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Witch Light
1692. Corrag, a wild young girl from the mountains of Scotland, has been imprisoned as a witch. Terrified, in a cold, filthy cell, she awaits her fate of death by burning – until she is visited by Charles Leslie, a young Irishman, hungry to question her. For Corrag knows more than it seems: she was witness to the bloody and brutal Massacre of Glencoe.
But to reveal what she knows, Corrag demands a chance to tell her true story. It is a tale of passion and courage, magic and betrayal, and the difference that a single heart can make to the great events of history.
But to reveal what she knows, Corrag demands a chance to tell her true story. It is a tale of passion and courage, magic and betrayal, and the difference that a single heart can make to the great events of history.
356 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2010
About the author
Susan Fletcher
8 books609 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Susan Fletcher is a British novelist. She was born in Birmingham and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and the Society of Authors Betty Trask Prize; it was also picked for Channel 4's (UK) Richard and Judy Summer reading list. Subsequent novels have been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Writers’ Guild fiction award, and longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year award. Her novel Witch Light won France’s 2013 Saint-Maur en Poche award. Fletcher is a former Fellow at the University of Worcester, as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship program, and is the author of The Night in Question.
source: Amazon
Susan Fletcher is a British novelist. She was born in Birmingham and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and the Society of Authors Betty Trask Prize; it was also picked for Channel 4's (UK) Richard and Judy Summer reading list. Subsequent novels have been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Writers’ Guild fiction award, and longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year award. Her novel Witch Light won France’s 2013 Saint-Maur en Poche award. Fletcher is a former Fellow at the University of Worcester, as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship program, and is the author of The Night in Question.
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 937 reviews
September 12, 2019
Haunting and beautiful, Corrag drew me in and transported me to the Scottish Highlands of the seventeenth century. Alternately titled The Highland Witch or Witch Light, Corrag is a magical story about opening your heart to the beauty of your surroundings. It is about learning to truly understand the people we encounter in our lives. Susan Fletcher tells this story with gorgeous, poetical and vivid prose.
“What townsfolk say we do and what we truly do are very different things. I have cast no spells. I’ve never plucked out gizzards or howled at moons. I’ve never turned into a bird, skimmed a night-time loch, or settled on ships to make them drown… I’ve not summoned anything… I pray – not in church and with no Bible, but otherwise I reckon it’s probably like how you pray, which is with the heart’s voice talking, not the mouth’s." Misunderstood, misjudged, and persecuted, Corrag, her mother and her grandmother are called “witch” due to their differences and strengths as unattached women. Corrag is forced to flee alone to the Scottish Highlands where she settles near and befriends the MacDonald clan. Here she uses her knowledge of nature and herbs to help and heal. She falls in love with the highlands and with a powerful member of the clan. This is where some of the most beautiful descriptions of the Scottish Highlands can be found. It was simply breathtaking. "Before it was bloodied, or snow-thick, Glencoe was lit by moon. It was a quiet, night-time valley which I crept into, with mud and moths in my hair… It was cool air, with the sea’s breath. It had the thick, earthy smell of plants at night, and water, and water sounds… A valley of such narrowness, and with such steep sides that it is like walking into a hand, half-closed… It was an open hand that I could lie inside, and it would keep me safe.” This beauty is eventually destroyed by the massacre of the MacDonalds at the hands of the soldiers, their own guests. Ultimately, Corrag is arrested and accused of witchcraft and murder for her supposed involvement in the Glencoe Massacre. Irish Jacobite and man of God, Charles Leslie journeys to the Highlands to uncover the truth behind the massacre. In order to do so, he must speak with Corrag, the one person that perhaps can reveal what really happened on that night of death and destruction.
The novel alternates between Corrag’s voice and Charles Leslie’s point of view which is cleverly related to us by a series of lovely letters written by him to his wife back home. I loved the way the author accomplished the telling of this story in these different layers of communication to the reader. A man of compassionate faith, Reverend Charles Leslie is initially repelled by Corrag and, as are the majority of persons, he instantly assumes she is guilty of all charges and worthy of her fate. After visiting and speaking with her at the jail for the first time, Charles writes “She is child-sized. She’s a despicable thing. Her hair is knots and branches. She is half-naked, dressed in thin rags which are crusted with mud and blood and all manner of filth… I partly wondered if she was human at all… her high, girlish voice spoke of kindness and good deeds – but I am not tricked by that. The Devil was speaking. He speaks through this half-creature in a feminine way – and it is better for her that she is burnt, and soon. The flames will purge her soul.” But, if one sits down with a human being and really gets to know them, the truth may transform us, as it did Charles. I felt as if I sat with Charles in that cell and grew to understand and love Corrag throughout the course of the novel. In our busy lives, we need to slow down and look at “places”, the world around us. We need to open our hearts to one another. Charles had the gifts of grace and mercifulness to listen, learn and acknowledge Corrag’s worth. “She believes very firmly that there is more light than dark in the world… I will confess she has shown me beauty. I only ever saw it in piety, and you. But a mountain has beauty. A loch does, at night.”
This is a novel to be savored for each and every word and I highly recommend it!
“What townsfolk say we do and what we truly do are very different things. I have cast no spells. I’ve never plucked out gizzards or howled at moons. I’ve never turned into a bird, skimmed a night-time loch, or settled on ships to make them drown… I’ve not summoned anything… I pray – not in church and with no Bible, but otherwise I reckon it’s probably like how you pray, which is with the heart’s voice talking, not the mouth’s." Misunderstood, misjudged, and persecuted, Corrag, her mother and her grandmother are called “witch” due to their differences and strengths as unattached women. Corrag is forced to flee alone to the Scottish Highlands where she settles near and befriends the MacDonald clan. Here she uses her knowledge of nature and herbs to help and heal. She falls in love with the highlands and with a powerful member of the clan. This is where some of the most beautiful descriptions of the Scottish Highlands can be found. It was simply breathtaking. "Before it was bloodied, or snow-thick, Glencoe was lit by moon. It was a quiet, night-time valley which I crept into, with mud and moths in my hair… It was cool air, with the sea’s breath. It had the thick, earthy smell of plants at night, and water, and water sounds… A valley of such narrowness, and with such steep sides that it is like walking into a hand, half-closed… It was an open hand that I could lie inside, and it would keep me safe.” This beauty is eventually destroyed by the massacre of the MacDonalds at the hands of the soldiers, their own guests. Ultimately, Corrag is arrested and accused of witchcraft and murder for her supposed involvement in the Glencoe Massacre. Irish Jacobite and man of God, Charles Leslie journeys to the Highlands to uncover the truth behind the massacre. In order to do so, he must speak with Corrag, the one person that perhaps can reveal what really happened on that night of death and destruction.
The novel alternates between Corrag’s voice and Charles Leslie’s point of view which is cleverly related to us by a series of lovely letters written by him to his wife back home. I loved the way the author accomplished the telling of this story in these different layers of communication to the reader. A man of compassionate faith, Reverend Charles Leslie is initially repelled by Corrag and, as are the majority of persons, he instantly assumes she is guilty of all charges and worthy of her fate. After visiting and speaking with her at the jail for the first time, Charles writes “She is child-sized. She’s a despicable thing. Her hair is knots and branches. She is half-naked, dressed in thin rags which are crusted with mud and blood and all manner of filth… I partly wondered if she was human at all… her high, girlish voice spoke of kindness and good deeds – but I am not tricked by that. The Devil was speaking. He speaks through this half-creature in a feminine way – and it is better for her that she is burnt, and soon. The flames will purge her soul.” But, if one sits down with a human being and really gets to know them, the truth may transform us, as it did Charles. I felt as if I sat with Charles in that cell and grew to understand and love Corrag throughout the course of the novel. In our busy lives, we need to slow down and look at “places”, the world around us. We need to open our hearts to one another. Charles had the gifts of grace and mercifulness to listen, learn and acknowledge Corrag’s worth. “She believes very firmly that there is more light than dark in the world… I will confess she has shown me beauty. I only ever saw it in piety, and you. But a mountain has beauty. A loch does, at night.”
