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The Witch of Eye
This amazingly wise and nimble collection investigates the horrors inflicted on so-called “witches” of the past. The Witch of Eye unearths salves, potions, and spells meant to heal, yet interpreted by inquisitors as evidence of evil. The author describes torture and forced confessions alongside accounts of gentleness of legendary midwives. In one essay about a trial, we learn through folklore that Jesus’s mother was a midwife who cured her own son’s rheumatism. In other essays there are subtle parallels to contemporary discourse around abortion and environmental destruction. Nuernberger weaves in her own experiences too. There’s an ironic look at her own wedding, an uncomfortable visit to the Prague Museum of Torture, and an afternoon spent tearing out a garden in a mercurial fit. Her researched material is eye-opening, lively, and often funny. An absolutely thrilling collection.
5 pages, Audiobook
First published February 16, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
April 23, 2021
Five things about The Witch of Eye by Kathryn Nuernberger . 5/5⭐️s
1. First, to classify this as a series of essays is a ridiculous understatement. This book is memoir, poem, history lesson, social critique, battle cry, question, and response. Each piece stands powerfully alone - complete in and of itself - but together they work to make a comprehensive exploration of “... social control and the mythologies of justice systems” (p. 172).
2. I am blown away by this book. I do not now, and don’t know when or if I will, have the words to describe my experience with this book. At first, I was reading each piece slowly, savoring and contemplating each bite. Then, suddenly, I raced to finish so I could know the end from the beginning and start again.
3. I would like to teach this book.
4. I would like this book taught to to me.
5. Please find this. Devour it. Share it with others.
1. First, to classify this as a series of essays is a ridiculous understatement. This book is memoir, poem, history lesson, social critique, battle cry, question, and response. Each piece stands powerfully alone - complete in and of itself - but together they work to make a comprehensive exploration of “... social control and the mythologies of justice systems” (p. 172).
2. I am blown away by this book. I do not now, and don’t know when or if I will, have the words to describe my experience with this book. At first, I was reading each piece slowly, savoring and contemplating each bite. Then, suddenly, I raced to finish so I could know the end from the beginning and start again.
3. I would like to teach this book.
4. I would like this book taught to to me.
5. Please find this. Devour it. Share it with others.
November 30, 2022
The Witch Of Eye is an intriguing, educational book. I don’t know exactly how one would classify this book, but it had a bit of everything!
My one complaint? The narrator of the audiobook was…horrid. They made it quite difficult to get through the book in full, and I found myself switching over to the ebook as often as I could.
Nonetheless, this book was engaging, kept my interest, and taught me so much.
My one complaint? The narrator of the audiobook was…horrid. They made it quite difficult to get through the book in full, and I found myself switching over to the ebook as often as I could.
Nonetheless, this book was engaging, kept my interest, and taught me so much.
Read
April 11, 2021I started writing a big long thing about this book, but honestly, I recommend it for everyone. If you’re interested in history, spells, witches, believing women, herbs, this book is for you.
November 20, 2025
After eagerly anticipating the reading of this one, I was immensely disappointed.
First of all, don't advertise this as a series of essays when the writing is far from that. Essays have structure, a beginning, middle and conclusive end. This does not, at all!
Nuernberger's writing is all over the place, jumping from one subject to another. Chapters are completely arbitrary and some paragraphs are a few sentences long. We go from half told stories of witches over random time periods and geographical settings to mentions of her own life and experiences to snippets of what feels like unfinished poetry or lists of names or subjects.
It feels as if Nuernberger wasn't quite sure what she wanted this book to be, a memoir, a study of feminism or a telling of witch anecdotes so she just lashed in whatever came into her head (which in this case is not a good thing!)
Poor writing, lack of structure and shady editing make this a very unpleasant reading experience and considering all copies of this book seem to be going for a hefty sum, a rip off!
1 disappointing star.
First of all, don't advertise this as a series of essays when the writing is far from that. Essays have structure, a beginning, middle and conclusive end. This does not, at all!
