fact, similar stories have been done on said show, & much more successfully IMO. This should have been chopped to half the length & published as a pulp gothic, not a full-length novel. And have I mentioned how much I HATE the amnesia device? Talk about ruining any suspense -- after our bland & tepid heroine lost her memory, all potential plot pacing was utterly shot to shit.
Yawn. This is my third Lofts novel & none have impressed me. Thankfully I've only got one left (the infamous Gad's Hall, which I've saved as the best for last).
November 16, 2010
I love all Norah Lofts, though I prefer her rural sagas and historicals to her supernaturals as Peter Curtis.
Little Wax Doll is still vintage Lofts however, beautifully characterised and visualised . Her descriptions of English ( Suffolk/East Anglian) countryside are second to none - perhaps even better than HE Bates because less prolix. And she manages to make it all sound so reasonable ,so that you find yourself, no matter what your personal stance on it, actually imagining that the Satanic doings and dark sexuality and black witchcraft IS happening in this picture perfect village in the blameless nineteen fifties........
Little Wax Doll is still vintage Lofts however, beautifully characterised and visualised . Her descriptions of English ( Suffolk/East Anglian) countryside are second to none - perhaps even better than HE Bates because less prolix. And she manages to make it all sound so reasonable ,so that you find yourself, no matter what your personal stance on it, actually imagining that the Satanic doings and dark sexuality and black witchcraft IS happening in this picture perfect village in the blameless nineteen fifties........
September 20, 2020
Ok here's the deal; so this was first published as The Devil's Own under the pseudonym Peter Curtis, then Hammer Studios made a film from it called The Witches starring Joan Fontaine. Then it was re-published as this, The Little Wax Doll, under the author's given name. Got that?
This is classic slow burn British Occult Horror, and the first half of the book is indeed a slow burn (yawn). But the second half mostly makes up for it, although it is a bit muddled...
The film's ending is badly done, and differs quite a bit from the book, but all in all is worth a watch.
This is classic slow burn British Occult Horror, and the first half of the book is indeed a slow burn (yawn). But the second half mostly makes up for it, although it is a bit muddled...
The film's ending is badly done, and differs quite a bit from the book, but all in all is worth a watch.
October 15, 2022
Wicker Man + Gaslight! Domestic folk horror with a spinster protag. Of course I loved it.
Writing much better than expected; I couldn’t stop reading it and wolfed it down in a couple of sittings. I wouldn’t call it scary, but I was definitely anxious for long stretches. Agree that this is overdue for a Valancourt reissue!
Writing much better than expected; I couldn’t stop reading it and wolfed it down in a couple of sittings. I wouldn’t call it scary, but I was definitely anxious for long stretches. Agree that this is overdue for a Valancourt reissue!
June 28, 2012
I found this book highly disappointing. i kept waiting for it to be 'eerie' and 'horrific' as stated on the front but nothing happened. For me the title should read ' boring old lady pokes her nose into other peoples business'. Every page turn was a let down, sorry author!
January 5, 2012
Full review can be found here.
The first thing I have to say is that at no point did I really feel any tension. Even at the end of the book when the climax was in full swing it was never particularly suspenseful. A lot of the time the narrative was just meandering about, hinting at various things but never getting to the point where I really wanted to know more about them. Indeed, after Miss Mayfield’s inevitable ‘accident’, I was ready to tear my hair out as it just completely stopped the story when it had only just got to the point where it was verging on getting interesting.
What’s more, there were a number of threads of the plot that were just left hanging. Miss Mayfield sets up a date with a man but the book finishes before it gets to that point. She pawns a ring as she desperately needs the cash, repeating multiple times that she wants it back but she never goes to pick it up. We never find out what happened to Rose’s letters (though I suppose we can guess).
I never really felt a connection to most of the characters and I think at times I was supposed to. Isabel Thorby is one where I don’t know how exactly I was supposed to deduce her role from the one short scene she gets towards the start of the story.