This is a novel to be savored for each and every word and I highly recommend it!
February 5, 2019
“We are the Magick--we are. The truest magick in this world is in us... It is in our movements and in what we say and feel.”
This was such a beautifully written book that is based on a real event - the Massacre of Glencoe. A massacre which took place at 5am on February 13. 1692 when thirty-eight members of the Macdonald clan were killed by soldiers who had enjoyed the clan's hospitality for the previous ten days. Throughout reading this book, I found myself highlighting huge sections. The writing is beautiful and poetic. Corrag is a heroine the reader can root for, and, one might even learn a little about Scotland's history and the treatment of suspected witches.
This book is told through Corrag's voice and the letters which Irish propagandist and Jacobite, Charles Leslie writes to his wife. Charles Leslie heard of the massacre and came to visit Corrag in her cell where she is chained and awaiting her death. She has been accused of witchcraft and murder. Corrag agrees to tell him her story so that the truth comes out and that she will not be alone in her final days. Charles is hoping to gain evidence that will prove that King William was involved in the Murder/Massacre so that King James could be reinstated.
The tale she tells is haunting, poetic and moving. She speaks of her Mother and Grandmother both condemned as witches. How her Mother told her to flee and she would know where she was meant to be when she saw it. Her tale involves hardship, loss, death, beauty, hope, resiliency and ends with friendship. Corrag tells how she found the Highland and befriended the Macdonald clan when she was able to save their leader using her herbs and stitching skills. Corrag tells of her time in the mountains and gives vivid descriptions of the mountains, the people, and her small hut and friendship with the Macdonald clan.
“This is the place. I was certain. For the heart knows its home when it finds it, and on finding it, stays there.”
When Charles sat down with Corrag initially he was cautious. He was meeting with a witch - a woman condemned to burn at the stake when the thaw occurred. Each time they spoke, Charles took notes and later that evening wrote to his wife and detailed his thoughts on Corrag and their meeting.
“But maybe the best thing I learnt was this: that we cannot know a person's soul and nature until we've sat beside them, and talked.”
Corrag had the ability to warm the hearts of those around her with her outlook on life and her thoughts on nature. She saw beauty in the world and openly shared these thoughts with others. Was she a witch? Was she a nature lover? Was she a threat? Was she misunderstood? Was she different? or Was she freer than most because she lived life on her terms with an open heart and positive attitude?
“What creatures we are. What powers are in us--in all of us. What we already know, if we choose to spend time with ourselves. What a deep love we can feel.”
Witches, the highlands, a massacre.... this is the stuff of legends. It also makes for great historical fiction! I love books based on real events. This one did not disappoint. I loved how one woman changed the lives of many! This book was haunting, captivating and had me glued to my seat the entire time. This book had beautiful vivid descriptions. I could easily imagine the settings and felt as if I were right there with the characters. I also appreciated the research that went into the writing of this book.
“I've heard fate talked of. It's not a word I use. I think we make our own choices. I think how we live our lives is our own doing, and we cannot fully hope on dreams and stars. But dreams and stars can guide us, perhaps. And the heart's voice is a strong one. Always is"
Your heart's voice is your true voice. It is easy to ignore it, for sometimes it says what we'd rather it did not - and it is so hard to risk the things we have. But what life are we living, if we don't live by our hearts? Not a true one. And the person living it is not the true you.”
Moving, engrossing, captivating, riveting and heartfelt. I highly recommend.
This was such a beautifully written book that is based on a real event - the Massacre of Glencoe. A massacre which took place at 5am on February 13. 1692 when thirty-eight members of the Macdonald clan were killed by soldiers who had enjoyed the clan's hospitality for the previous ten days. Throughout reading this book, I found myself highlighting huge sections. The writing is beautiful and poetic. Corrag is a heroine the reader can root for, and, one might even learn a little about Scotland's history and the treatment of suspected witches.
This book is told through Corrag's voice and the letters which Irish propagandist and Jacobite, Charles Leslie writes to his wife. Charles Leslie heard of the massacre and came to visit Corrag in her cell where she is chained and awaiting her death. She has been accused of witchcraft and murder. Corrag agrees to tell him her story so that the truth comes out and that she will not be alone in her final days. Charles is hoping to gain evidence that will prove that King William was involved in the Murder/Massacre so that King James could be reinstated.
The tale she tells is haunting, poetic and moving. She speaks of her Mother and Grandmother both condemned as witches. How her Mother told her to flee and she would know where she was meant to be when she saw it. Her tale involves hardship, loss, death, beauty, hope, resiliency and ends with friendship. Corrag tells how she found the Highland and befriended the Macdonald clan when she was able to save their leader using her herbs and stitching skills. Corrag tells of her time in the mountains and gives vivid descriptions of the mountains, the people, and her small hut and friendship with the Macdonald clan.
“This is the place. I was certain. For the heart knows its home when it finds it, and on finding it, stays there.”
When Charles sat down with Corrag initially he was cautious. He was meeting with a witch - a woman condemned to burn at the stake when the thaw occurred. Each time they spoke, Charles took notes and later that evening wrote to his wife and detailed his thoughts on Corrag and their meeting.
“But maybe the best thing I learnt was this: that we cannot know a person's soul and nature until we've sat beside them, and talked.”
Corrag had the ability to warm the hearts of those around her with her outlook on life and her thoughts on nature. She saw beauty in the world and openly shared these thoughts with others. Was she a witch? Was she a nature lover? Was she a threat? Was she misunderstood? Was she different? or Was she freer than most because she lived life on her terms with an open heart and positive attitude?
“What creatures we are. What powers are in us--in all of us. What we already know, if we choose to spend time with ourselves. What a deep love we can feel.”
Witches, the highlands, a massacre.... this is the stuff of legends. It also makes for great historical fiction! I love books based on real events. This one did not disappoint. I loved how one woman changed the lives of many! This book was haunting, captivating and had me glued to my seat the entire time. This book had beautiful vivid descriptions. I could easily imagine the settings and felt as if I were right there with the characters. I also appreciated the research that went into the writing of this book.
“I've heard fate talked of. It's not a word I use. I think we make our own choices. I think how we live our lives is our own doing, and we cannot fully hope on dreams and stars. But dreams and stars can guide us, perhaps. And the heart's voice is a strong one. Always is"
Your heart's voice is your true voice. It is easy to ignore it, for sometimes it says what we'd rather it did not - and it is so hard to risk the things we have. But what life are we living, if we don't live by our hearts? Not a true one. And the person living it is not the true you.”
Moving, engrossing, captivating, riveting and heartfelt. I highly recommend.
November 2, 2023
I loved this book. Why did I wait so long to read it?
1692, Corrag an accused witchcraft is waiting her fate in a Scotland prison.
She tells her story to Charles Leslie an Irish propagandist. She is the only person who knows in great detail what happened that frightful day.
She is accused of witchcraft because of her actions.
This story is told with beautiful lyrical and poetic prose. The descriptions of the Scottish highlands are breathtaking.
Corrag is a gentle sole who has learned how to heal with herbs from her mother Cora. She is forced to leave her mother who will be burned at the stake for witchcraft and flees to the Scottish highlands. She befriends the Macdonald clan and warns them that something bad is going to happen.
She is arrested and charged with witchcraft. She tells her story to Charles, who believes at first she should be executed, but as Corrag tells her story. He sees what a beautiful person she really is. I didn’t want this book to end.
I really can’t do justice to this review It is a captivating story, one that will stay with you long after you read it.
1692, Corrag an accused witchcraft is waiting her fate in a Scotland prison.
She tells her story to Charles Leslie an Irish propagandist. She is the only person who knows in great detail what happened that frightful day.
She is accused of witchcraft because of her actions.
This story is told with beautiful lyrical and poetic prose. The descriptions of the Scottish highlands are breathtaking.
Corrag is a gentle sole who has learned how to heal with herbs from her mother Cora. She is forced to leave her mother who will be burned at the stake for witchcraft and flees to the Scottish highlands. She befriends the Macdonald clan and warns them that something bad is going to happen.