Nuernberger's writing is all over the place, jumping from one subject to another. Chapters are completely arbitrary and some paragraphs are a few sentences long. We go from half told stories of witches over random time periods and geographical settings to mentions of her own life and experiences to snippets of what feels like unfinished poetry or lists of names or subjects.
It feels as if Nuernberger wasn't quite sure what she wanted this book to be, a memoir, a study of feminism or a telling of witch anecdotes so she just lashed in whatever came into her head (which in this case is not a good thing!)
Poor writing, lack of structure and shady editing make this a very unpleasant reading experience and considering all copies of this book seem to be going for a hefty sum, a rip off!
1 disappointing star.
March 22, 2021
A slog through extremes: from themes twisted and belabored to the point of torture (no pun intended, given the subject matters of the book), to passages shallow, or outright irrelevant; yields a couple of gems. Should have known better than giving in to the hype. "En vogue" should be an insult to authors nowadays, and a warning to readers.
May 4, 2022
Read the positive reviews and thought it would be good. The author’s unrelenting angst over mundane personal problems ruined it for me.
January 15, 2023
A book that conjures strong thoughts, memories, feelings, and an inner dialogue that continues after finishing.
Thoughts I jotted down while reading:
Where myth and religion meet.
What is real vs an illusion?
chaos vs perfectionism
reconciling the past, my own and the collective female experience.
memories that surfaced while reading:
making mud pies after a big rainstorm under the camphor tree in our yard. pouring salt on slugs and feeling remorse. catching bees and studying them. playing truth or dare with my sister and the girls in the neighborhood, eating bark, leaves, flowers. making dandelion wreathes, casting our own girlhood spells.
“Anthropological linguists caution against calling everything you don't understand magic”
We’re all witches and we shouldn’t be judged for it.
Thoughts I jotted down while reading:
Where myth and religion meet.
What is real vs an illusion?
chaos vs perfectionism
reconciling the past, my own and the collective female experience.
memories that surfaced while reading:
making mud pies after a big rainstorm under the camphor tree in our yard. pouring salt on slugs and feeling remorse. catching bees and studying them. playing truth or dare with my sister and the girls in the neighborhood, eating bark, leaves, flowers. making dandelion wreathes, casting our own girlhood spells.
“Anthropological linguists caution against calling everything you don't understand magic”
We’re all witches and we shouldn’t be judged for it.
January 22, 2021
Kathryn Nuernberger writes about witches and witch trials as her area of expertise and, in The Witch of Eye, brings all her knowledge to connect her feelings and events in her life to the witches of the past. In a series of brief chapters, Nuernberger moves from the Bamberg witch trials to marriage to the North Berwick trials to botany and more—including the infamous Witch of Eye herself, whose star chart for the King of England led her to being accused of treason...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
July 14, 2022
I’ll be honest, I couldn’t make it past the first 20 or so pages. I’ve read plenty of difficult academic texts, but this felt like it made no sense. The author also came across as very pretentious; I understand that many witches and pagans have issues with Christianity- as do I- but bashing another person’s religion or beliefs in order to uplift or prove your own is not necessary. I’m sure some people would enjoy this book, but it’s just not my cup of tea.
January 17, 2024
I'm sure my review is an unpopular opinion as I fell into the hype of hearing all about this book, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't know if it's because I listened to it as an audio book but there was definitely a disconnect. I wish the essays went deeper into the life's discussed. The author seemed to interject her own life experiences which usually leads me to create a bond with the writer, but this time it just didn't work for me.
January 18, 2022
DNF. very white..
August 14, 2022
Pretentious, jumbled, drivel.
Read
November 12, 2022I wanted to get into this but I couldn't.
April 21, 2025
Enjoyed it very much. With essays or shorts, it is typical that I don't like every one. I found this to also be true here. Some stories are I feel, seen with a different "lens" or "worldview" than I hold. So I have some differing opinions. However, I did find it very thought provoking, and made me almost want to write responses! Or just do my own series of essays or something.