Really, I suppose that the story is perfectly fine, just somewhat dated. For all I know, this might have been typical of a horror story in the 1960s when it was written. Now, it never got my heart beating a little faster or had me hooked on every word on the page. I did, however, stop and blink a few times when I managed to forget that there have been significant advances in technology and then something is referred to in the story that was cutting-edge at that time but standard now (such as a torch with two buttons: one so the light flashes on only while the button is pressed and one that can be left down so that the light stays on.)
It’s funny that this would happen as I was almost always aware of the difference in other areas of society, such as religion. Though her religion doesn’t play a major role, Miss Mayfield does occasionally refer to God and the divine hand guiding her as well as a number of other things that were a common way of thinking in that day and age but have become less wide-spread in an increasingly atheist society.
While I’m sure that the author did her research on ‘witches’, a lot of the rites described in the book just seemed to be along the ‘we-reject-Christianity!’ lines and were designed to shock a Christian reader rather than actually being anything like the rituals I know of. As such this didn't ring true for me and just felt like anti-witchcraft propaganda.
And lastly, the ending was not very satisfactory. It felt to me as though the ending came before the story had really ended.
The first thing I have to say is that at no point did I really feel any tension. Even at the end of the book when the climax was in full swing it was never particularly suspenseful. A lot of the time the narrative was just meandering about, hinting at various things but never getting to the point where I really wanted to know more about them. Indeed, after Miss Mayfield’s inevitable ‘accident’, I was ready to tear my hair out as it just completely stopped the story when it had only just got to the point where it was verging on getting interesting.
What’s more, there were a number of threads of the plot that were just left hanging. Miss Mayfield sets up a date with a man but the book finishes before it gets to that point. She pawns a ring as she desperately needs the cash, repeating multiple times that she wants it back but she never goes to pick it up. We never find out what happened to Rose’s letters (though I suppose we can guess).
I never really felt a connection to most of the characters and I think at times I was supposed to. Isabel Thorby is one where I don’t know how exactly I was supposed to deduce her role from the one short scene she gets towards the start of the story.
Really, I suppose that the story is perfectly fine, just somewhat dated. For all I know, this might have been typical of a horror story in the 1960s when it was written. Now, it never got my heart beating a little faster or had me hooked on every word on the page. I did, however, stop and blink a few times when I managed to forget that there have been significant advances in technology and then something is referred to in the story that was cutting-edge at that time but standard now (such as a torch with two buttons: one so the light flashes on only while the button is pressed and one that can be left down so that the light stays on.)
It’s funny that this would happen as I was almost always aware of the difference in other areas of society, such as religion. Though her religion doesn’t play a major role, Miss Mayfield does occasionally refer to God and the divine hand guiding her as well as a number of other things that were a common way of thinking in that day and age but have become less wide-spread in an increasingly atheist society.
While I’m sure that the author did her research on ‘witches’, a lot of the rites described in the book just seemed to be along the ‘we-reject-Christianity!’ lines and were designed to shock a Christian reader rather than actually being anything like the rituals I know of. As such this didn't ring true for me and just felt like anti-witchcraft propaganda.
And lastly, the ending was not very satisfactory. It felt to me as though the ending came before the story had really ended.
April 10, 2021
I've held off from watching the Hammer adaptation of this because, although I will probably enjoy it enormously, I'm guessing it will stray outrageously from the understated restrained manners of this book. 4 starts is a pretty high rating for me but it would be churlish to deny how much I enjoyed reading it. It is delicious. I'm not sure how much of my enjoyment was nostalgia (I was a 50s child) or how much was because it is so well paced and beautifully written, but it doesn't matter. The insidious threat underlying the prettiness of the kind of English village one only sees in postcards and 50s films was palpable from the start, and the staunch back-boned determination at the heart of the prissy school mistress was tantalizingly toyed with as she lost her memory while we were left desperate to deal with the potentially deadly situation back in Walwyk. Miss Mayfield is never referred to by her first name; the class structure holds backs tongues and maintains barriers irrespective of the not very well concealed secret at the heart of the community. Definitely not horror but atmospheric, absorbing and actually, at the end, quite thrilling. With a nice little twist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2015
This is Norah Lofts writing as Peter Curtis (which she sometimes did when writing contemporary thrillers instead of historical.) The edition I read was called 'The Witches' because it tied in with the 1966 Hammer horror film based on the book, but it was also published as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can.
