Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s nice to start a weekend trip with a new book!

With a slightly academic tone, Gibson examines 13 witch trials throughout history….spoiler alert, only one of the dozens of mostly women (there are just a couple men highlighted) were never or not self-proclaimed witches. I‘d love to say “see how far we‘ve come,” but as Gibson shows in her last case from the 21st century, accusations have evolved but the underlying causes remain. Politics. Socioeconomic. Nonconformity to religion. Recommended!

A bit dry, yes, but the subject matter is engaging enough to keep one invested. Less about ‘witches‘ and more about the subjugation of women throughout history. I found it scary and sad; just the very idea of what the accused went through. Makes me think about humankind, about being a man in today‘s society, and how I can be better at both.

This is a detailed look at the history of witch trials and demonology. It focuses on 13 trials as a deep dive into the actions and beliefs that drive witch trials - misogyny, patriarchy, and white supremacy being chief among those justifications. The text is very dry, though, which makes this a difficult read, and the narrator delivers the text in the manner of a dull university lecture. A pick for the content, but a low one for the tedium.

Public service announcement - British library has a really interesting line up live and also on web on 4th November as part of their Festival of the Accused - non fiction and fiction writers on witchcraft. I am planning to attend the 1 pm!