She is arrested and charged with witchcraft. She tells her story to Charles, who believes at first she should be executed, but as Corrag tells her story. He sees what a beautiful person she really is. I didn’t want this book to end.
I really can’t do justice to this review It is a captivating story, one that will stay with you long after you read it.
October 23, 2021
3.5 stars. Cut about 75 pages and this could have been a 4 for me. Cut the romance I'd be at 4.5.
There is some beautiful writing here and a compelling story set in the late 1600s in Scotland, but it has a few too many ingredients in the witch's brew. Corrag is a very memorable character, smart and sympathetic. Her grandmother died by the "ducking" test for witchcraft:
For my mother’s mother, they used the ducking stool. All the town was watching as she bobbed like a holey boat, and then sank under.
There's no way out of that one. Drown and yay, innocent of witchcraft! But you're dead, and you'll be remembered as a witch anyway. Fletcher describes how in the 'ducking' the women's thumbs were tied to their toes. That's a detail and a mental picture this reader, probably many, won't forget. Coragg's mother, Cora, who watched as her mother was 'ducked' to death, was hanged as a witch.
Cora bewitched them—that is how they put it. She courted men with her beauty, and nature with her soul. And she courted her own death too, in the end—for the last tale I heard was how the wind caught her skirts on the gallows, and twirled her round and round.
A lot of the book is like that: something said beautifully about something sad. As Corrag aka Witchlight aka The Highland Witch (three different names for the book? I think of them as one for each of these women) opens, it is sixteen-year-old Corrag in jail for witchcraft, the only prisoner: tiny wrists in tight chains, filthy and covered with lice. She will be burned:
I hear them drag the wood for me, even through the snow. They wait for a thaw, I think. When it thaws, they will come for me, and burn me on that wood—
[the jailer] We’ll need half the wood I thought we would, he said, very properly—like there was a magistrate in the room who he was talking to. Quick. And cheap. But folk like a show so I’ll use even less wood—make it a longer thing.
This is historical fiction that is both character study and a telling of the massacre at Glencoe in which men, women and children of the MacDonald clan were killed by members of the Campbell clan for failing to swear an oath to William of Orange aka King William III. I'm feeling woefully uneducated about U.S. history so am in no position to discuss the accuracy of Fletcher's "historical" fiction; it is a genre I don't tend to read. But there's no doubt MacDonalds were brutally slain.
The intersection of Corrag and Glencoe is that her mother, before being hanged, takes the horse of a neighbor who was one of her accusers and tells Corrag to ride north and west. And ride she does. Gallop gallop gallop. At first the descriptions are compelling. After a while, though, by the time I read
I loved my mare, who galloped for three hundred nights with me.
I wrote a note: "And I feel like I've galloped each one of them. Cut!" The descriptions of the land and few encounters Corrag has are are superb -- but as she's traveling the story isn't really going anyplace. After the horse she walks. And walks and -- it took many pages for to go from lowlands to highlands and for me this slowed the pace of about a third of the book to not a walk or a gallop but a crawl.
From the bed of dirty straw in her tiny cell known as a "tollbooth," Corrag tells her story to daily visitor Reverend Leslie, who is there to gather information on the massacre. Dragging out the story will buy her no time. Corrag's explanation is:
I’ve been mostly out of doors, on my own, with no soul but my own to talk to—so when I have a person with me I talk and talk and talk. Was I that bad? Were you tired last night? I am glad that you are here again...I will give you what you need, in time.
The Reverend is a more patient man than I. He's not even a necessary character but through letters home to his wife the reader sees how he goes from being disgusted by Corrag's charge of witchcraft and filthy appearance, afraid of catching her lice, to seeing her as a human being. The book really gets going when Corrag arrives in Glencoe, and I wish she'd gotten there sooner. From that point on I was never bored and the book became a page-turner.
No spoilers of her life in Glencoe prior to ending up in the cell; little by little the strange little woman insinuates herself into the close MacDonald clan. What begins with fear or scorn turns to respect and with some of the clan, trust. Once the pace picks up it was compelling. Although some of it strains credulity, I can live with that when my attention is captured as thoroughly as Susan Fletcher did.
There's sustained suspense knowing the massacre is coming and not knowing what Corrag's fate will be. Fletcher writes that so well, there's no reason to think she won't be burnt to death. There's no way to know. From time to time Corrag speaks of what it might feel like to be set on fire; she does it in prose that singed and seared my soul. I hoped she'd be spared but didn't count on it, not after what was done to her mother and grandmother, not in that atmosphere and given the history of the place and time. I wanted her spared and, surprising myself, didn't care if it turned out to be by deux et machina if that's what it took.
There it is. All you have wanted, Mr. Leslie. My telling of it—what I saw, and did. Was it worth it, sir? The long wait?
3.5 stars because of the pacing problems and the "romance," which was a distraction and a subtraction for me in a book that needed no romance, let alone that one. Oh, but Corrag is a very memorable character, finely drawn (for some reason I see her sketched in detail in pencil), drawn into a story that once it takes off, soars like a bird over glen and brae. Yes, absolutely: it was worth it to me.
There is some beautiful writing here and a compelling story set in the late 1600s in Scotland, but it has a few too many ingredients in the witch's brew. Corrag is a very memorable character, smart and sympathetic. Her grandmother died by the "ducking" test for witchcraft:
For my mother’s mother, they used the ducking stool. All the town was watching as she bobbed like a holey boat, and then sank under.
There's no way out of that one. Drown and yay, innocent of witchcraft! But you're dead, and you'll be remembered as a witch anyway. Fletcher describes how in the 'ducking' the women's thumbs were tied to their toes. That's a detail and a mental picture this reader, probably many, won't forget. Coragg's mother, Cora, who watched as her mother was 'ducked' to death, was hanged as a witch.
Cora bewitched them—that is how they put it. She courted men with her beauty, and nature with her soul. And she courted her own death too, in the end—for the last tale I heard was how the wind caught her skirts on the gallows, and twirled her round and round.
A lot of the book is like that: something said beautifully about something sad. As Corrag aka Witchlight aka The Highland Witch (three different names for the book? I think of them as one for each of these women) opens, it is sixteen-year-old Corrag in jail for witchcraft, the only prisoner: tiny wrists in tight chains, filthy and covered with lice. She will be burned:
I hear them drag the wood for me, even through the snow. They wait for a thaw, I think. When it thaws, they will come for me, and burn me on that wood—
[the jailer] We’ll need half the wood I thought we would, he said, very properly—like there was a magistrate in the room who he was talking to. Quick. And cheap. But folk like a show so I’ll use even less wood—make it a longer thing.
This is historical fiction that is both character study and a telling of the massacre at Glencoe in which men, women and children of the MacDonald clan were killed by members of the Campbell clan for failing to swear an oath to William of Orange aka King William III. I'm feeling woefully uneducated about U.S. history so am in no position to discuss the accuracy of Fletcher's "historical" fiction; it is a genre I don't tend to read. But there's no doubt MacDonalds were brutally slain.
The intersection of Corrag and Glencoe is that her mother, before being hanged, takes the horse of a neighbor who was one of her accusers and tells Corrag to ride north and west. And ride she does. Gallop gallop gallop. At first the descriptions are compelling. After a while, though, by the time I read
I loved my mare, who galloped for three hundred nights with me.
I wrote a note: "And I feel like I've galloped each one of them. Cut!" The descriptions of the land and few encounters Corrag has are are superb -- but as she's traveling the story isn't really going anyplace. After the horse she walks. And walks and -- it took many pages for to go from lowlands to highlands and for me this slowed the pace of about a third of the book to not a walk or a gallop but a crawl.
From the bed of dirty straw in her tiny cell known as a "tollbooth," Corrag tells her story to daily visitor Reverend Leslie, who is there to gather information on the massacre. Dragging out the story will buy her no time. Corrag's explanation is:
I’ve been mostly out of doors, on my own, with no soul but my own to talk to—so when I have a person with me I talk and talk and talk. Was I that bad? Were you tired last night? I am glad that you are here again...I will give you what you need, in time.
The Reverend is a more patient man than I. He's not even a necessary character but through letters home to his wife the reader sees how he goes from being disgusted by Corrag's charge of witchcraft and filthy appearance, afraid of catching her lice, to seeing her as a human being. The book really gets going when Corrag arrives in Glencoe, and I wish she'd gotten there sooner. From that point on I was never bored and the book became a page-turner.
No spoilers of her life in Glencoe prior to ending up in the cell; little by little the strange little woman insinuates herself into the close MacDonald clan. What begins with fear or scorn turns to respect and with some of the clan, trust. Once the pace picks up it was compelling. Although some of it strains credulity, I can live with that when my attention is captured as thoroughly as Susan Fletcher did.
There's sustained suspense knowing the massacre is coming and not knowing what Corrag's fate will be. Fletcher writes that so well, there's no reason to think she won't be burnt to death. There's no way to know. From time to time Corrag speaks of what it might feel like to be set on fire; she does it in prose that singed and seared my soul. I hoped she'd be spared but didn't count on it, not after what was done to her mother and grandmother, not in that atmosphere and given the history of the place and time. I wanted her spared and, surprising myself, didn't care if it turned out to be by deux et machina if that's what it took.
There it is. All you have wanted, Mr. Leslie. My telling of it—what I saw, and did. Was it worth it, sir? The long wait?
3.5 stars because of the pacing problems and the "romance," which was a distraction and a subtraction for me in a book that needed no romance, let alone that one. Oh, but Corrag is a very memorable character, finely drawn (for some reason I see her sketched in detail in pencil), drawn into a story that once it takes off, soars like a bird over glen and brae. Yes, absolutely: it was worth it to me.
April 8, 2016
This is a very special book, one which some would say I don't know where to start my review but I do , I know because Corrag is an exceptional character who has emptied her heart in the telling of this story and in doing so she has filled mine to the brim.
This is probably the most heart filling book I've ever read, Corrag will speak to your soul , if like me you love books that are atmospheric, lyrical, poetic.
I want to go back to the beginning and re read this straight away, I want to see in my minds eye again everything Corrag described, the stag on the slopes of cat peak , the meeting of the waters where she bathed in a waterfall , the gray mare who she loved so very much and broke my heart so I sobbed , the peek she called ridge like a church. And in her gaol cell..
"I think of the Scottish skies always, I saw some sovereign sunrises in my first English life , but I was young and did not gaze upon them like the heart stirred woman does, in Scotland I was heart stirred"
I have been to many of the places spoken about by Corrag, my heart thumps with the memory of them, for although I am a sassenach "The hearts voice is your true voice" and mine lies in the Scottish Highlands.
This is probably the most heart filling book I've ever read, Corrag will speak to your soul , if like me you love books that are atmospheric, lyrical, poetic.
I want to go back to the beginning and re read this straight away, I want to see in my minds eye again everything Corrag described, the stag on the slopes of cat peak , the meeting of the waters where she bathed in a waterfall , the gray mare who she loved so very much and broke my heart so I sobbed , the peek she called ridge like a church. And in her gaol cell..
"I think of the Scottish skies always, I saw some sovereign sunrises in my first English life , but I was young and did not gaze upon them like the heart stirred woman does, in Scotland I was heart stirred"
I have been to many of the places spoken about by Corrag, my heart thumps with the memory of them, for although I am a sassenach "The hearts voice is your true voice" and mine lies in the Scottish Highlands.
February 11, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this one. I have a soft spot for anything set among the Scottish mountains, and there is plenty to enjoy here, but ultimately this mixture of history and fantasy proved a little too implausible, and a little too sentimental for my taste. I was not that familiar with the story of the Massacre of Glencoe, so that side of the story was interesting, and Fletcher writes very well about the landscape and has clearly done plenty of research into herbal treatments and the history.
The story is a patchwork of real history and local legend, with a little pure invention. The central character, Corrag the witch, figures in the local folklore of Glencoe, and the other narrator Charles Leslie, who hears her story in her prison cell in Inverary and whose letters to his wife break up the story, is a real historical figure and is believed to be the author of the anonymous document which first recorded the massacre. In Fletcher's version, Corrag has escaped persecution in Northumberland and reached Rannoch Moor on a stolen mare, finding a refuge in the hidden valley on Bidean nam Bian where the MacDonalds of Glencoe kept their stolen cattle.
What I really found difficult to swallow was Corrag's account of her experience of the day of the massacre and the day before - we are expected to believe that she could run over 60 miles in little more than a day (Inverlochy was the old name of Fort William, and she had to go round Loch Leven and over the hill on the return journey, so when you throw in a Munro climb (Buachaille Etive Mor) and deep snowdrifts, that would be pretty impressive even for a modern athlete!
For all that, I found this an enjoyable and well written book.
The story is a patchwork of real history and local legend, with a little pure invention. The central character, Corrag the witch, figures in the local folklore of Glencoe, and the other narrator Charles Leslie, who hears her story in her prison cell in Inverary and whose letters to his wife break up the story, is a real historical figure and is believed to be the author of the anonymous document which first recorded the massacre. In Fletcher's version, Corrag has escaped persecution in Northumberland and reached Rannoch Moor on a stolen mare, finding a refuge in the hidden valley on Bidean nam Bian where the MacDonalds of Glencoe kept their stolen cattle.
What I really found difficult to swallow was Corrag's account of her experience of the day of the massacre and the day before - we are expected to believe that she could run over 60 miles in little more than a day (Inverlochy was the old name of Fort William, and she had to go round Loch Leven and over the hill on the return journey, so when you throw in a Munro climb (Buachaille Etive Mor) and deep snowdrifts, that would be pretty impressive even for a modern athlete!
For all that, I found this an enjoyable and well written book.
August 4, 2016
4 stars--I really liked it. (Warning for animal death though.)
The perfect ending of this book left me with tears in my eyes. The ending is fabulous.
The format of this book is unusual: Corrag tells her story about her childhood and what she knows about the Glencoe Massacre to Charles Leslie in what amounts to a series of monologues; we hear Charles' voice through letters he writes to his wife. This worked really well in audio format. My favorite part of this book was the growing friendship between Corrag and Charles--two very different people who eventually come to understand and trust each other.
The Amazon description for this book says "Hers is a story of passion, courage, love, and the magic of the natural world," and I think that's right on the money. The love of nature that shines through her narrative is remarkable.
One weakness: I thought Corrag was a bit too modern and a bit too flawless. She had a lot of medical knowledge and religious attitudes that I'm not sure fit the time period, and she was really good at everything. But this is just a small quibble; I liked the character and found her voice engaging. There are passages when she's in jail, waiting to be burned as a witch and describing her fear, that I found really well written and moving.
Highly recommended for lovers of historical novels, especially those with an interest in the Scottish Highlands.
The perfect ending of this book left me with tears in my eyes. The ending is fabulous.
The format of this book is unusual: Corrag tells her story about her childhood and what she knows about the Glencoe Massacre to Charles Leslie in what amounts to a series of monologues; we hear Charles' voice through letters he writes to his wife. This worked really well in audio format. My favorite part of this book was the growing friendship between Corrag and Charles--two very different people who eventually come to understand and trust each other.
The Amazon description for this book says "Hers is a story of passion, courage, love, and the magic of the natural world," and I think that's right on the money. The love of nature that shines through her narrative is remarkable.
One weakness: I thought Corrag was a bit too modern and a bit too flawless. She had a lot of medical knowledge and religious attitudes that I'm not sure fit the time period, and she was really good at everything. But this is just a small quibble; I liked the character and found her voice engaging. There are passages when she's in jail, waiting to be burned as a witch and describing her fear, that I found really well written and moving.
Highly recommended for lovers of historical novels, especially those with an interest in the Scottish Highlands.
March 17, 2018
It is 1692, and a traveler to Scotland from Ireland Charles Griffith , a staunch Jacobite and supporter of the deposed and exiled Catholic James II, and opponent of his replacement the Protestant William Prince of Orange, is called to visit and question a young woman accused of witchcraft.
It is just after the brutal Glencoe massacre in which the McDonald clan is massacred by King William's redcoats, and the young woman Corrag is accused of supernaturally causing the massacre and sentenced to be burned to death.
Corrag;s plight fist inspires contempt in Charles and later compassion as he begins to understand far from being a wanton and loathsome witch, she is a loving and joyful soul, as the book is divided into sections where she talks about her life, and the letters by Charles to his wife in Ireland.
Corrag explains her childhood in England, about her mother who was hung for witchcraft, her flight to Scotland where she came under the protection of the McDonald clan of Glencoe, and above all her joy in small things, her love of and deep compassion for people and animals, her knowledge of herb lore and above all her great understanding and embracing of life, after having had such a hard existence.
Charles Griffith realizes what gem of a soul she really is .
This historical novel combines the Jacobite uprisings of the 1690s with the terrible witch-hunts of Britain which were only repealed in 1735, the last three hundred years before that in which hundreds of thousands of woman were persecuted-for ridiculous things, for being independent,, eccentric, for knowing herb lore, for living alone. 40 000 women were bunred to death in these persecutions over 300 years
And how much have things changed in the world really.
300 years ago people in Britain were persecuted for 'witchcraft'today by the pc elites for 'racism'
The same way the Church carried out witch-hunts against heretics and suspected witches 400 years ago and for centuries before that , today it is against anyone accused-usually falsely of racism. Even young children are not immune to these terrible witch hunts.
The book has the most beautiful and deep intelligent prose, that sings off the page and the author like Corrag demonstrates a great love for nature, life and tenacity
It is just after the brutal Glencoe massacre in which the McDonald clan is massacred by King William's redcoats, and the young woman Corrag is accused of supernaturally causing the massacre and sentenced to be burned to death.
Corrag;s plight fist inspires contempt in Charles and later compassion as he begins to understand far from being a wanton and loathsome witch, she is a loving and joyful soul, as the book is divided into sections where she talks about her life, and the letters by Charles to his wife in Ireland.
Corrag explains her childhood in England, about her mother who was hung for witchcraft, her flight to Scotland where she came under the protection of the McDonald clan of Glencoe, and above all her joy in small things, her love of and deep compassion for people and animals, her knowledge of herb lore and above all her great understanding and embracing of life, after having had such a hard existence.
Charles Griffith realizes what gem of a soul she really is .
This historical novel combines the Jacobite uprisings of the 1690s with the terrible witch-hunts of Britain which were only repealed in 1735, the last three hundred years before that in which hundreds of thousands of woman were persecuted-for ridiculous things, for being independent,, eccentric, for knowing herb lore, for living alone. 40 000 women were bunred to death in these persecutions over 300 years
And how much have things changed in the world really.
300 years ago people in Britain were persecuted for 'witchcraft'today by the pc elites for 'racism'
The same way the Church carried out witch-hunts against heretics and suspected witches 400 years ago and for centuries before that , today it is against anyone accused-usually falsely of racism. Even young children are not immune to these terrible witch hunts.
The book has the most beautiful and deep intelligent prose, that sings off the page and the author like Corrag demonstrates a great love for nature, life and tenacity
December 1, 2024
5 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
Thankfully, GR friends do not let their reading buddies miss out on books like this.
Included with Audible Premium and wonderfully narrated. Don't miss out. Treat yourself.
Thankfully, GR friends do not let their reading buddies miss out on books like this.
Included with Audible Premium and wonderfully narrated. Don't miss out. Treat yourself.
May 24, 2021
It is 1692, and a traveler to Scotland from Ireland Charles Griffith , a staunch Jacobite and supporter of the deposed and exiled Catholic James II, and opponent of his replacement the Protestant William Prince of Orange, is called to visit and question a young woman accused of witchcraft.
It is just after the brutal Glencoe massacre in which the McDonald clan is massacred by King William's redcoats, and the young woman Corrag is accused of supernaturally causing the massacre and sentenced to be burned to death.
Corrag;s plight fist inspires contempt in Charles and later compassion as he begins to understand far from being a wanton and loathsome witch, she is a loving and joyful soul, as the book is divided into sections where she talks about her life, and the letters by Charles to his wife in Ireland.
Corrag explains her childhood in England, about her mother who was hung for witchcraft, her flight to Scotland where she came under the protection of the McDonald clan of Glencoe, and above all her joy in small things, her love of and deep compassion for people and animals, her knowledge of herb lore and above all her great understanding and embracing of life, after having had such a hard existence.
Charles Griffith realizes what gem of a soul she really is .
This historical novel combines the Jacobite uprisings of the 1690s with the terrible witch-hunts of Britain which were only repealed in 1735, the last three hundred years before that in which hundreds of thousands of woman were persecuted-for ridiculous things, for being independent,, eccentric, for knowing herb lore, for living alone. 40 000 women were bunred to death in these persecutions over 300 years
And how much have things changed in the world really.
300 years ago people in Britain were persecuted for 'witchcraft'today by the pc elites for 'racism'
The same way the Church carried out witch-hunts against heretics and suspected witches 400 years ago and for centuries before that , today it is against anyone accused-usually falsely of racism. Even young children are not immune to these terrible witch hunts.
The book has the most beautiful and deep intelligent prose, that sings off the page and the author like Corrag demonstrates a great love for nature, life and tenacity
It is just after the brutal Glencoe massacre in which the McDonald clan is massacred by King William's redcoats, and the young woman Corrag is accused of supernaturally causing the massacre and sentenced to be burned to death.
Corrag;s plight fist inspires contempt in Charles and later compassion as he begins to understand far from being a wanton and loathsome witch, she is a loving and joyful soul, as the book is divided into sections where she talks about her life, and the letters by Charles to his wife in Ireland.
Corrag explains her childhood in England, about her mother who was hung for witchcraft, her flight to Scotland where she came under the protection of the McDonald clan of Glencoe, and above all her joy in small things, her love of and deep compassion for people and animals, her knowledge of herb lore and above all her great understanding and embracing of life, after having had such a hard existence.
Charles Griffith realizes what gem of a soul she really is .
This historical novel combines the Jacobite uprisings of the 1690s with the terrible witch-hunts of Britain which were only repealed in 1735, the last three hundred years before that in which hundreds of thousands of woman were persecuted-for ridiculous things, for being independent,, eccentric, for knowing herb lore, for living alone. 40 000 women were bunred to death in these persecutions over 300 years
And how much have things changed in the world really.
300 years ago people in Britain were persecuted for 'witchcraft'today by the pc elites for 'racism'
The same way the Church carried out witch-hunts against heretics and suspected witches 400 years ago and for centuries before that , today it is against anyone accused-usually falsely of racism. Even young children are not immune to these terrible witch hunts.
The book has the most beautiful and deep intelligent prose, that sings off the page and the author like Corrag demonstrates a great love for nature, life and tenacity
October 7, 2023
Un roman que j’aurais dû mal à définir. Au début j’ai eu un peu de mal à rentrer dans l’histoire mais au fur et à mesure j’ai été envoûtée ensorcelée par la lecture. Corrag est dans un cachot et attend son exécution Charles un pasteur jacobite décide de la rencontrer pour connaître les circonstances qui ont emmené à l’extermination d’un clan.
La plume de l’auteur est un vrai bijou travaillé façonné et poli. Je suis tombée amoureuse de l’Écosse de Corrag cette Écosse 🏴 sauvage et simple, comme le personnage de Charles au début j’étais sceptique je ne comprenais pas où m’emmenait l’autrice puis au fil des pages j’étais fascinée apaisée par ma lecture, tout comme Charles qui au début voit en Corrag un être diabolique et qui va comprendre qu’elle n’est qu’une simple femme qui ne cherche pas à nuire mais plutôt à survivre.
Si vous cherchez une lecture sympa pour Halloween cette année pendant ce mois d’octobre je vais lire pour la première fois une sélection spéciale Halloween 🎃 si vous avez des recommandations n’hésitez pas.
La plume de l’auteur est un vrai bijou travaillé façonné et poli. Je suis tombée amoureuse de l’Écosse de Corrag cette Écosse 🏴 sauvage et simple, comme le personnage de Charles au début j’étais sceptique je ne comprenais pas où m’emmenait l’autrice puis au fil des pages j’étais fascinée apaisée par ma lecture, tout comme Charles qui au début voit en Corrag un être diabolique et qui va comprendre qu’elle n’est qu’une simple femme qui ne cherche pas à nuire mais plutôt à survivre.
Si vous cherchez une lecture sympa pour Halloween cette année pendant ce mois d’octobre je vais lire pour la première fois une sélection spéciale Halloween 🎃 si vous avez des recommandations n’hésitez pas.
September 4, 2021
5**
"The world whispers, and we must hear"
One of the best books I've ever read, can't be arsed writing a review because there are so many great reviews out there. I could never do it justice. But I will say I was transfixed and mesmerised from the start and my only complaint is that it ended.
"The world whispers, and we must hear"
One of the best books I've ever read, can't be arsed writing a review because there are so many great reviews out there. I could never do it justice. But I will say I was transfixed and mesmerised from the start and my only complaint is that it ended.
August 11, 2024
Note: Witch light, (UK version of Corrag)
I made a new friend this week, her name was Corrag, and quite simply her story took over my life for a few days. Susan Fletcher’s portrayal of the Scottish landscape, observed in the first person by Corrag is described with such precision and intimacy, that i felt I was there witnessing the same breathtaking landscape; the same Scottish pools, “so still that there was a second sky in them".
What sets Corrag apart is her "eye which sees the smaller parts of life". Although she has endured a life of hardship and loneliness, she still appreciates the nature and beauty of life around her. Observations such as when moths catch in the cobwebs in her hair, and she says "my hair was wings and whiteness" are told so tenderly that I wanted to savour every observation that she so poetically described. Through Corrag’s eyes we see that the world is magical, and that’s not because she is a witch- it is the magic in "the simple daily moments that we stop seeing" that makes it so.
Thank you once again to my GR friends for another beautiful book recommendation, and one I will remember always.
I made a new friend this week, her name was Corrag, and quite simply her story took over my life for a few days. Susan Fletcher’s portrayal of the Scottish landscape, observed in the first person by Corrag is described with such precision and intimacy, that i felt I was there witnessing the same breathtaking landscape; the same Scottish pools, “so still that there was a second sky in them".
What sets Corrag apart is her "eye which sees the smaller parts of life". Although she has endured a life of hardship and loneliness, she still appreciates the nature and beauty of life around her. Observations such as when moths catch in the cobwebs in her hair, and she says "my hair was wings and whiteness" are told so tenderly that I wanted to savour every observation that she so poetically described. Through Corrag’s eyes we see that the world is magical, and that’s not because she is a witch- it is the magic in "the simple daily moments that we stop seeing" that makes it so.
Thank you once again to my GR friends for another beautiful book recommendation, and one I will remember always.
December 30, 2016
4,5/5
Je finis ce roman en larmes. Quelle merveille de poésie, d'espoir, d'humanité <3
Je finis ce roman en larmes. Quelle merveille de poésie, d'espoir, d'humanité <3
June 18, 2017
4.5 stars. I grew up knowing that I had MacDonald ancestry and that the Campbells had committed a heinous deed against us in Glencoe in 1692. The Campbells are coming Ho-Ro! Ho-Ro!
I wasn't aware of the full story until I read Witch Light (why two words when it's one in the book?), also published as Corrag.
I loved the rhythm of the narration, the insight into and love of nature, the fundamental kindness of the central character, Corrag. Called a witch and sentenced to death, she is interviewed by Charles Leslie who slowly realises the injustice of her imprisonment and the cruelty of her punishment, to be burned at the stake. The central story is, of course, about the massacre in Glencoe but Corrag's story and the world in which she lived is given equal importance.
Not 5 stars because I found some of it to be stretching credibility just too far but this is a book I will remember for a long time. It's a book that has reminded me to appreciate nature in the most detailed way. It has also reminded me how scared men have been of strong, independent women since time immemorial.
I wasn't aware of the full story until I read Witch Light (why two words when it's one in the book?), also published as Corrag.
I loved the rhythm of the narration, the insight into and love of nature, the fundamental kindness of the central character, Corrag. Called a witch and sentenced to death, she is interviewed by Charles Leslie who slowly realises the injustice of her imprisonment and the cruelty of her punishment, to be burned at the stake. The central story is, of course, about the massacre in Glencoe but Corrag's story and the world in which she lived is given equal importance.
Not 5 stars because I found some of it to be stretching credibility just too far but this is a book I will remember for a long time. It's a book that has reminded me to appreciate nature in the most detailed way. It has also reminded me how scared men have been of strong, independent women since time immemorial.
August 11, 2015
Best novel I've read this year (2015). Absolutely powerful, beautiful and engaging.
A keeper for my shelves and a later re-read.
A keeper for my shelves and a later re-read.
April 9, 2017
Quand la neige sera fondue, on brûlera Corrag sur le bûcher ; en attendant la fin de l'hiver, la jeune sorcière rêve dans son cachot. La visite du révérend irlandais Charles Leslie vient interrompre l'obscurité : fervent jacobite, l'homme est à la recherche d'informations sur le massacre du clan Macdonald à Glencoe, auquel Corrag a assisté, afin de mieux braver le trône de Guillaume d'Orange. Il aura ce qu'il veut savoir, mais avant, nous entendrons la vie de Corrag.
L'étrange structure romanesque, qui s'acharne à alterner les confessions de Corrag à Charles, et les lettres de Charles à son épouse Jane, peut décourager, tant elle semble arbitraire et figée dans le roc. Le ton, adopté, dès le départ, peut également agacer - ou en tout cas, ça a été mon cas : Corrag s'exprime d'un ton résigné, l'auteur insiste sur la naïveté des termes, des expressions. L'humilité du personnage ainsi soulignée, exagérée, m'a parfois fait grincer des dents, d'autant qu'elle s'allie à des images volontiers répétées (la mère, la jument) ; mais les lecteurs courageux, ceux qui voudront bien tenir plus d'une centaine de pages, se verront récompensés.
Il est lent à opérer, le charme de ce roman, mais il vient, à force de lenteur, de froid, de fougères et de tourbe, de longues et dangereuses chevauchées dans les forêts et au bord des lochs. Moi aussi, je veux dormir avec des poules, donner des pommes à un cerf et ramasser des plantes. Au bout de deux cents pages, j'avais l'impression de m'y connaître autant en botanique que la plus fieffée sorcière du XVIIème siècle. Au bout de trois cents pages, j'étais amoureuse d'un homme roux qui se promène vêtu d'un plaid. Et au bout de quatre cents pages, j'étais assez attachée au petit personnage à la chevelure en broussaille pour souhaiter de tout cœur la voir échapper à son terrible destin.
Lu pour le mois de mars au club de lecture francophone, sur le thème des Celtes - merci aux collègues pour la recommandation !
L'étrange structure romanesque, qui s'acharne à alterner les confessions de Corrag à Charles, et les lettres de Charles à son épouse Jane, peut décourager, tant elle semble arbitraire et figée dans le roc. Le ton, adopté, dès le départ, peut également agacer - ou en tout cas, ça a été mon cas : Corrag s'exprime d'un ton résigné, l'auteur insiste sur la naïveté des termes, des expressions. L'humilité du personnage ainsi soulignée, exagérée, m'a parfois fait grincer des dents, d'autant qu'elle s'allie à des images volontiers répétées (la mère, la jument) ; mais les lecteurs courageux, ceux qui voudront bien tenir plus d'une centaine de pages, se verront récompensés.