It is tremendously creepy. Curtis/Lofts plays her isolated Essex village setting to the full. The storytelling is great - it picks up speed towards a very tense ending where you genuinely don't know what's going to happen. There are plenty of shocks and in typical Lofts style, there's also lots of unpredictability and moral ambiguity about the characters - the baddies aren't necessarily the ones you would expect, and good things are done for bad reasons and vice versa.
The other gloriously Norah Loftsish thing about it is the down-to-earth nature of the description - the describes with relish the prim heroine's horror at seeing her middle aged, not particularly beautiful neighbours naked at their coven.
Highly recommended.
It is tremendously creepy. Curtis/Lofts plays her isolated Essex village setting to the full. The storytelling is great - it picks up speed towards a very tense ending where you genuinely don't know what's going to happen. There are plenty of shocks and in typical Lofts style, there's also lots of unpredictability and moral ambiguity about the characters - the baddies aren't necessarily the ones you would expect, and good things are done for bad reasons and vice versa.
The other gloriously Norah Loftsish thing about it is the down-to-earth nature of the description - the describes with relish the prim heroine's horror at seeing her middle aged, not particularly beautiful neighbours naked at their coven.
Highly recommended.
April 18, 2019
Do not be fooled by the cover, this is no modern take on witches
This is set in 1959, written in 1960. It was interesting seeing the past and past views and behaviour, and the story may have been surprising in the past, but thanks to the swinger movement and orge parties and the rise of porn and news of human trafficking (which is far, far worse than this story), this is not as shocking as it could be for the modern person, or at least not to me. I’m sure people of the past may have fainted from this but for me, I just wanted to slap them all in the face.
It also takes a very long time for any plot to evolve and shine through. I was bored at times reading this. Though it was nice to see the main character evolve, to see her go from a queit, timid woman who fit in the 40/50s to the equivalent of a modern woman of that time, though she takes her own sweet time.
Interesting to see the past, but the story is boring.
This is set in 1959, written in 1960. It was interesting seeing the past and past views and behaviour, and the story may have been surprising in the past, but thanks to the swinger movement and orge parties and the rise of porn and news of human trafficking (which is far, far worse than this story), this is not as shocking as it could be for the modern person, or at least not to me. I’m sure people of the past may have fainted from this but for me, I just wanted to slap them all in the face.
It also takes a very long time for any plot to evolve and shine through. I was bored at times reading this. Though it was nice to see the main character evolve, to see her go from a queit, timid woman who fit in the 40/50s to the equivalent of a modern woman of that time, though she takes her own sweet time.
Interesting to see the past, but the story is boring.
February 18, 2015
Well, rather disappointed with this book. I found it at the library and on the back cover it says suspense,horror, and a few deaths. This book does not match that description! I dont usually read any type of horror and when I realized I'd picked up a 'hammer' horror I thought twice,but love the subject of witches so gave it a chance. I spent the entire book waiting for a plot to appear. The end was also very weak,no real mention of the witches and what they were up too. Everything concluded in about 7 pages at the end. Yes I kept on reading I was waiting for it all to happen!
February 17, 2021
I borrowed my son's Hammer Christmas present. An enjoyable story set in 1960 - did we always wear hats on formal occasions? Miss Mayfield, Christian, ex missionary, innocent, accepts a job from a benign dicator of Headmistress of a unique private school and becomes embroiled in the murky politics of the claustrophobic village.
It is a mildly gripping tale that encourages one to carry on reading Son John thought he had seen it as a Hammer Horror film and warned me someone's eye got poked out, but I don't think that was in the book. Certainly menacing feelings of bad things coming, however.