August 29, 2022
I read this book in print format. It was recommended to me by a friend.
What a beautiful and thoughtful collection of essays! You can tell that they were written by a poet.
The prose is impeccable. I imagine what seems so effortlessly written actually takes great time in crafting. I admire the effort that results in such a terse, exacting use of words to convey meaning.
The central theme appears to be recollections of various women (and one man) who were persecuted for being witches. Aside from the obvious misogyny and fear of women having agency in a man's world, the author interweaves reflections on her own life.
These personal observations are intense. They show an honesty in self-examination that is admirable and one which I do not think that I could do. And certainly not commit to the written word.
I liked the observations Nuernberger makes about translation as offered to her by a translator friend. The main gist is that you have to understand the culture for which you are translating. I guess that I had never given this much thought but it makes absolute sense.
Aligned with this is the idea of consensual realities. That is, we all share a consensual reality in which we agree with what is true in the external world. Of course, in our own nation, the U.S., one could argue that this is falling apart.
I was reading A.S. Byatt's "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Ear" simultaneously. Talk about a delightful prose overload. Two gifted authors for sure.
This book is a short collection but worth reading. I think that it will be a different experience for everyone as you apply your personal worldview to what is written here. That may seem trite to say since that is true of everything we read, but in this case I think that this sense is heightened.
What a beautiful and thoughtful collection of essays! You can tell that they were written by a poet.
The prose is impeccable. I imagine what seems so effortlessly written actually takes great time in crafting. I admire the effort that results in such a terse, exacting use of words to convey meaning.
The central theme appears to be recollections of various women (and one man) who were persecuted for being witches. Aside from the obvious misogyny and fear of women having agency in a man's world, the author interweaves reflections on her own life.
These personal observations are intense. They show an honesty in self-examination that is admirable and one which I do not think that I could do. And certainly not commit to the written word.
I liked the observations Nuernberger makes about translation as offered to her by a translator friend. The main gist is that you have to understand the culture for which you are translating. I guess that I had never given this much thought but it makes absolute sense.
Aligned with this is the idea of consensual realities. That is, we all share a consensual reality in which we agree with what is true in the external world. Of course, in our own nation, the U.S., one could argue that this is falling apart.
I was reading A.S. Byatt's "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Ear" simultaneously. Talk about a delightful prose overload. Two gifted authors for sure.
This book is a short collection but worth reading. I think that it will be a different experience for everyone as you apply your personal worldview to what is written here. That may seem trite to say since that is true of everything we read, but in this case I think that this sense is heightened.
January 1, 2023
Historically I haven’t been a fan of essays, but I enjoyed this one.
May 25, 2023
Feminist, humane and vindicator of the role of women in society.
Essays that reveal the incomprehension and obstinacy of certain obtuse visions that still persist today.
A great text.
Essays that reveal the incomprehension and obstinacy of certain obtuse visions that still persist today.
A great text.
September 25, 2023
3 stars
Beautiful and lyric but sometimes a little too repetitive across the essays.
Beautiful and lyric but sometimes a little too repetitive across the essays.
September 13, 2021
the first 37 minutes are triggering as hell, so if you can speedread thru those as quick as possible, it will help you get into the rest of the book. like regained my ability to cry some sort of water out of my eyes for the first time in years because of how painful it was.
good book, makes me excited to follow up by listening to other witches. it would be nice to explore how being outside of the christian/catholic patriarchy interacted with what we'd today call either "queer" or "2-spirited" "witches". i've had some bad interactions with green witches on tumblr because they'd be calling autistic kids curses upon their parents, so i appreciated this book a lot. i also want to mention that this book focuses a lot on how we process stories from centuries ago. while i think the language might have been too cryptic at some points, i was fortunately able to decypher what it meant such as "says more about you" vs "says more about you[r processing schemas]". so yeah, this book is like a neat little reading list & that's kind of inspirational to me.