Il est lent à opérer, le charme de ce roman, mais il vient, à force de lenteur, de froid, de fougères et de tourbe, de longues et dangereuses chevauchées dans les forêts et au bord des lochs. Moi aussi, je veux dormir avec des poules, donner des pommes à un cerf et ramasser des plantes. Au bout de deux cents pages, j'avais l'impression de m'y connaître autant en botanique que la plus fieffée sorcière du XVIIème siècle. Au bout de trois cents pages, j'étais amoureuse d'un homme roux qui se promène vêtu d'un plaid. Et au bout de quatre cents pages, j'étais assez attachée au petit personnage à la chevelure en broussaille pour souhaiter de tout cœur la voir échapper à son terrible destin.
Lu pour le mois de mars au club de lecture francophone, sur le thème des Celtes - merci aux collègues pour la recommandation !
December 22, 2016
'There is no devil. Only the devilish ways in a man'.
Back in February, my partner took me to Scotland. For a few days in late August and early September, Susan Fletcher took me back again.
Witch Light, or Corrag, as its alternatively known, tells the story of a wild young girl living in the Scottish Highlands in 1692.
Learning everything from her Mother, Corrag heals with plants and herbs, and leads a beautiful, simple life amongst nature and the elements.
But this simplicity gets Corrag labelled as a Witch and she's thrown into a dark, dank cell to await her fate.
Charles Leslie, an Irish man of the cloth, hears of her incarceration and begins visiting her in her last days. He learns that she witnessed the brutal Massacre of Glencoe, and so, to him, she tells her story. One that could not only change her destiny, but perhaps everyone else's too.
If you're after a story which is action-packed and fast-paced, this isn't it. Witch Light is a beautiful, serene story full of incredible description. I found myself walking through the Highlands, feeling the snow tickle my face and freeze my ears. I saw the grand hinds, I heard the owl and smelt the peat-smoked aromas of the mountain villages.
I'm not usually one for books with loads and loads of description. But the author was so brilliant at it, it made this book absolutely breathtaking.
When I go back to Scotland, which I undoubtedly will, this book will be carried with me in my thoughts as I look at the scenery with a new pair of eyes and far more appreciation of this beautiful world we live in.
Read
February 18, 2019I've heard fate talked of. It's not a word I use. I think we make our own choices. I think how we live our lives is our own doing, and we cannot fully hope on dreams and stars. But dreams and stars can guide us, perhaps. And the heart's voice is a stronge one. Always is. Your heart's voice is your true voice.
¡MARAVILLOSA! Libro directo a favoritos.
Witch Light es de esas lecturas con todos los ingredientes para gustarme: Historia (está basado en un hecho real), folklore, Escocia y una protagonista que me ha robado el corazón completamente.
Condenada a morir en la hoguera por brujería, Corrag espera el día de su ejecución acompañada por Charles Leslie, un irlandés en busca de respuestas acerca de lo sucedido en Glencoe. Ella impone una condición, contará lo que vio, pero él tendrá que escuchar su propia historia vital.
Corrag transmite tan bonito que es inevitable no emocionarse con su relato. Un estilo lírico y poético perfecto para hablarnos del paisaje escocés, un vínculo precioso y tan especial que traspasa las páginas.
Me fascinó su manera de ver el mundo, su relación con la naturaleza y el respeto con el que trata todo lo que le rodea... sin prejuicios ni limitaciones. Una voz poderosa y libre de las que es difícil despedirse.
Como dato añadido, diré que en mi ejemplar al final, vienen notas de la autora y una entrevista comentando su proceso de documentación para el libro. Un cierre perfecto para una lectura única.
We are the magick -we are. The truest magick in this world is in us, Mr. Leslie. It is in our movements and in what we say and feel.
July 30, 2020
"What creatures we are. What powers are in us – in all of us. What we already know, if we choose to spend some time with ourselves. What a deep love we can feel."
Also published until the titles Corrag and The Highland Witch, Witch Light is historical fiction at its finest, with the witch element that I adore. Susan Fletcher is an amazing author and I'll definitely be reading more of her novels. The writing is a big part of what makes this story so beautiful, so haunting, so moving, so amazing. You feel this story and once you finish this book, you want to book a plane to Scotland.
Taking place in Scotland, 1692, after the Glencoe Massacre, Corrag has been imprisoned for witchcraft. Charles Leslie, the other narrator in this book (in the letters he writes to his wife), is a religious man who comes to visit her to know what happened during the massacre. Corrag agrees, only if he first listen to what happened before. And whatever you were expecting, her story will definitely make you think long after you close this book. I admit that at first, I bought this book because I've always loved witches and History, but this is so much more than that.
I feel like I can't write a proper review for this book, because Corrag's voice is unique and her story and feelings should be told only by herself. Read this book, you won't regret it.
Also published until the titles Corrag and The Highland Witch, Witch Light is historical fiction at its finest, with the witch element that I adore. Susan Fletcher is an amazing author and I'll definitely be reading more of her novels. The writing is a big part of what makes this story so beautiful, so haunting, so moving, so amazing. You feel this story and once you finish this book, you want to book a plane to Scotland.
Taking place in Scotland, 1692, after the Glencoe Massacre, Corrag has been imprisoned for witchcraft. Charles Leslie, the other narrator in this book (in the letters he writes to his wife), is a religious man who comes to visit her to know what happened during the massacre. Corrag agrees, only if he first listen to what happened before. And whatever you were expecting, her story will definitely make you think long after you close this book. I admit that at first, I bought this book because I've always loved witches and History, but this is so much more than that.
I feel like I can't write a proper review for this book, because Corrag's voice is unique and her story and feelings should be told only by herself. Read this book, you won't regret it.
November 25, 2016
Je ne pensais pas au départ finir ce livre comme étant un coup de coeur. Mais on se laisse rapidement emporter par l'écriture poétique et vrai de l'auteur. Ses très belles descriptions des paysages écossais nous font voyager depuis notre fauteuil. Je me suis vite attaché à Corrag et à sa vision du monde qui nous entoure. Bref un très joli livre sur l'Ecosse, son histoire et la sorcellerie qui nous fait apprécier les petites choses et beautés de la nature.
November 24, 2022
Loved this one although it did take me a minute to get into it. The story is about a "witch" who tells her story to a man trying to build a case against King William. She was witness to the massacre of Glencoe (1692).
The story is tragic but beautifully written. I would read or listen to more from this author.
The story is tragic but beautifully written. I would read or listen to more from this author.
Did Not Finish
July 19, 2019This was another contribution to Book Club from our literary member, and yet again, I was dubious as to whether it would be for me, but wanted to see for myself. Well, I gave up at page 101, then jumped forward to the final chapters to see how it ended. This is a beautifully poetic novel based on real events and characters, but it was too slow, too wordy, too repetitive and, sorry, too boring for me.
Corrag is a young Englishwoman who fled her home at age 16 when her single mother was accused of witchcraft, and ended up living with the Highland MacDonalds. As the book opens in 1692, she lies chained and filthy in prison, having herself been named witch/hag/whore... reflecting on her past. When Charles Leslie, an Irish priest with secret Jacobite sympathies hears that she may have witnessed the infamous Massacre of Glencoe, he sees an opportunity to implicate the English King, William of Orange, so travels to Inverory to interview her. She agrees to tell him what happened, on condition that he listen to her life story.
This is told mostly by Corrag, in the present, reminiscing about her mother, Cora, her childhood, her relationship with a married man (I didn’t get too far into that) as well as the use of herbs and love for animals and nature that led to the charges against her. Charles complains, in one of the regular letters written to his wife back in Ireland, that she talks too much, and she herself notes that no one likes a chatterer, but does it stop her? Sadly not. She goes on and on in a monotonous monologue and relevant points are lost in all the digressions.
If you love lyrical language and don’t mind the vagueness and lack of a proper narrative arc, you should love this, but I was mostly interested in the history and politics of the time so found the timeline in the afterword the most interesting part of this. As for me, I’m happy to put it back in the bag so I can return it to it’s owner on Sunday and allow me to move on to something thrilling. I haven’t rated it as I didn’t finish it, but it would be 2.5 from me.