Good entertainment.
It is a mildly gripping tale that encourages one to carry on reading Son John thought he had seen it as a Hammer Horror film and warned me someone's eye got poked out, but I don't think that was in the book. Certainly menacing feelings of bad things coming, however.
Good entertainment.
May 29, 2020
This had a 'Wicker Man'/Hammer House of Horror feel about it - so I wasn't surprised when I discovered it had been made into a Hammer film. I'll have to seek this out. Mixed reviews on here but I liked it. There was a well-evoked sinister atmosphere and a growing sense of unease, dread and doom and like Miss Mayfield, you have suspicions but don't quite know what's going on and you don't know who can be trusted... I was sure I knew how this would end but I was wrong! Worth a read for those who enjoy 50s/60s horror.
December 18, 2022
DNF. Was still bored about 30 pages in so gave up
October 13, 2019
This was a very slow book which I didn't mind because it felt like it was building up to this big scary reveal but int he end, nothing happened and I was deeply disappointed.
It also has not aged well. First published in 1960, it had sexist comments and racist thinking against African people and their cultures. Also some questionable stances for child abuse such as beatings as corrective behaviour.
I would not recommend this.
Trigger warnings for sexism, racism, negative attitudes to the mentally ill, blood, and physical abuse of a child.
It also has not aged well. First published in 1960, it had sexist comments and racist thinking against African people and their cultures. Also some questionable stances for child abuse such as beatings as corrective behaviour.
I would not recommend this.
Trigger warnings for sexism, racism, negative attitudes to the mentally ill, blood, and physical abuse of a child.
December 1, 2020
Miss Mayfield, a schoolteacher recently returned from Africa, takes up a post in Walwyk, a remote Essex village where nothing is quite as it seems. From the outset, Miss Mayfield gets caught up in her concern for Ethel, a local girl who is evidently abused by her Granny Rigby.
Miss Mayfield's interference uncovers strange goings on, and mysterious deaths, and ultimately results in a mishap which changes the course of her fragile state of mind, and her employment at Walwyk school.
Deborah Mayfield, however, isn't one to let things lie. Determined to save Ethel, she returns to Walwyk and makes a final stand.
This book is beautifully written, and Miss Mayfield's antics capture the imaginations from the first page. There's something to be said about books written in what I term my 'grandma's era' in that the language and expression is so wonderful, and yet lost to modern literature.
The book's foreword is provided by Cyril Frankel, director of the classis Hammer film The Witches which was inspired by this book.
Miss Mayfield's interference uncovers strange goings on, and mysterious deaths, and ultimately results in a mishap which changes the course of her fragile state of mind, and her employment at Walwyk school.
Deborah Mayfield, however, isn't one to let things lie. Determined to save Ethel, she returns to Walwyk and makes a final stand.
This book is beautifully written, and Miss Mayfield's antics capture the imaginations from the first page. There's something to be said about books written in what I term my 'grandma's era' in that the language and expression is so wonderful, and yet lost to modern literature.
The book's foreword is provided by Cyril Frankel, director of the classis Hammer film The Witches which was inspired by this book.
March 22, 2012
This review is from: The Devils Own (Paperback)
This one has it all - middle aged spinster with no family, secluded English village with mysterious goings on and eccentric inhabitants, children in peril, devil-worshippers. If you enjoy a well-written suspense/horror heavy on the suspense and implied horror, or are a fan of the old Hammer horror movies of the sixties, this is the book for you. Written by Norah Lofts under her suspense nom-de-plume of Peter Curtis, and also published as The Witches and Little Wax Doll.
This book was actually made into a Hammer horror movie in 1966, starring the fabulous Joan Fontaine as the lady who begins to suspect that something is 'not quite right' in the village where she goes to become a school teacher. Highly recommended.