that being said, as the author does a lot of talk about the connection between catholic recuperation of witchcraft, along with the rad-to-trad pipeline & how she sometimes struggles with that, this book has helped illuminate the pipeline between witchcraft & catholicism, which has proven important when talking about feminism. it should also be mentioned that this also means that i need to investigate the line between syncretism/assimilation such as say by crypto-jews, but applicable to the peoples christian euro-american colonizers, versus recuperation such as involved in the patriarchal imperialism involved in taking over the roman empire.
so yeah, audiobook was nice.
good book, makes me excited to follow up by listening to other witches. it would be nice to explore how being outside of the christian/catholic patriarchy interacted with what we'd today call either "queer" or "2-spirited" "witches". i've had some bad interactions with green witches on tumblr because they'd be calling autistic kids curses upon their parents, so i appreciated this book a lot. i also want to mention that this book focuses a lot on how we process stories from centuries ago. while i think the language might have been too cryptic at some points, i was fortunately able to decypher what it meant such as "says more about you" vs "says more about you[r processing schemas]". so yeah, this book is like a neat little reading list & that's kind of inspirational to me.
that being said, as the author does a lot of talk about the connection between catholic recuperation of witchcraft, along with the rad-to-trad pipeline & how she sometimes struggles with that, this book has helped illuminate the pipeline between witchcraft & catholicism, which has proven important when talking about feminism. it should also be mentioned that this also means that i need to investigate the line between syncretism/assimilation such as say by crypto-jews, but applicable to the peoples christian euro-american colonizers, versus recuperation such as involved in the patriarchal imperialism involved in taking over the roman empire.
so yeah, audiobook was nice.
June 22, 2022
Captivating. Mesmerizing. Haunting.
This collection of essays was spell-binding, to say the least. As tender as it was brutal, this book juxtaposes the severity of the witch trials in earlier times with the lived experiences of modern day women in some of the most creative and unexpected ways imaginable. Historical and enlightening, but also practical and relatable, the author intertwines a wealth of applicable knowledge, scholarly analysis, and anecdotes from her own life into this anthology that I devoured in one sitting.
Not for the faint of heart, there are some rather gruesome depictions of torture practices, as well as a heartwrenching account of a modern day rape trial, but the collection is balanced enough to appreciate the dark moments without getting swallowed by them. A truly beautiful read.
This collection of essays was spell-binding, to say the least. As tender as it was brutal, this book juxtaposes the severity of the witch trials in earlier times with the lived experiences of modern day women in some of the most creative and unexpected ways imaginable. Historical and enlightening, but also practical and relatable, the author intertwines a wealth of applicable knowledge, scholarly analysis, and anecdotes from her own life into this anthology that I devoured in one sitting.
Not for the faint of heart, there are some rather gruesome depictions of torture practices, as well as a heartwrenching account of a modern day rape trial, but the collection is balanced enough to appreciate the dark moments without getting swallowed by them. A truly beautiful read.
May 16, 2022
The book channels a bit of witchcraft itself. Part history, part essay, part free verse, it constantly transforms from one paragraph to the next. Evokes the work of Maggie Nelson (another great writer/poet). The writing is thoughtful, engaging, meditative, and worthwhile.
“Because my point was not Woman, per se, but something about social control and the mythologies of justice systems. Because I thought maybe men would buy one of my books for a change, if it didn’t seem so entirely girly.”
Her work here addresses gender issues in an interesting way. It also transcends them. The ideas are big and sad and troubling and universal. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Nuernberger’s work.
“Because my point was not Woman, per se, but something about social control and the mythologies of justice systems. Because I thought maybe men would buy one of my books for a change, if it didn’t seem so entirely girly.”
Her work here addresses gender issues in an interesting way. It also transcends them. The ideas are big and sad and troubling and universal. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Nuernberger’s work.
May 13, 2021
Blessed be those who have the patience and acumen to do thorough research and the emotional fortitude to write essays such as these for I am a lazy ass and lack it myself. A really wonderful meeting of theory, history and call to arms.
March 23, 2023
I listened to this as an audiobook and had to order a physical copy for devouring purposes. An important and beautiful book that defies simple categorization.