Corrag is a young Englishwoman who fled her home at age 16 when her single mother was accused of witchcraft, and ended up living with the Highland MacDonalds. As the book opens in 1692, she lies chained and filthy in prison, having herself been named witch/hag/whore... reflecting on her past. When Charles Leslie, an Irish priest with secret Jacobite sympathies hears that she may have witnessed the infamous Massacre of Glencoe, he sees an opportunity to implicate the English King, William of Orange, so travels to Inverory to interview her. She agrees to tell him what happened, on condition that he listen to her life story.
This is told mostly by Corrag, in the present, reminiscing about her mother, Cora, her childhood, her relationship with a married man (I didn’t get too far into that) as well as the use of herbs and love for animals and nature that led to the charges against her. Charles complains, in one of the regular letters written to his wife back in Ireland, that she talks too much, and she herself notes that no one likes a chatterer, but does it stop her? Sadly not. She goes on and on in a monotonous monologue and relevant points are lost in all the digressions.
If you love lyrical language and don’t mind the vagueness and lack of a proper narrative arc, you should love this, but I was mostly interested in the history and politics of the time so found the timeline in the afterword the most interesting part of this. As for me, I’m happy to put it back in the bag so I can return it to it’s owner on Sunday and allow me to move on to something thrilling. I haven’t rated it as I didn’t finish it, but it would be 2.5 from me.
November 18, 2020
What a gorgeous, lyrical tale. The massacre at Glencoe of the MacDonald clan is the impetus of this story, but it is not the focus. This is not a story you read for plot but instead to relish the vivid language, the strikingly transportive descriptions of the Scottish countryside, and the gentle unfolding of a woman’s hardships and her wondrous connection with the beauty of nature. While the woman in question was a bit too angelically perfect for my tastes, she is still an engaging character. The friendship that unfolds as Corrag tells her story to the suspicious Charles is a testament to the power of an expanded mind and how that connection can change the way one views the world. I love the vehicle of epigraphical storytelling, though in this instance, I had to suspend my disbelief over how freely Charles expressed his thoughts on paper during such dangerous times. Poetic and introspective, this is a moving story that is a lovely ode to the women so wrongfully murdered at the excuse of witchcraft, to the power of friendship, to storytelling, and to Scotland.
March 1, 2016
Dans l’Écosse du 17ème siècle, une jeune "sorcière" condamnée à mort, Corrag, raconte son histoire et les massacres dont elle a été témoin au révérend Charles. Ce dernier la méprise dès leur première rencontre, ne cherchant dans son récit uniquement les informations qui l'intéresse, mais petit à petit; il apprivoise ses préjugés et écoute les mots de la jeune sorcière. Elle raconte les arbres, les rivières, les animaux, la nature et le monde comme elle le vit et le ressent.
Les chapitres s'alternent entre le récit de Corrag et les lettres que Charles écrit à sa femme, et la très belle écriture de Susan Fletcher nous transporte dans un fantastique voyage. L'innocence de Corrag et la sincérité de Charles sont très touchants, et la description des paysages juste magique.
Un livre envoûtant que je vous conseille avec plaisir!
Les chapitres s'alternent entre le récit de Corrag et les lettres que Charles écrit à sa femme, et la très belle écriture de Susan Fletcher nous transporte dans un fantastique voyage. L'innocence de Corrag et la sincérité de Charles sont très touchants, et la description des paysages juste magique.
Un livre envoûtant que je vous conseille avec plaisir!
May 8, 2025
Scottish “witch,” Corrag, tells her story, along with the Glencoe massacre which she was accused of being part of, to a minister while sitting in jail, waiting to be killed. I loved her voice - it is lyrical and so full of the beauty of the world, even as the world of men has shown her so little beauty in return. I think this is the only book in which I have cried over a horse. Totally immersive, it’s as if one is roaming the highlands with her.
August 24, 2012
I listened to the audio version of this book and greatly enjoyed it. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times - Rosalyn Landor is simply the best book narrator ever!
Because this story was based on actual historical events, I found it even more fascinating because I learned about a piece of Scottish history that I hadn't heard of before (not that I know a lot about Scotland's history! But I do like learning about any historical event). Also, oddly enough, I can highly identify with being branded a witch (long story! ;-)
The only downside to this story (for me) was the author's style of narrative. Little things bother me. I'm sure that most people wouldn't even notice this but I did and it drove me crazy! What I'm talking about is Corrag's repetitive narrative. I'm sure that there was a reason for it and it no doubt spoke to her character and personality, but it still bothered me. It annoyed me every time Corrag mentioned North and West. It got to the point where I was thinking, "Please don't say it again. I know which way she went. We all do (even the mare)!" But the North and West reference was kept up until the very last minutes of the story. And then there was the part where she ran to get help on the night of the anticipated massacre. She ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran (well, you get the picture!). She ran mainly to help "him." Him. Him. Him. Oh gawd - enough already!!! Anyway... (btw people, I'm not being mean about the author or any such thing. This is just something that solely speaks to my weird idiosyncrasyes.
Aside from the above-mentioned silly little thing that seriously annoyed me, I greatly enjoyed the story. It was a really fascinating way to learn about a very unfortunate and horrific event in Scottish Highlander history. The characters of Corrag and Charles Leslie were both compelling people with very good stories to tell. You could sense their growing friendship and you grew along with them and became sympathetic to both of them. **SEMI-SPILER** You were glad that Charles Leslie did what he did in the end. Had she not ran ran ran North and West, North and West, North and West because of him him him, I may have given the book four stars! I know - I'm a horrible person!
Because this story was based on actual historical events, I found it even more fascinating because I learned about a piece of Scottish history that I hadn't heard of before (not that I know a lot about Scotland's history! But I do like learning about any historical event). Also, oddly enough, I can highly identify with being branded a witch (long story! ;-)
The only downside to this story (for me) was the author's style of narrative. Little things bother me. I'm sure that most people wouldn't even notice this but I did and it drove me crazy! What I'm talking about is Corrag's repetitive narrative. I'm sure that there was a reason for it and it no doubt spoke to her character and personality, but it still bothered me. It annoyed me every time Corrag mentioned North and West. It got to the point where I was thinking, "Please don't say it again. I know which way she went. We all do (even the mare)!" But the North and West reference was kept up until the very last minutes of the story. And then there was the part where she ran to get help on the night of the anticipated massacre. She ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran (well, you get the picture!). She ran mainly to help "him." Him. Him. Him. Oh gawd - enough already!!! Anyway... (btw people, I'm not being mean about the author or any such thing. This is just something that solely speaks to my weird idiosyncrasyes.
Aside from the above-mentioned silly little thing that seriously annoyed me, I greatly enjoyed the story. It was a really fascinating way to learn about a very unfortunate and horrific event in Scottish Highlander history. The characters of Corrag and Charles Leslie were both compelling people with very good stories to tell. You could sense their growing friendship and you grew along with them and became sympathetic to both of them. **SEMI-SPILER** You were glad that Charles Leslie did what he did in the end. Had she not ran ran ran North and West, North and West, North and West because of him him him, I may have given the book four stars! I know - I'm a horrible person!
March 9, 2017
Sans oser l'imaginer ce livre est un coup de coeur ! On ne passe pas à côté des magnifiques descriptions de la nature écossaise, le language poétique de la narratrice est à couper le souffle. Sans oublier le cocktail complètement addictif de ce qui fait un "bon" roman qui parle de sorcellerie, de légendes...
October 10, 2018
4.5 beautiful poetic stars
Wow, what a little hidden gem of a book! This is a beautiful novel based on the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. I highly recommend listening to this on audible as the narrator is excellent and brings the story to life.
Wow, what a little hidden gem of a book! This is a beautiful novel based on the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. I highly recommend listening to this on audible as the narrator is excellent and brings the story to life.
January 5, 2024
When I've finished sobbing..... I will declare that this is one of the best books I have ever read.
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