Read
February 1, 2011Found this in a random library browse... an older binding and not obviously a present-day schlock novel (which is what most of the books in the fiction section are). It's a well-written, compelling tale of witchcraft in 1959 rural England. The characterization of the protagonist, a seemingly stereotypical old-maid teacher recently returned from twenty years in Africa, is well handled. She's often just what one would expect, but also often individual, and her bravery and resourcefulness become increasingly evident as the novel progresses. I didn't entirely buy the climactic scene in the church (too much the standard satanic hoopla), but otherwise it was a very satisfactory read.
December 13, 2011
You know what they say about things being too good? When Canon Thorby offers Deborah Mayfield a position as headmistress at a prestigious London school, a little cottage and a cat, she can hardly believe her good fortune. After twenty years as an African missionary and several years at a poor public London school, Miss Mayfield had really found her niche; or had she? I really enjoyed this story. Everything appears perfect but you get the feeling that sinister things could or will happen. I give it an A+!
December 28, 2018
Picked this up on account of having enjoyed the Hammer film version. The film follows the book very faithfully until about halfway through then veers off wildly.
The book is a occult thriller, a slow burner about a dowdy school teacher in an apparently perfect English village.
Well written and entertaining but in the end a little underwhelming.
The book is a occult thriller, a slow burner about a dowdy school teacher in an apparently perfect English village.
Well written and entertaining but in the end a little underwhelming.
March 29, 2020
I most enjoyed the vernacular used in this book. And the characters steadfast and true to their roles was delightful. The story was well told, however felt a bit rushed at the end. I do love that Miss Mayfield was able to use her wit and knowledge survey all that was around her and grow to become so much more than expected.
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June 4, 2013I was reading this book on the subway and suddenly the cover fell down on the floor. I quit reading immediately before the book started to disintegrated like on that scene from George Pal's The Time Machine.
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July 30, 2013Written in 1960 by historical novelist Norah Lofts, the basis for the 1966 Hammer film The Witches. Totally enjoyed it.
February 28, 2025
The original title for this book was "Little Wax Doll," by Norah Lofts. (Peter Curtis is a pseudonym.) Very well written, atmospheric, and suspenseful. I love the main character, Miss Debra Mayfield. She is kind, intelligent, brave, and resourceful. She truly cares about people, especially her students. And she is determined... if a child is in danger, she won't hesitate to help. Nothing will stand in her way to save an innocent, even if she doesn't survive.
I read this novel for the first time years ago when I was in my teens, and it scared me silly then. Now I'm in my 60's, and it wasn't frightening to me at all. But I still enjoyed it very much. Still cheered Miss Mayfield as she takes on a coven to rescue one of her students. Still breathed a sigh of relief at the end.....
I read this novel for the first time years ago when I was in my teens, and it scared me silly then. Now I'm in my 60's, and it wasn't frightening to me at all. But I still enjoyed it very much. Still cheered Miss Mayfield as she takes on a coven to rescue one of her students. Still breathed a sigh of relief at the end.....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2021
It was alright. Some super old fashioned notions but it was first published in the 60s so I wasn’t surprised. I quite liked that miss mayfield was an unreliable narrator because it made you question whether anything really was happening or not. I found it very frustrating that it took forever for anything to happen and when things did happen they were pretty tame compared to today’s standards of horror.
October 3, 2021
This was actually written by Norah Lofts under the pseudonym Peter Curtis. She always wrote a good story, basically a gothic novel usually set in isolated English country villages. This is not one of her better ones, but it was still an entertaining story about a schoolteacher who comes to the village and discovers its deep dark secrets involving witchcraft. A good read to begin the month of October!
March 11, 2022
Classic horror novel
I been looking for this kind of books. A horror happening to a small city, involving everybody that we don't know who to trust, who to distrust
Hope to find more novels like this.
I been looking for this kind of books. A horror happening to a small city, involving everybody that we don't know who to trust, who to distrust
Hope to find more novels like this.
August 7, 2017
Rediscovering Norah Lofts, this one features a historic village with some creepy inhabitants...
January 4, 2021
Nice little read. Like a milder form of Dennis Wheatley.
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