May 6, 2023
Had Katheryn Nuernberger lived during the time and place of witch trials, she most certainly would have been burned. After writing her book of excellent essays, The Witch of Eye, she may even have shifted the common perspective that the devil is male, that he is, in fact, not only a woman, but is Katheryn Nuernberger. What does this mean? Nothing, really, except that in today's current timeline, regardless of place, The Witch of Eye is an insightful, well-researched, incredibly worthwhile collection of essays that entertain, educate, and inspire. Nuernberger may come across a little bitter at times, but so too do many of the herbs that grow wild all around us, the very plants that provide a remedy to almost any ailment.
As much for its content and fascinating details within, I would also recommend this book for its gorgeous prose and polished craft. Almost as if it were a spell, this book has left me bewitched.
As much for its content and fascinating details within, I would also recommend this book for its gorgeous prose and polished craft. Almost as if it were a spell, this book has left me bewitched.
July 4, 2025
This books feels like a passionate response to the question “did they burn witches or did they burn women?” I am all in favor of recolonizing the latter.
Women were burned for the ways in which they did not fit into the status quo. They were tortured into admitting and accusing. Kathryn Neurnberger says their names, she gives them glory and recognizes their personhood despite the historical sources that aim to take it away.
What balances this is parallels to the author’s own life that readers can also relate to: bringing full circle the reality that womanhood has no confines to one time or another. many witches were women: whether they were wanton or not we can see ourselves in many of them. In a way this book is an ode to women and their impact.
Women were burned for the ways in which they did not fit into the status quo. They were tortured into admitting and accusing. Kathryn Neurnberger says their names, she gives them glory and recognizes their personhood despite the historical sources that aim to take it away.
What balances this is parallels to the author’s own life that readers can also relate to: bringing full circle the reality that womanhood has no confines to one time or another. many witches were women: whether they were wanton or not we can see ourselves in many of them. In a way this book is an ode to women and their impact.
June 25, 2025
this collection of essays was a delight to read. it was definitely out of my comfort zone, since i usually like to read fiction lol. it was so interesting to learn about witch trials and how awful they were, as well as connections to the authors own life and her struggles as a woman. many of her essays gave me inspiration for different ways to model my own lyric essays in the future. there were some parts that were a tad slow, but overall it is definitely worth its four stars!
my professor gave this collection to me as an end-of-semester gift, so it was so fun to see her annotations and what stuck out to her!
also idk why it took me like a month to read it this i promise it’s good.
my professor gave this collection to me as an end-of-semester gift, so it was so fun to see her annotations and what stuck out to her!
also idk why it took me like a month to read it this i promise it’s good.
March 2, 2022
To me, this book was fascinating because it gave a lot of historical context about many of the witch trial witches and the background that brought them to be burned and killed. It's a series of essays, some woven throughout the witch trial times, some about feminism in general, and some about the author's personal life. It paints women in a strong light and overall I enjoyed this so much. I believe it is exclusively on Scribd in audio format, but many of these essays are available elsewhere in print.
December 31, 2023
The Witch of Eye
is essentially a collection of essays that discuss the persecution and torture of "witches" (women) throughout history. Throughout the discussion of these tragic histories, the author explores parallels between the past and current events/sociopolitical issues and also weaves in stories about her own life experiences. The result was a book I can best describe as intelligent, thought-provoking, and profound.
March 9, 2025
So glad to have found this powerful and surprising book. I've been reading a lot about the legacy of witch trials as a method to silence dissent and blame problems created by systems on those most impacted by systems and solidify power for the few. These essays helped clarify that and how this still shapes our instituations today as well as our relationships and experiences of self. So grateful for Kathryn Nuernberger's craft and skill to weave these narratives.
May 17, 2021
This is a collection of essays about witchcraft, about women accused of witchcraft, about women executed for witchcraft. It is also a collection of essays about feminism, and social justice, and the marginalized in society, which is to say, it is also a collection of essays about witchcraft. Very well-written and engaging.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews