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Lo sanno tutti che tua madre è una strega
Germania, 1618. La peste continua inesorabilmente a mietere vittime, e in Europa si sentono risuonare i primi colpi della Guerra dei Trent’anni, appena cominciata. A Leonberg, un villaggio del ducato del Württemberg, l’anziana vedova Katharina Kepler viene accusata di stregoneria. A prendere le sue difese ci sono solo i figli – tra cui il maggiore, Johannes, matematico imperiale e rinomato autore delle leggi sui moti dei pianeti – e il vicino di casa Simon.
Nel suo nuovo romanzo Rivka Galchen costruisce una magistrale narrazione corale, dove alle voci di Katharina e Simon si alternano quelle di alcuni abitanti di Leonberg, chiamati a testimoniare durante il processo. Ma il racconto di questa caccia alle streghe avvenuta nel XVII secolo, dove si intrecciano fatti realmente accaduti e finzione narrativa, parla in realtà dei nostri tempi, e si rivela un monito provocatorio alla facilità con cui, in un clima di ignoranza e sospetto, la verità può essere distorta e la mentalità del branco può prendere il sopravvento e trasformare persone qualunque in belve feroci.
Nel suo nuovo romanzo Rivka Galchen costruisce una magistrale narrazione corale, dove alle voci di Katharina e Simon si alternano quelle di alcuni abitanti di Leonberg, chiamati a testimoniare durante il processo. Ma il racconto di questa caccia alle streghe avvenuta nel XVII secolo, dove si intrecciano fatti realmente accaduti e finzione narrativa, parla in realtà dei nostri tempi, e si rivela un monito provocatorio alla facilità con cui, in un clima di ignoranza e sospetto, la verità può essere distorta e la mentalità del branco può prendere il sopravvento e trasformare persone qualunque in belve feroci.
318 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2021
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About the author
Rivka Galchen
21 books463 followersRivka Galchen (born 1976) is a Canadian-American writer and physician. Her first novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, was published in 2008. She currently is an adjunct professor in the writing division of Columbia University's School of Art. In 2010, she was chosen as one of the 20 best writers under 40 by The New Yorker.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,921 reviews
June 1, 2021
Say what you will about Donald Trump’s fickle loyalties, he never abandoned the witches. Like Macbeth, he kept them on his mind throughout his calamitous reign. He never tired of whining that he was the victim of “the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!”
But like so many of the former president’s historical memories — his marital fidelity, his election landslides — his position in the annals of witch hunts is somewhat exaggerated.
Most people who didn’t pay someone to take the SATs for them know that Salem, Mass., was the scene of a far greater and more destructive witch hunt. During that infamous terror, which started in 1692, more than 200 people were accused of satanic activity, and 20 were executed.
Even at their most puritanical, though, American colonists were amateurs compared with witch hunters in Europe. In the 16th and 17th centuries, tens of thousands of people — possibly hundreds of thousands — were killed for practicing witchcraft. The craze was particularly virulent in Germany, and the victims were usually older women, not reality-TV stars. In fact, most of those who were tortured, hanged and burned on the testimony of some superstitious neighbor or sadistic cleric are lost in the shadows of history.
But in the early 1600s, in a German town called Leonberg, an illiterate widow named Katharina was arrested for sickening a fellow villager with a demonic potion. She was imprisoned for more than a year and threatened with torture before her son finally won her release.
We know these details because Katharina’s son was Johannes Kepler. While defending his mom against a collection of witchy rumors, on the side he was revolutionizing the science of astronomy.
That’s a good boy.
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
But like so many of the former president’s historical memories — his marital fidelity, his election landslides — his position in the annals of witch hunts is somewhat exaggerated.
Most people who didn’t pay someone to take the SATs for them know that Salem, Mass., was the scene of a far greater and more destructive witch hunt. During that infamous terror, which started in 1692, more than 200 people were accused of satanic activity, and 20 were executed.
Even at their most puritanical, though, American colonists were amateurs compared with witch hunters in Europe. In the 16th and 17th centuries, tens of thousands of people — possibly hundreds of thousands — were killed for practicing witchcraft. The craze was particularly virulent in Germany, and the victims were usually older women, not reality-TV stars. In fact, most of those who were tortured, hanged and burned on the testimony of some superstitious neighbor or sadistic cleric are lost in the shadows of history.
But in the early 1600s, in a German town called Leonberg, an illiterate widow named Katharina was arrested for sickening a fellow villager with a demonic potion. She was imprisoned for more than a year and threatened with torture before her son finally won her release.
We know these details because Katharina’s son was Johannes Kepler. While defending his mom against a collection of witchy rumors, on the side he was revolutionizing the science of astronomy.
That’s a good boy.
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
June 11, 2021
Available Now
Johannes Kepler is known for discovering the three major laws of planetary motion, how planets orbit the sun. Lesser known, is the public defense he prepared to save his mother Katharina, a sixty eight year old illiterate widow who was accused of witchcraft in Leonberg, Germany. The year was 1615. In 1620, Kepler left his post as Imperial Mathematician to defend her during the Wurttenburg Witch Trials.
Katharina Kepler, known for providing neighbors with herbal remedies for their ills, had her nose in everyone's business. Her sharp tongued, brusque manner, coupled with the townspeople's envy of Johannes' success, was a recipe for trouble. It started when Ursula Reinbold accused Katharina of "...[using] very considerable dark powers to make [me] moan, weep, cringe, be barren...It was a poison she gave me-a witches brew." Katharina was summoned to appear before the newly installed ducal governor. Simon, Katharina's next door neighbor, would appear with her in the capacity of legal guardian. Should she file a complaint for slander? "One has to insist upon justice-it was the 'terrible incorrectness of the accusations'...the threat of torture and execution."
Neighbor after neighbor added malicious rumors that included passing through locked doors and riding a goat backwards then cooking and eating it. "The people that accuse you, Katharina, are half-formed people...envious people". "...soon my expenses would soar, the revenue from my fields be frozen, the meager assets of my house seized." Katharina's daughter Greta, thought well of the world and everyone in it. "If we behave with grace, then they will behave with grace." Simon, Katharina's documentarian was worried. "I like to be unseen, in plain sight...since I am friend to Katharina that shadow has reached my doorstep." What troubled her the most? She was concerned about the well being of her faithful cow, Chamomile. Chamomile's needs were paramount.
"Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch" by Rivka Galchen is the imagined rendering of the testimonies at the Witch Trial of Katharina Kepler. The reliability of witness accounts was affected by gossipmongers and the natural passage of time that might muddy recollections. Johannes Kepler was tormented with thoughts of being investigated. "...such overblown and ludicrous allegations could blight my fifteen years of imperial service...". It began with the "raving fantasies" of a local housewife...suspicion...baseless slander...superstition...and misunderstanding. What would be the outcome? A highly recommended tome.
Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Johannes Kepler is known for discovering the three major laws of planetary motion, how planets orbit the sun. Lesser known, is the public defense he prepared to save his mother Katharina, a sixty eight year old illiterate widow who was accused of witchcraft in Leonberg, Germany. The year was 1615. In 1620, Kepler left his post as Imperial Mathematician to defend her during the Wurttenburg Witch Trials.
Katharina Kepler, known for providing neighbors with herbal remedies for their ills, had her nose in everyone's business. Her sharp tongued, brusque manner, coupled with the townspeople's envy of Johannes' success, was a recipe for trouble. It started when Ursula Reinbold accused Katharina of "...[using] very considerable dark powers to make [me] moan, weep, cringe, be barren...It was a poison she gave me-a witches brew." Katharina was summoned to appear before the newly installed ducal governor. Simon, Katharina's next door neighbor, would appear with her in the capacity of legal guardian. Should she file a complaint for slander? "One has to insist upon justice-it was the 'terrible incorrectness of the accusations'...the threat of torture and execution."
Neighbor after neighbor added malicious rumors that included passing through locked doors and riding a goat backwards then cooking and eating it. "The people that accuse you, Katharina, are half-formed people...envious people". "...soon my expenses would soar, the revenue from my fields be frozen, the meager assets of my house seized." Katharina's daughter Greta, thought well of the world and everyone in it. "If we behave with grace, then they will behave with grace." Simon, Katharina's documentarian was worried. "I like to be unseen, in plain sight...since I am friend to Katharina that shadow has reached my doorstep." What troubled her the most? She was concerned about the well being of her faithful cow, Chamomile. Chamomile's needs were paramount.
"Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch" by Rivka Galchen is the imagined rendering of the testimonies at the Witch Trial of Katharina Kepler. The reliability of witness accounts was affected by gossipmongers and the natural passage of time that might muddy recollections. Johannes Kepler was tormented with thoughts of being investigated. "...such overblown and ludicrous allegations could blight my fifteen years of imperial service...". It began with the "raving fantasies" of a local housewife...suspicion...baseless slander...superstition...and misunderstanding. What would be the outcome? A highly recommended tome.
Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 12, 2024
I have re-read this book.
I found the title very clever, but it was initially misleading. I mistakingly first assumed it was a modern YA novel about taunting and bullying in school and dismissed it. This week it was included in articles recommending books to be read this summer in Time magazine and MacLeans (Canada's national magazine). I learned it was a work of historical fiction based on fact by literary award-winning author Rivka Galchen, a Canadian/American writer.
It is a fictionalized account of the actual witchcraft trial of Katharina Kepler, the 71-year-old mother of renowned royal court astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, still regarded today as one of the world's leading scientific minds. He left his work to lead the defence in his mother's trial but was concerned about how it would affect his professional reputation.
The time is 1615, a time of turmoil in European history. It features a small Lutheran community within the Holy Roman Empire during religious tumult. The 30 Years' War is beginning, and a new, deadly plague is spreading that will kill many, including some of the characters in the story.
Told with much humour and wit through Katharina's thoughts and conversations with family and a neighbour, it is an engaging read. It shows that long before social media existed, rumours and 'false news' had their strong adherents who would grasp the most bizarre story, insisting on its truth. Told with modern language and sensibility, it depicts Katarina as an elderly busybody, brash and outspoken, who has ridiculous nicknames for people who annoy or oppose her. She was a herbalist and healer. She is an elderly, illiterate woman accused of being a witch. She is a widow who loves her family and her sweet cow, Chamomile. She is accused of witchcraft by a deluded, spiteful woman and finds the charge silly, refusing to take it seriously. She has already raised some scorn and suspicion by wandering openly around town and not staying secluded in her home as was the custom of widows.
News and rumours of the charge against Katharina spread like wildfire. Soon people who suffered pain, illness, death in the family, or injury and death to livestock blame Katharina for causing any misfortune they suffered in past decades through her witchcraft and communication with the devil. Many of the accusations were ridiculous, but those in power tended to believe them. The local authority was already responsible for the torture and execution of 8 witches that year in the area where Katharina was charged. She does not realize how much danger she faces. When she brings a lawsuit for libel and slander against her accusers, it worsens matters for her. The old woman's leg is chained to her cold prison cell wall, and her assets are seized to be used to pay for her upkeep. Those spreading falsehoods through envy and greed hope to acquire some of her property through their malicious claims.
I found the actual trial confusing. Johannes Kepler, the famed scientist, is rarely mentioned in the story. We read he is preparing the defence of his mother, but in this story, another son, Hans, an astrologer, seems mostly engaged in the courtroom trial. Not sure if the narrator mistook him for the noted astronomer, but it seems like he was later attempting to publish some of his brother's scientific theories under his own name. I failed to understand the reason for diminishing Johannes Kepler's role.
The characters are strongly written, quirky and memorable. The dialogue is often hilarious and gives a picture of a society in a time of terror and hardship. I learned there is a scholarly, illustrated book on the subject published in 2015 written by Ulinka Rublack, "the Astronomer and the Witch." I have already downloaded a copy as I am anxious to learn more about the society, customs, religious friction, and the witch trials. It is an intriguing era where magic and science clash.
I found the title very clever, but it was initially misleading. I mistakingly first assumed it was a modern YA novel about taunting and bullying in school and dismissed it. This week it was included in articles recommending books to be read this summer in Time magazine and MacLeans (Canada's national magazine). I learned it was a work of historical fiction based on fact by literary award-winning author Rivka Galchen, a Canadian/American writer.
It is a fictionalized account of the actual witchcraft trial of Katharina Kepler, the 71-year-old mother of renowned royal court astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, still regarded today as one of the world's leading scientific minds. He left his work to lead the defence in his mother's trial but was concerned about how it would affect his professional reputation.
The time is 1615, a time of turmoil in European history. It features a small Lutheran community within the Holy Roman Empire during religious tumult. The 30 Years' War is beginning, and a new, deadly plague is spreading that will kill many, including some of the characters in the story.
Told with much humour and wit through Katharina's thoughts and conversations with family and a neighbour, it is an engaging read. It shows that long before social media existed, rumours and 'false news' had their strong adherents who would grasp the most bizarre story, insisting on its truth. Told with modern language and sensibility, it depicts Katarina as an elderly busybody, brash and outspoken, who has ridiculous nicknames for people who annoy or oppose her. She was a herbalist and healer. She is an elderly, illiterate woman accused of being a witch. She is a widow who loves her family and her sweet cow, Chamomile. She is accused of witchcraft by a deluded, spiteful woman and finds the charge silly, refusing to take it seriously. She has already raised some scorn and suspicion by wandering openly around town and not staying secluded in her home as was the custom of widows.
News and rumours of the charge against Katharina spread like wildfire. Soon people who suffered pain, illness, death in the family, or injury and death to livestock blame Katharina for causing any misfortune they suffered in past decades through her witchcraft and communication with the devil. Many of the accusations were ridiculous, but those in power tended to believe them. The local authority was already responsible for the torture and execution of 8 witches that year in the area where Katharina was charged. She does not realize how much danger she faces. When she brings a lawsuit for libel and slander against her accusers, it worsens matters for her. The old woman's leg is chained to her cold prison cell wall, and her assets are seized to be used to pay for her upkeep. Those spreading falsehoods through envy and greed hope to acquire some of her property through their malicious claims.
I found the actual trial confusing. Johannes Kepler, the famed scientist, is rarely mentioned in the story. We read he is preparing the defence of his mother, but in this story, another son, Hans, an astrologer, seems mostly engaged in the courtroom trial. Not sure if the narrator mistook him for the noted astronomer, but it seems like he was later attempting to publish some of his brother's scientific theories under his own name. I failed to understand the reason for diminishing Johannes Kepler's role.
The characters are strongly written, quirky and memorable. The dialogue is often hilarious and gives a picture of a society in a time of terror and hardship. I learned there is a scholarly, illustrated book on the subject published in 2015 written by Ulinka Rublack, "the Astronomer and the Witch." I have already downloaded a copy as I am anxious to learn more about the society, customs, religious friction, and the witch trials. It is an intriguing era where magic and science clash.
November 26, 2021
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen is a 2021 Farrar, Straus and Giroux publication.
The widow Katharina finds herself accused of being a witch in Germany, circa 1618. These accusations gain traction after a woman claims Katharina gave her a drink that made her ill. Katharina’s behavior doesn’t help matters. Her children, though, who are very successful, come to her defense. Meanwhile, Katharina confides in Simon, her neighbor, a man with his own secrets…
This story is based on true events. It is an interesting imagining, and the author did a good job of bringing the characters out and creating a bit of high drama as Katharina awaits her fate. The prose is exceptional and is the brightest part of this book, but it is also thought-provoking, and certainly an original approach to this subject matter, which has been studied and written about often.
This was a very quick read for me, but I found it incredibly well-written, rich in historical details, absorbing, imaginative, and interesting spin on ‘the moral panic’ and as always, a sobering cautionary tale.
4 stars
The widow Katharina finds herself accused of being a witch in Germany, circa 1618. These accusations gain traction after a woman claims Katharina gave her a drink that made her ill. Katharina’s behavior doesn’t help matters. Her children, though, who are very successful, come to her defense. Meanwhile, Katharina confides in Simon, her neighbor, a man with his own secrets…
This story is based on true events. It is an interesting imagining, and the author did a good job of bringing the characters out and creating a bit of high drama as Katharina awaits her fate. The prose is exceptional and is the brightest part of this book, but it is also thought-provoking, and certainly an original approach to this subject matter, which has been studied and written about often.
This was a very quick read for me, but I found it incredibly well-written, rich in historical details, absorbing, imaginative, and interesting spin on ‘the moral panic’ and as always, a sobering cautionary tale.
4 stars
May 11, 2021
The novel is achingly, vividly imagined, the narrative voice is smart and believable, the story is so interesting, and I loved it entirely. And yet I wanted something more. I'm not sure what I wanted. I think maybe I wanted the story to matter more. I wanted it to mean something more. I wanted it to be revelatory along with being exhilarating and damn-great. I wanted the narrator's experiences to build into something more profound than they did. I wanted her to make some deeper realization about life, about her life, than I could glean here. Maybe it's here and I missed it. I'm more than happy to imagine reading this delightful story again and to find in it deeper meanings. On this read there was something cruel and smug about the ending especially that made the novel just one small step from perfect. I've just spent a lot of words trying to explain the absence of something that would have made this book a masterpiece instead of being an incredibly great novel. What's here is so very good. Every sentence. Every word.
November 3, 2024
Jerry Springer a.k.a. courtroom drama in the 17th century, with witch hunt taking a literal form and our narrator being more sly and clever than she projects to be
”The greedy misuse the world by striving to acquire it” said Martin Luther
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is for me the hands down best title of the year. Set in the 17th century Holy Roman Empire, the book addresses the destructive power of rumours, when Katharina Kepler (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katha...), mother to the famous astronomer, is accused of being a witch. Rivka Galchen writes the book as a narrative by Katharina, with some sections written by her neighbour. The legal system Katharina passes through is byzantine, especially after she files a slander cases that puts the regent of the duke of her small town in a bad light.
The sarcasm and wittiness of the “witch” telling her story in a 17th century German town is excellent; even if a lot of people die along away due to the outside world events, including the plague and the Thirty Year war, the book is really funny.
The way Katharina depicts her fellow villagers is hilarious, with Ursula the Werewolf, someone called the Cabbage, a Duke that’s called the False Unicorn
And the court testimonies, that intersperse the book, with all kind of substantial “evidence” of witchcraft from years and years ago, while revealing the petty conflicts between people, are very well done. We have an almost uncanny attachment to a cow as comic element and all kinds of sausage proverbs that also really make this a frolicking tale, with characters on the edge of caricature that sometimes made me think of Jonathan Safran Foer his work.
One does get glimpses of our narrator being more sly and influential than she appears to be; with a quite moving final court speech of her prosecutors at the end almost casting her and her family as an elite that needs to be torn down. This whole back and forth has false news arguments, and we are all equal claims that feel very modern, and also make a modern day reader feel how precarious the position of women was in that day and age.
I enjoyed reading the book and the meta take on real life events, but found the plotting sometimes slow, not really compelling me to read on an on. Also the whole storyline from the perspective of the neighbour felt a bit bolted on or at least for me lacked an emotional impact.
Overall a strong 3 stars historical read that says much about our modern times as well.
”The greedy misuse the world by striving to acquire it” said Martin Luther
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is for me the hands down best title of the year. Set in the 17th century Holy Roman Empire, the book addresses the destructive power of rumours, when Katharina Kepler (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katha...), mother to the famous astronomer, is accused of being a witch. Rivka Galchen writes the book as a narrative by Katharina, with some sections written by her neighbour. The legal system Katharina passes through is byzantine, especially after she files a slander cases that puts the regent of the duke of her small town in a bad light.
The sarcasm and wittiness of the “witch” telling her story in a 17th century German town is excellent; even if a lot of people die along away due to the outside world events, including the plague and the Thirty Year war, the book is really funny.
The way Katharina depicts her fellow villagers is hilarious, with Ursula the Werewolf, someone called the Cabbage, a Duke that’s called the False Unicorn
And the court testimonies, that intersperse the book, with all kind of substantial “evidence” of witchcraft from years and years ago, while revealing the petty conflicts between people, are very well done. We have an almost uncanny attachment to a cow as comic element and all kinds of sausage proverbs that also really make this a frolicking tale, with characters on the edge of caricature that sometimes made me think of Jonathan Safran Foer his work.
One does get glimpses of our narrator being more sly and influential than she appears to be; with a quite moving final court speech of her prosecutors at the end almost casting her and her family as an elite that needs to be torn down. This whole back and forth has false news arguments, and we are all equal claims that feel very modern, and also make a modern day reader feel how precarious the position of women was in that day and age.
I enjoyed reading the book and the meta take on real life events, but found the plotting sometimes slow, not really compelling me to read on an on. Also the whole storyline from the perspective of the neighbour felt a bit bolted on or at least for me lacked an emotional impact.
Overall a strong 3 stars historical read that says much about our modern times as well.
October 29, 2021
“Everyone knows your mother was a witch—” “It was my aunt.”
I mean seriously – just the title alone . . . .
And yet sadly this was another highly anticipated October read that fell short for me.
In 1619 Germany, Katherina finds herself accused of practicing witchcraft. What follows is the goings on regarding Katherina’s day-to-day at the time interspersed with transcriptions of various court hearings where members of the town are interviewed to see if the accused is truly skilled at the dark arts.
Since I’m not a blurb reader I did not realize until just now that some of the information contained herein was pulled from actual historical documents, but I don’t know that that knowledge would have had any sort of impact on my rating either. While Katherina’s commentary did provide a chuckle or two . . . .
“It has come to my attention that you’ve used your very considerable dark powers to make this fine glazier’s wife”—at this he looked over at Ursula, who nodded encouragement—“to make her moan, weep, cringe, writhe, be barren, and cackle.” “No cackling, sir,” Ursula said. “But the other stuff—yes.”
The story as a whole was a bit of a slog and the ending was one of the most lackluster I’ve read all year. So much attempted build-up of anticipation to basically fizzle out into nothing. As someone who reads 350-400 page books in a day, 288 pages should never take several for me to get through.
I mean seriously – just the title alone . . . .
And yet sadly this was another highly anticipated October read that fell short for me.
In 1619 Germany, Katherina finds herself accused of practicing witchcraft. What follows is the goings on regarding Katherina’s day-to-day at the time interspersed with transcriptions of various court hearings where members of the town are interviewed to see if the accused is truly skilled at the dark arts.
Since I’m not a blurb reader I did not realize until just now that some of the information contained herein was pulled from actual historical documents, but I don’t know that that knowledge would have had any sort of impact on my rating either. While Katherina’s commentary did provide a chuckle or two . . . .
“It has come to my attention that you’ve used your very considerable dark powers to make this fine glazier’s wife”—at this he looked over at Ursula, who nodded encouragement—“to make her moan, weep, cringe, writhe, be barren, and cackle.” “No cackling, sir,” Ursula said. “But the other stuff—yes.”
The story as a whole was a bit of a slog and the ending was one of the most lackluster I’ve read all year. So much attempted build-up of anticipation to basically fizzle out into nothing. As someone who reads 350-400 page books in a day, 288 pages should never take several for me to get through.
July 12, 2021
I am a huge historical fiction fan and picked up this book eager for some delving into the historical moment and exploration of gender, magic, religion, and power. I was disappointed on all counts. Broken into court transcripts, conversations, and something akin to journal entries (actual audience of these? unknown.) the story moves forward at a snail's pace and offers multiple perspectives but no depth. The history, too, is just there - background but nothing more. A lot felt anachronistic, particularly some of the phrasing, with no effort to use metaphor or imagery that would be true to how a person of that time might imagine or think. Very disappointing.
June 19, 2021
I adore this book. It is unlike most other witch trial books: it isn't tense or overly dramatic and avoids the typical clichees of historical fiction. It doesn't read that historical at all, apart from keeping the circumstances and values of the people of that time, it is written pretty modern and relatable. And that fits so well, showing that we aren't that far away from this behaviour, that I didn't mind not beeing able the immerse myself into the time period. It's also super funny without drifting into a comedy, the feelings and motives of the characters are still front and center, and the characters became very dear to me.
I also love how scenes from the trial are sprinkled throughout the book instead of putting it at the end, I think it puts things into perspective.
I also love how scenes from the trial are sprinkled throughout the book instead of putting it at the end, I think it puts things into perspective.
January 24, 2022
This was cool. I looked up some parts and realized that it was based on a true story. The story was not the most interesting, but it still wasn’t bad.
September 29, 2021
Nothing happens.
Smug narrator visits the dimwitted clerk of courts like three times with her quirky son. Quirky son demands a court date from dimwitted clerk. Dimwitted clerk plays like “big summer blowout” from frozen and gives no usable information. So naturally author expounds on this for six pages.
Smug Narrator then is very exhausted. Sighs. Gives a knowing “look at the asshole” glance to the audience. We’re supposed to think “man what a badass bitch” as the author obviously did a zillion times during her research.
She says her research was the most fun she’s had with a book. I’m happy for her because we all need fun hobbies.
But it didn’t translate to an interesting book. It was like that friend that starts a story with “oh man the funniest thing happened to me the other day…” and the thing is not funny. But instead of aborting mission, the friend keeps giving details, hoping eventually we’ll be into it. And then.. and then… and then…
Smug narrator visits the dimwitted clerk of courts like three times with her quirky son. Quirky son demands a court date from dimwitted clerk. Dimwitted clerk plays like “big summer blowout” from frozen and gives no usable information. So naturally author expounds on this for six pages.
Smug Narrator then is very exhausted. Sighs. Gives a knowing “look at the asshole” glance to the audience. We’re supposed to think “man what a badass bitch” as the author obviously did a zillion times during her research.
She says her research was the most fun she’s had with a book. I’m happy for her because we all need fun hobbies.
But it didn’t translate to an interesting book. It was like that friend that starts a story with “oh man the funniest thing happened to me the other day…” and the thing is not funny. But instead of aborting mission, the friend keeps giving details, hoping eventually we’ll be into it. And then.. and then… and then…
September 16, 2021
Do not believe the reviews. You only have so much time in your life. You can better spend 271 pages elsewhere. Sorry.
Read
August 2, 2022this was kind of underwhelming. and even though the book is based on true events that happened in the 1600s, the writing style was too anachronistic imo to really transport me to that time period.
July 13, 2021
This is my last read for the Tournament of Books Camp ToB, and I think this is my favorite, although none were five-star reads for me.
Johannes Kepler is known for his astronomy discoveries but the context of that work is the era of the plague, and people not understanding disease, much less the universe. His mother Katharina is accused of being a witch in her old age and this is the (fictionalized) story of the trial, largely told through testimonies of her neighbors, who looking back now blame all ailments, failures, and deaths on her. There are also letters from Katharina to her son and others. It is historical fiction, recentering a female character, with some humor and conjecture. The ending was rather fun.
The audiobook is narrated by Natasha Soudek she does a lot of different voices for the characters.
And kudos to me for making it through a historical fiction novel, which is just usually not my thing. 🥴
Johannes Kepler is known for his astronomy discoveries but the context of that work is the era of the plague, and people not understanding disease, much less the universe. His mother Katharina is accused of being a witch in her old age and this is the (fictionalized) story of the trial, largely told through testimonies of her neighbors, who looking back now blame all ailments, failures, and deaths on her. There are also letters from Katharina to her son and others. It is historical fiction, recentering a female character, with some humor and conjecture. The ending was rather fun.
The audiobook is narrated by Natasha Soudek she does a lot of different voices for the characters.
And kudos to me for making it through a historical fiction novel, which is just usually not my thing. 🥴
June 28, 2022
An intense and whimsical novel of misunderstandings, injustice, imagination, and resilience. Told in thoughtful and dreamy prose, we have a novel that is not only a portal into the past, but also an unfortunate nod to modern mob mentalities and conflict-centered culture. Our protagonist is endearing and sympathetic, a symbol of bravery and self assurance in a world where our every move and intention is questioned.
September 4, 2021
The voice in this book is unparalleled. The character is magnificent. It’s like if Olive Kitteridge was accused of witchcraft in 1618 and also had three children who actually liked her. It’s astonishingly good, funny and wise and woefully depressing in the way real life sometimes is. A new favorite for sure.
February 8, 2022
I’m not going to let this excellent book be the one that let me get behind in reviews in 2022. I’ve been too intimidated to start writing this review because the book was so smart, so I sat down just now and decided I was going to type until a review came out. So that’s what’s happening here.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is just as cheeky as its title would imply. The book is (darkly) funny, and the story of Katharina Kepler (mother of Johannes Kepler) is told mostly in her own words, with occasional excerpts of testimony from those speaking at her trial, and first person narration by her friend and neighbor Simon, who acts as her guardian. Because Katharina, living in 1618 at the beginning of the Thirty Years War and another outbreak of Plague, has been accused of being a witch. This is historical fiction, not historical fantasy, so unfortunately there is no actual witchcraft here, but the story is based on actual history, as Johannes Kepler’s mother was indeed accused of witchcraft, and although the book only slightly hints at this, historians think this was part of a series of attempts on the part of Kepler’s political and scientific rivals to discredit him. (Kepler, if you don’t know off the top of your head (I didn’t) was the dude who wrote the Planetary Laws of Motion.)
So, plague and false accusations of witchcraft here. You know you’re in for a good time.
Except, weirdly, it was a good time. Katharina is illiterate, so she employs her friend and neighbor (and legal guardian) Simon to chronicle the story for her. Katharina’s voice is so unique and I loved her by the end of five minutes. I enjoyed Simon as a narrator as well, although his outlook on life is much more bleak than Katharina’s, and he’s a very different person (certainly not as funny). The testimony excerpts from Katharina’s trial were by turns darkly hilarious and infuriating. Rivka Galchen appears to be a master of subtle satire.
And of course, the narrator, whose name is Natasha Soudek, and please can she narrate five thousand more books immediately. She was immensely talented, and her delivery of some of these lines (which were already great) made them even better. Her accent work was impeccable, and she makes the old fashioned word usage of the characters seem natural and human. Her sense of comic timing is superb. I think I would have loved this book anyway, but the audio really made it something special. If you like audiobooks, I recommend going that way first if you have the chance. (Saying this, I turned around and bought myself a hard copy soon after finishing. It’s currently $9 on Book Outlet.)
Be warned going in, things aren’t all dark laughter and satirical joyfulness. With Plague comes death. If you have read Doomsday Book, similar vibes to that book were going on here, and similar sad outcomes as well. People in 1618 did not have great or even good life expectancy. The Plague parts of the novel weren’t huge, but they do make their presence known.
Anyways, this book was great. This is the kind of literary fiction I can get into.
[4.5 stars, rounded up for the fantastic audio performance]
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is just as cheeky as its title would imply. The book is (darkly) funny, and the story of Katharina Kepler (mother of Johannes Kepler) is told mostly in her own words, with occasional excerpts of testimony from those speaking at her trial, and first person narration by her friend and neighbor Simon, who acts as her guardian. Because Katharina, living in 1618 at the beginning of the Thirty Years War and another outbreak of Plague, has been accused of being a witch. This is historical fiction, not historical fantasy, so unfortunately there is no actual witchcraft here, but the story is based on actual history, as Johannes Kepler’s mother was indeed accused of witchcraft, and although the book only slightly hints at this, historians think this was part of a series of attempts on the part of Kepler’s political and scientific rivals to discredit him. (Kepler, if you don’t know off the top of your head (I didn’t) was the dude who wrote the Planetary Laws of Motion.)
So, plague and false accusations of witchcraft here. You know you’re in for a good time.
Except, weirdly, it was a good time. Katharina is illiterate, so she employs her friend and neighbor (and legal guardian) Simon to chronicle the story for her. Katharina’s voice is so unique and I loved her by the end of five minutes. I enjoyed Simon as a narrator as well, although his outlook on life is much more bleak than Katharina’s, and he’s a very different person (certainly not as funny). The testimony excerpts from Katharina’s trial were by turns darkly hilarious and infuriating. Rivka Galchen appears to be a master of subtle satire.
And of course, the narrator, whose name is Natasha Soudek, and please can she narrate five thousand more books immediately. She was immensely talented, and her delivery of some of these lines (which were already great) made them even better. Her accent work was impeccable, and she makes the old fashioned word usage of the characters seem natural and human. Her sense of comic timing is superb. I think I would have loved this book anyway, but the audio really made it something special. If you like audiobooks, I recommend going that way first if you have the chance. (Saying this, I turned around and bought myself a hard copy soon after finishing. It’s currently $9 on Book Outlet.)
Be warned going in, things aren’t all dark laughter and satirical joyfulness. With Plague comes death. If you have read Doomsday Book, similar vibes to that book were going on here, and similar sad outcomes as well. People in 1618 did not have great or even good life expectancy. The Plague parts of the novel weren’t huge, but they do make their presence known.
Anyways, this book was great. This is the kind of literary fiction I can get into.
[4.5 stars, rounded up for the fantastic audio performance]
November 21, 2022
3.5 stars... this was okay. I'm not sure why it won so many awards to be honest. It's not amazing. It has a unique narrative style I suppose; and the interviews are well positioned to give details to the story without experiencing each instance inside the core narrative. But overall I was a bit underwhelmed by Every Knows Your Mother is a Witch given how much praise I've heard for it.
I think I expected a bit more horror to be involved. It's possible I've just read too many witch trial books over the years (which could easily be true); or maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the time I read it. I'm not totally sure what it is about this book that didn't hit it for me. It could even be that it got over hyped and I am sooo late to the party that my expectations were far too high. Whatever the reason I can only barely give this four stars.
It's worthy of a read; but if I were to have missed out on it in the end that would not be a tragedy. The unique letter/interview format is what elevates Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch past a banal, meh three star level. I certainly do not understand why it was so hyped and given so many awards. That said, I would check out future books by Rivka Galchen if the plot/story was my thing. It wasn't the writing that was subpar but more that I just didn't care about the story or the characters really. Maybe that is the downfall of the interview script and letter writing used here is that you don't have the voice of a main character(s) or even a narrator to tie it all together.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
I think I expected a bit more horror to be involved. It's possible I've just read too many witch trial books over the years (which could easily be true); or maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the time I read it. I'm not totally sure what it is about this book that didn't hit it for me. It could even be that it got over hyped and I am sooo late to the party that my expectations were far too high. Whatever the reason I can only barely give this four stars.
It's worthy of a read; but if I were to have missed out on it in the end that would not be a tragedy. The unique letter/interview format is what elevates Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch past a banal, meh three star level. I certainly do not understand why it was so hyped and given so many awards. That said, I would check out future books by Rivka Galchen if the plot/story was my thing. It wasn't the writing that was subpar but more that I just didn't care about the story or the characters really. Maybe that is the downfall of the interview script and letter writing used here is that you don't have the voice of a main character(s) or even a narrator to tie it all together.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
July 16, 2021
I try my best to like people.To expect good from them. If you see someone as a monster, it is as good as attaching a real horn to them and poking them with a hot metal poker. I really do think so. In order to avoid turning people into monsters by suspecting them of being monsters, I do my best to keep mostly to myself.
In 1618, as the Thirty Years' War gets going, plague is a constant threat and life is generally harsh, an elderly woman living in a small town in what is now Germany is accused of witchcraft. An unremarkable occurrence, but in this case the woman's son is Johannes Kepler -- astronomer, mathematician and a key player in the scientific revolution. From this historical tidbit, Rivka Galchen has written this novel.
Katharina Kepler is a woman who has survived to old age, supporting herself and quietly living her life. She loves her garden and Chamomile, her cow. When she is accused, she goes for help to her neighbor who is both a man and literate, who carefully helps her write down her defense. But the odds aren't in her favor, despite the help of her adult children.
Galchen has written a wonderful novel that is a character study of Katharina and her neighbor as well as a portrait of daily life at a time of turmoil and scarcity. She manages that difficult balance, of making her characters fully inhabit their time and place and of making them feel like real people.
October 15, 2021
I never want to hear anything about cows again
June 13, 2021
4.5
”Do you understand that any false testimony you knowingly give will provoke God’s great anger in your earthly life and will deliver your soul unto Satan upon your death?”
So begins each deposition, a question translated from the original trial, for the charges of witchcraft made against the elderly Katharina Kepler, mother of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. Rivka Galchen’s Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is a fictionalized version of those actual events.
Accusations of witchcraft can be a sturdy literary vehicle for holding a mirror up to society. Arthur Miller did it in The Crucible, an allegory for McCarthyism. Rivka Galchen’s novel is certainly relevant to our current ‘Trumpian times’ where meanness has become not only acceptable but rewarded, and accumulating lies are shamelessly used for personal gain.
Preparing the defense for his mother Johannes writes:
”…a carefully drafted, detailed story of a town populated with liars and fools, with selfishness and stupidity…Fools, braggarts, and purse-grabbers has caused his mother’s misery. Corruption, laziness, and malice.”
It does sound familiar, doesn’t it? Oh, and lest I forget, there is also a plague.
If there is any witchery going on here it is Galchen conjuring up some gorgeous prose and infusing a tragic story with her well-known intelligence and humor. This is a dark tale but, yes, it is often very funny with Galchen sometimes modernizes the language for comic effect. In one case a witness answered the opening question above with “If you say so, okay” which I doubt would be a reply made in 1618 but nevertheless gave me a chuckle. She is also marvelous at depicting the absurdities in society. Overall, I found this to be a smart, exquisitely written, and entertaining read. It has been 13 years since I’ve read and loved Galchen’s novel Atmospheric Disturbances and I find myself strongly tempted to reread it. My memory is of a unique writer and if I thought her a bit strange or odd at the time, it was a wonderful oddness that worked very well for me and still does.
”Do you understand that any false testimony you knowingly give will provoke God’s great anger in your earthly life and will deliver your soul unto Satan upon your death?”
So begins each deposition, a question translated from the original trial, for the charges of witchcraft made against the elderly Katharina Kepler, mother of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. Rivka Galchen’s Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is a fictionalized version of those actual events.
Accusations of witchcraft can be a sturdy literary vehicle for holding a mirror up to society. Arthur Miller did it in The Crucible, an allegory for McCarthyism. Rivka Galchen’s novel is certainly relevant to our current ‘Trumpian times’ where meanness has become not only acceptable but rewarded, and accumulating lies are shamelessly used for personal gain.
Preparing the defense for his mother Johannes writes:
”…a carefully drafted, detailed story of a town populated with liars and fools, with selfishness and stupidity…Fools, braggarts, and purse-grabbers has caused his mother’s misery. Corruption, laziness, and malice.”
It does sound familiar, doesn’t it? Oh, and lest I forget, there is also a plague.
If there is any witchery going on here it is Galchen conjuring up some gorgeous prose and infusing a tragic story with her well-known intelligence and humor. This is a dark tale but, yes, it is often very funny with Galchen sometimes modernizes the language for comic effect. In one case a witness answered the opening question above with “If you say so, okay” which I doubt would be a reply made in 1618 but nevertheless gave me a chuckle. She is also marvelous at depicting the absurdities in society. Overall, I found this to be a smart, exquisitely written, and entertaining read. It has been 13 years since I’ve read and loved Galchen’s novel Atmospheric Disturbances and I find myself strongly tempted to reread it. My memory is of a unique writer and if I thought her a bit strange or odd at the time, it was a wonderful oddness that worked very well for me and still does.
June 16, 2021
I'm not sad that I spent time with this book, but I also didn't feel that I experienced anything new or profound with it. It's the tried & true story of a woman being accused of being a witch, and all that befalls her and her family and the larger community as a result. There are no surprising plot twists; nothing occurs that is out-of-the-ordinary in a witch accusation/trial story.
The setting is a region of Germany during the early 1600s. The story is told through a combination of first-person narrative, letters, and deposition testimony. From the author's Acknowledgements, I understand the novel is based on a true story.
The setting is a region of Germany during the early 1600s. The story is told through a combination of first-person narrative, letters, and deposition testimony. From the author's Acknowledgements, I understand the novel is based on a true story.
November 8, 2021
I liked this book quite a bit. It's historical fiction (not always my wheelhouse) based on the true history that Johannes Kepler's mother was accused & tried for witchcraft in the 1600s.
Since it's about being accused of witchcraft, I was very surprised & delighted by the subtle humor, especially in the first half of the book. Just some things that made me chuckle, some wry observations, as well as jibes between family members.
Katherina Kepler's story is told from a few different viewpoints, much of it being her dictated words (as put down by her "stand-by" neighbor since she was illiterate), interspersed sometimes with the neighbor's own thoughts, depositions from various townspeople, .... Galchen deftly weaves older style vocabulary with modern terms to great effect, clearly highlighting the symmetries of people divided by centuries, yet dealing with so many of the same things: conspiracy-like thinking, gossip, backbiting, arguments of science vs. those who don't believe, a pandemic, wars, economic woes, & more. While the content of the depositions is fiction, at one time you might have read it & thought, "Surely people can't believe crazy stuff like that?" (in re: to witchcraft in the 1600s), but if the trumpy years & our current crazy anti-CRT, anti-vaccine climate has shown me anything, it has *totally* revealed to me how one can be surrounded by folks who believe all kinds of batshit crap. And are willing to testify to it. How we change & yet remain totally the same. All that to say that Galchen does a great job with the parallels to our current times & this witchcraft-related story seems very of-the-moment, imo.
The second half of the book seemed more serious with less humor & a certain lassitude, which felt very real & accurate to me, as the charges are no laughing matter & a kind of despair, as well as ennui surely sets in. Katherina is elderly & I think it's fair to say that at some point, you would realize you're just plain tired. Tired of stupid people. Of bureaucracy. Of grief. Of lies. Of conspiracies. Of life in general. And while ultimately Katherina is found not guilty, she was put through the wringer for a couple of years & that had to be a heavy mental, emotional, & physical weight. While she was ultimately exonerated, she died about a year later.
An engrossing book.
Since it's about being accused of witchcraft, I was very surprised & delighted by the subtle humor, especially in the first half of the book. Just some things that made me chuckle, some wry observations, as well as jibes between family members.
Katherina Kepler's story is told from a few different viewpoints, much of it being her dictated words (as put down by her "stand-by" neighbor since she was illiterate), interspersed sometimes with the neighbor's own thoughts, depositions from various townspeople, .... Galchen deftly weaves older style vocabulary with modern terms to great effect, clearly highlighting the symmetries of people divided by centuries, yet dealing with so many of the same things: conspiracy-like thinking, gossip, backbiting, arguments of science vs. those who don't believe, a pandemic, wars, economic woes, & more. While the content of the depositions is fiction, at one time you might have read it & thought, "Surely people can't believe crazy stuff like that?" (in re: to witchcraft in the 1600s), but if the trumpy years & our current crazy anti-CRT, anti-vaccine climate has shown me anything, it has *totally* revealed to me how one can be surrounded by folks who believe all kinds of batshit crap. And are willing to testify to it. How we change & yet remain totally the same. All that to say that Galchen does a great job with the parallels to our current times & this witchcraft-related story seems very of-the-moment, imo.
The second half of the book seemed more serious with less humor & a certain lassitude, which felt very real & accurate to me, as the charges are no laughing matter & a kind of despair, as well as ennui surely sets in. Katherina is elderly & I think it's fair to say that at some point, you would realize you're just plain tired. Tired of stupid people. Of bureaucracy. Of grief. Of lies. Of conspiracies. Of life in general. And while ultimately Katherina is found not guilty, she was put through the wringer for a couple of years & that had to be a heavy mental, emotional, & physical weight. While she was ultimately exonerated, she died about a year later.
An engrossing book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2021
TIL: Johannes Kepler's mother was tried as a witch
The historical fiction market is bursting at the seams—absolutely full to the brim—of novels about white women during World War II (seriously…look at the list of 2021 releases). It’s a myopic, over-saturated genre, and it seems to only be getting worse with time.
Which is why books like Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch are always such a treat to find. Sadly, this recent release isn’t marketed in a way that accurately advertises its contents. That’s not Rivka Galchen’s fault, but it is unfortunate. Absolutely nothing about the cover or the title indicate that this is a historical novel about Johannes Kepler’s mother, who was accused, imprisoned, and tried as a witch in 1620. (Surprise!)
This isn’t a long book, and it doesn’t waste a lot of time in grounding its narrative in the historical context. I think this makes it accessible to readers who don’t tend to go in for the chunky historical epics which at times can be more effort than they’re worth. (Looking at you, Margaret George.) In Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, Galchen isn’t focused so much on accurate details as she is on her craft and the distinctive tone of her narrator, the seventy-something alleged witch, Katharina. It’s a more literary approach to history than is typical, but not necessarily “literary” in the snooty, highbrow manner of, ahem…certain books.
Katharina’s experiences are given to readers through multiple framing devices. On one part, the book reads as a confession, orally dictated by the illiterate protagonist to her neighbor and friend, Simon. This part of the book is conversational, irreverent, and meandering, and the reader comes to know who Katharina is through her cheeky, shrewd observations of her situation and her fellow man. Then interspersed with the main narrative is the transcript of witness testimony at Katharina’s trial. Person by person, Galchen explores the minds of various people who are subpoenaed by the tribunal in order to speak against our narrator—or on her behalf, as the case may be. Although I cannot say that the two parts of the book quite came together to form one cohesive whole, I can’t say that the structure absolutely didn’t work.
Overall, I feel that Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is close to being a truly excellent book. It’s nearly there, and I’m frustrated because there’s nothing quite like enjoying a book but feeling the whole time that it could have been more. Here, the subject matter, the narration, and the suspenseful courtroom drama are full of promise, and they’re certainly a far cry from your overdone “WWII lady spy” story.
But to be perfectly honest, Galchen failed to bring everything together at the critical moment. She very deliberately threw down the curtain at the natural climax of the story, and although I feel this was intended to subvert readers’ expectations and make a specific point, all it did was leave me scratching my head. See, right when Katharina’s case is submitted to the courts and everyone is awaiting the verdict, everything stops. Simon, the neighbor who’s been writing down everything she says, takes over. Simon rambles a lot about various things, completely elides the main thrust of the plot, and then circles back with “oh yeah, Katharina was found innocent, she died a year later, and now everyone else is dead too. Toodles!”
Basically, Galchen threw the brakes in the middle of a riveting courtroom drama in order to shrug her shoulders. The momentum of the plot peters out, and as the reader, you wonder what was the purpose of it all anyway? And that is probably the intent! It’s a very litfic-y Ecclesiastical “everything is meaningless” denouement. But it doesn’t work, because as a character, Simon’s voice isn’t eloquent or distinctive enough to bring it all together. He’s boring, and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. So instead of being either satisfied by a riveting story or surprised by a though-provoking conclusion, the book kind of just…fades out.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is disappointing not necessarily because it’s a bad book. Instead, I was underwhelmed because I could tell that (a) the author is very smart and had a point to make and (b) said point was never clearly arrived at. There’s no catharsis in this narrative, no sense of completion. At the most important moment, Galchen fumbled the pass.
All that being said, I enjoyed this book and do recommend it. Katharina Kepler, as envisioned here, is shrewd and has a keen eye for the ridiculous aspects of even the most frightening situation; she is equal parts exasperated by and grateful to her adult children; she loves her milk cow more than anything in the whole world. I’m happy to have met her, to have heard her story. I just wish that Galchen hadn’t snatched the microphone out of Katharina’s hands right as she was finishing up—instead she let a mediocre white man have the last word.
And really, isn’t that just typical?
📌 . Blog | Review Database | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
The historical fiction market is bursting at the seams—absolutely full to the brim—of novels about white women during World War II (seriously…look at the list of 2021 releases). It’s a myopic, over-saturated genre, and it seems to only be getting worse with time.
Which is why books like Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch are always such a treat to find. Sadly, this recent release isn’t marketed in a way that accurately advertises its contents. That’s not Rivka Galchen’s fault, but it is unfortunate. Absolutely nothing about the cover or the title indicate that this is a historical novel about Johannes Kepler’s mother, who was accused, imprisoned, and tried as a witch in 1620. (Surprise!)
This isn’t a long book, and it doesn’t waste a lot of time in grounding its narrative in the historical context. I think this makes it accessible to readers who don’t tend to go in for the chunky historical epics which at times can be more effort than they’re worth. (Looking at you, Margaret George.) In Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, Galchen isn’t focused so much on accurate details as she is on her craft and the distinctive tone of her narrator, the seventy-something alleged witch, Katharina. It’s a more literary approach to history than is typical, but not necessarily “literary” in the snooty, highbrow manner of, ahem…certain books.
Katharina’s experiences are given to readers through multiple framing devices. On one part, the book reads as a confession, orally dictated by the illiterate protagonist to her neighbor and friend, Simon. This part of the book is conversational, irreverent, and meandering, and the reader comes to know who Katharina is through her cheeky, shrewd observations of her situation and her fellow man. Then interspersed with the main narrative is the transcript of witness testimony at Katharina’s trial. Person by person, Galchen explores the minds of various people who are subpoenaed by the tribunal in order to speak against our narrator—or on her behalf, as the case may be. Although I cannot say that the two parts of the book quite came together to form one cohesive whole, I can’t say that the structure absolutely didn’t work.
Overall, I feel that Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is close to being a truly excellent book. It’s nearly there, and I’m frustrated because there’s nothing quite like enjoying a book but feeling the whole time that it could have been more. Here, the subject matter, the narration, and the suspenseful courtroom drama are full of promise, and they’re certainly a far cry from your overdone “WWII lady spy” story.
But to be perfectly honest, Galchen failed to bring everything together at the critical moment. She very deliberately threw down the curtain at the natural climax of the story, and although I feel this was intended to subvert readers’ expectations and make a specific point, all it did was leave me scratching my head. See, right when Katharina’s case is submitted to the courts and everyone is awaiting the verdict, everything stops. Simon, the neighbor who’s been writing down everything she says, takes over. Simon rambles a lot about various things, completely elides the main thrust of the plot, and then circles back with “oh yeah, Katharina was found innocent, she died a year later, and now everyone else is dead too. Toodles!”
Basically, Galchen threw the brakes in the middle of a riveting courtroom drama in order to shrug her shoulders. The momentum of the plot peters out, and as the reader, you wonder what was the purpose of it all anyway? And that is probably the intent! It’s a very litfic-y Ecclesiastical “everything is meaningless” denouement. But it doesn’t work, because as a character, Simon’s voice isn’t eloquent or distinctive enough to bring it all together. He’s boring, and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. So instead of being either satisfied by a riveting story or surprised by a though-provoking conclusion, the book kind of just…fades out.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is disappointing not necessarily because it’s a bad book. Instead, I was underwhelmed because I could tell that (a) the author is very smart and had a point to make and (b) said point was never clearly arrived at. There’s no catharsis in this narrative, no sense of completion. At the most important moment, Galchen fumbled the pass.
All that being said, I enjoyed this book and do recommend it. Katharina Kepler, as envisioned here, is shrewd and has a keen eye for the ridiculous aspects of even the most frightening situation; she is equal parts exasperated by and grateful to her adult children; she loves her milk cow more than anything in the whole world. I’m happy to have met her, to have heard her story. I just wish that Galchen hadn’t snatched the microphone out of Katharina’s hands right as she was finishing up—instead she let a mediocre white man have the last word.
And really, isn’t that just typical?
📌 . Blog | Review Database | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
May 23, 2023
15th century witch trail courtroom drama... It's mostly transcripts of local townspeople testifying. It's not bad, but not really my cup of tea.
March 12, 2021
Katharina Kepler is a spunky, down-to-earth, no-nonsense widowed grandmother who has raised successful children while managing her property and livestock very well despite having an absentee husband early in life. I found her instantly loveable and funny - she’s wise, witty, and sharp for her age -- her internal reflections and observations made me chuckle at times.
The author instantly transplants the reader into Katharina's world - rural Germany in the early 1600’s. This is an age in which religious doctrine controls an impoverished, paranoid, patriarchal society -- where imaginations (steeped in superstition) are vivid; where justice for commonfolk is slow and elusive. It is a landscape that sowed greed, envy, and vengeance and reaped a myriad of unproven accusations of witchcraft against an elderly woman of means where Katharina, the accused, could lose her life and livelihood defending against such claims while the accusers (including court officials) could gain her wealth and property as retribution. She’s accused of killing livestock, causing aches and pains, issuing curses, infanticide, and murder (by death) -- many of these witnesses experienced such afflictions and offenses decades earlier!
Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres and this book is an impressive combination of actual persons, imagined characters, authentic missives, courtroom testimonies, and actual events. While this could have easily morphed into a slogfest of sorts; I found this to be a delightful read that moved quickly for me. I really enjoyed how the author told the story. I also learned a bit about the era’s laws and (lack of) due process, the posture/teachings of the Church during this period, and Johannes Kepler’s famed political appointments, involvement in his mother’s trial, and hints surrounding his (at the time) seemingly underappreciated scientific contributions. The cast of characters is also well-formed and full-bodied -- motivations were clearly presented. I very much appreciated the closure she offered not only for Katharina, but also to her extended family members mentioned in the novel, including Katharina’s legal guardian, and even Chamomile, her beloved cow. A nice lagniappe for meticulous readers!
The author instantly transplants the reader into Katharina's world - rural Germany in the early 1600’s. This is an age in which religious doctrine controls an impoverished, paranoid, patriarchal society -- where imaginations (steeped in superstition) are vivid; where justice for commonfolk is slow and elusive. It is a landscape that sowed greed, envy, and vengeance and reaped a myriad of unproven accusations of witchcraft against an elderly woman of means where Katharina, the accused, could lose her life and livelihood defending against such claims while the accusers (including court officials) could gain her wealth and property as retribution. She’s accused of killing livestock, causing aches and pains, issuing curses, infanticide, and murder (by death) -- many of these witnesses experienced such afflictions and offenses decades earlier!
Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres and this book is an impressive combination of actual persons, imagined characters, authentic missives, courtroom testimonies, and actual events. While this could have easily morphed into a slogfest of sorts; I found this to be a delightful read that moved quickly for me. I really enjoyed how the author told the story. I also learned a bit about the era’s laws and (lack of) due process, the posture/teachings of the Church during this period, and Johannes Kepler’s famed political appointments, involvement in his mother’s trial, and hints surrounding his (at the time) seemingly underappreciated scientific contributions. The cast of characters is also well-formed and full-bodied -- motivations were clearly presented. I very much appreciated the closure she offered not only for Katharina, but also to her extended family members mentioned in the novel, including Katharina’s legal guardian, and even Chamomile, her beloved cow. A nice lagniappe for meticulous readers!
August 24, 2021
This book was so boring and rambling that I could barely stay awake to read it. I think it was supposed to darkly humorous, but it missed as far as I'm concerned. I didn't care for the writing style at all. I'm sure the events on which this is based are interesting, but the only thing that made this book in any way worth reading was how predictably stupid nearly everything single character is.
June 4, 2021
Rivka Galchen's Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is a work of fiction based on the real world witchcraft trial of Katharina Kepler, mother of the ground-breaking astronomer Johannes Kepler. Two rather well-known works of nonfiction documenting this event have been published: James A. Connor's Kepler's Witch (2004) and Ulinka Rublack's The Astronomer and the Witch (2015). Galchen credits the second of those titles as the inspiration for her novel. Galchen worked with a broad body of historical works in writing her novel, but makes it very clear that she is writing fiction that uses a real-world event as a jumping off point. Her novel is not narrativized history.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch offers a simultaneously absurd, disturbing, and thought-provoking reading experience. The absurdity comes from Galchen's depiction of Katherina, who she pictures as an opinionated, cantankerous, but warm-hearted, women. Much of the book is written in Katherina's voice, and Katherina's description of a daughter in law and of her astronomer son give a taste of this.
Of the daughter in law, married to another of Katherina's sons, and who has a taste for the kind of scandalous pamphlets that were that day's equivalent of the scandal-sheets we see at grocery check-out lines: "Gertie loved to hear about the miser whose heart was found in a chest with his jewels after he died. About the holy nun who married the Moor who kidnapped her. She'll read any pamphlet she can get. It makes me not mind that I can't read myself."
Of Johannes: "he's made his way in the world the easy way, through his studies."
Katharina loves her children, but she seems to love her cow Chamomile every bit as much.
The lengthy sections in Katharina's voice are accompanied by a narrative in the voice of a mild-mannered, controversy-averse neighbor who plays the role of Katharina's legal guardian, as women were not allowed to represent themselves in legal proceedings. (There was a neighbor who had this role in real-life, but Galchen makes it clear that her version of the neighbor is completely fictive.) Like Katharina, Simon, the neighbor, has a wry way of putting things. Describing himself listening to the drunken ramblings of Katherina's son Christoph, Simon notes "I said nothing. If there were a guild of non-sayers, that would be my guild. That's also the guild of standing by."
As one reads and as the accusations against Katharina grow in number and unlikelihood, the narrative becomes disturbing. Clearly some of those accusing Katharina have ulterior motives: they hope to be awarded parts of her land or a financial payout if Katharina is convicted. Others seem absolutely genuine in their accusations, which are often memories of past events they didn't note at the time. In this world, correlation equals causation, even if the things being correlated are only dimly remembered. What can Katharina do to defend herself when anyone can suddenly recall seeing her just before a horse went lame, their children became sick, or they broke out in a rash?
This leads me to what I found to be a particularly thought-provoking aspect of Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch. What is it like to live in a world where witchcraft is seen as a more likely cause of suffering than ill luck? To what extent do accusers sincerely believe they are protecting their community? To what extent are they actually clamoring for a role in the public spectacle a witchcraft trial becomes?
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch offers a compelling read that rewards in multiple ways. Any lover of well-crafted plot- and character-driven driven fiction should appreciate it. And it may lead some readers to Connor and Rublack's books to explore the history behind Galchen's tale.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch offers a simultaneously absurd, disturbing, and thought-provoking reading experience. The absurdity comes from Galchen's depiction of Katherina, who she pictures as an opinionated, cantankerous, but warm-hearted, women. Much of the book is written in Katherina's voice, and Katherina's description of a daughter in law and of her astronomer son give a taste of this.
Of the daughter in law, married to another of Katherina's sons, and who has a taste for the kind of scandalous pamphlets that were that day's equivalent of the scandal-sheets we see at grocery check-out lines: "Gertie loved to hear about the miser whose heart was found in a chest with his jewels after he died. About the holy nun who married the Moor who kidnapped her. She'll read any pamphlet she can get. It makes me not mind that I can't read myself."
Of Johannes: "he's made his way in the world the easy way, through his studies."
Katharina loves her children, but she seems to love her cow Chamomile every bit as much.
The lengthy sections in Katharina's voice are accompanied by a narrative in the voice of a mild-mannered, controversy-averse neighbor who plays the role of Katharina's legal guardian, as women were not allowed to represent themselves in legal proceedings. (There was a neighbor who had this role in real-life, but Galchen makes it clear that her version of the neighbor is completely fictive.) Like Katharina, Simon, the neighbor, has a wry way of putting things. Describing himself listening to the drunken ramblings of Katherina's son Christoph, Simon notes "I said nothing. If there were a guild of non-sayers, that would be my guild. That's also the guild of standing by."
As one reads and as the accusations against Katharina grow in number and unlikelihood, the narrative becomes disturbing. Clearly some of those accusing Katharina have ulterior motives: they hope to be awarded parts of her land or a financial payout if Katharina is convicted. Others seem absolutely genuine in their accusations, which are often memories of past events they didn't note at the time. In this world, correlation equals causation, even if the things being correlated are only dimly remembered. What can Katharina do to defend herself when anyone can suddenly recall seeing her just before a horse went lame, their children became sick, or they broke out in a rash?
This leads me to what I found to be a particularly thought-provoking aspect of Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch. What is it like to live in a world where witchcraft is seen as a more likely cause of suffering than ill luck? To what extent do accusers sincerely believe they are protecting their community? To what extent are they actually clamoring for a role in the public spectacle a witchcraft trial becomes?
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch offers a compelling read that rewards in multiple ways. Any lover of well-crafted plot- and character-driven driven fiction should appreciate it. And it may lead some readers to Connor and Rublack's books to explore the history behind Galchen's tale.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
August 18, 2021
Love a book with an older woman protagonist, and Frau Kepler is a gem, intelligent, witty and clear-eyed. Loved Galchen’s writing and research—she brings an entire village to life and paints a fine portrait of European life during the 30 Years War. Natasha Soudek does a wonderful reading that captures the story’s humor and occasional pathos.
July 10, 2021
Katharina Kepler has to be one of my favorite characters in literature. She is a tart, blunt-spoken 74 year old, and a keen and witty observer of her fellow townspeople. If she lived in 2019 instead of 1619 she’d be a stand-up comic in the Joan Rivers mold. Needless to say, with a temperament like that, she makes more enemies than friends in her small town, and this, combined with her relative affluence, successful children, and interest in herbal medicine, makes her a perfect target for witch-baiting. Katherina is illiterate, but she dictates her story to her kindly neighbor Simon, and her story is supplemented with testimony from her accusers, and observations from Simon himself. While I can't help but focus on her humor, the book itself is more than just a stage for Katharina to be Katharina. It's the kind of historical novel I love, where the historical period feels both archaic and contemporary, all at the same time. Which explains the title, which seemed oddly 'YA'- ish, until I finished the novel and discovered that it's exactly the kind of thing Katharina would say - and in fact she does. While Katharina delighted me, I was also touched by the poignancy of her journey, and the ways it ultimately changed her.
PS: I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize her son Hans the Astrologer (he of the silver fork, see below) was the astronomer Johannes Kepler until I read it in the author's note at the end of the book. Katharina was his mother in real life, although her personality is all Galchen's.
And now, examples of why I love Katharina's voice so much, starting with her observations of a couple of townspeople:
This is Katharina’s description of a scene where she and her accuser, Ursula, meet with the local governor to air their grievances:
This exchange with her son, Hans, gives a little outside window into Katharina.
PS: I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize her son Hans the Astrologer (he of the silver fork, see below) was the astronomer Johannes Kepler until I read it in the author's note at the end of the book. Katharina was his mother in real life, although her personality is all Galchen's.
And now, examples of why I love Katharina's voice so much, starting with her observations of a couple of townspeople:
“The marksman’s wife is generally respected, though she has the overexpressive hands of a busybody and I’ve never seen her laugh.”
“Everyone knows Wallpurga tells fortunes by measuring heads - a superstitious and unlawful practice, which, besides, she is no good at.”
This is Katharina’s description of a scene where she and her accuser, Ursula, meet with the local governor to air their grievances:
“What I want to say is that Ursula’s brother the Cabbage was there with her. He was wearing a green hunting cape, and his posture was poor, and his cheeks were red. Behind him was the whiskered ducal governor Einhorn, unkempt, and with a spotted spaniel in his arms. They smelled of drink. The crowd of them looked like a pack of dull troubadours who, come morning, have made off with all the butter.”
This exchange with her son, Hans, gives a little outside window into Katharina.
He had a slice of apple on a tiny fancy spear of some sort.
‘What is that toy you’re holding?”
“It’s a fork. And I know you know it’s a fork.”
“It looks like the tail of a devil,” I said. “Not in a bad way.”
“You’re going to give me trouble about my fork?”
“When did that happen?”
“The fork?”
“Your gray beard.”
“Mama, you are...unrelenting.”
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