Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Jennet Stearne's father hangs witches for a living in Restoration England. But when she witnesses the unjust and horrifying execution of her beloved aunt Isobel, the precocious child decides to make it her life's mission to bring down the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act. Armed with little save the power of reason, and determined to see justice prevail, Jennet hurls herself into a series of picaresque adventures—traveling from King William's Britain to the fledgling American Colonies to an uncharted island in the Caribbean, braving West Indies pirates, Algonquin Indian captors, the machinations of the Salem Witch Court, and the sensuous love of a young Ben Franklin. For Jennet cannot and must not rest until she has put the last witchfinder out of business.
Synopsis
Jennet Stearne's father hangs witches for a living in Restoration England. But when she witnesses the unjust and horrifying execution of her beloved aunt Isobel, the precocious child decides to make it her life's mission to bring down the Parliamentary Witchcraft Act. Armed with little save the power of reason, and determined to see justice prevail, Jennet hurls herself into a series of picaresque adventures—traveling from King William's Britain to the fledgling American Colonies to an uncharted island in the Caribbean, braving West Indies pirates, Algonquin Indian captors, the machinations of the Salem Witch Court, and the sensuous love of a young Ben Franklin. For Jennet cannot and must not rest until she has put the last witchfinder out of business.
The Washington Post - Ron Charles
James Morrow's novel about early American witchcraft pulls off so many dazzling feats of literary magic that in a different century he'd have been burned at the stake. Forget The Crucible, Arthur Miller's dreary classic. Forget the repugnant kitsch of modern-day Salem. The Last Witchfinder flies us back to that thrilling period when scientific rationalism was dropped into the great cauldron of intellectual history, boiling with prejudice, tradition, piety and fear. The result is a fantastical story mixed so cunningly with real-life details that your vision of America's past may never awaken from Morrow's spell.
Editorials
New York Times
"Here are storytelling, showmanship and provocative book-club bait, all rolled into one inventive feat."Washington Post Book World
"Endlessly exciting ... A grand picaresque tour of England and the American colonies ... Watch out for James Morrow: He’s magic."Denver Post
"Read[s] like a collaboration between Charles Dickens and Henry Fielding...Morrow is long overdue for a mainstream audience."Booklist (starred review)
“This impeccably researched, highly ambitious novel -- nine years in the writing -- is a triumph of historical fiction.”Daily Telegraph (London)
"Dazzling . . . [A]n extravagant, expansive, erudite, energetic feast of information and adventure."Pages Magazine
"This lively and thoughtful adventuer is filled with enough satire and plot to fuel two Mark Twain tomes."Seattle Times
"Grim and gorgeous, earthy and erudite as well."Rocky Mountain News
"Morrow seamlessly weaves fantasy with science and historical fact in one of the best novels of the year."USA Today
"A book to delight fans of writers such as John Barth and T.C. Boyle. Or even Jonathan Swift."Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette
"[A] richly detailed, cerebral tale of rationality versus superstitious bigotry."Booklist
"This impeccably researched, highly ambitious novel — nine years in the writing — is a triumph of historical fiction."Jason Goodwin
James Morrow is a wildly imaginative and generous novelist who plays hilarious games with grand ideas. He's been compared to Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain, and with his latest novel Fielding and Sterne should be added to the list.— The New York Times
Ron Charles
James Morrow's novel about early American witchcraft pulls off so many dazzling feats of literary magic that in a different century he'd have been burned at the stake. Forget The Crucible, Arthur Miller's dreary classic. Forget the repugnant kitsch of modern-day Salem. The Last Witchfinder flies us back to that thrilling period when scientific rationalism was dropped into the great cauldron of intellectual history, boiling with prejudice, tradition, piety and fear. The result is a fantastical story mixed so cunningly with real-life details that your vision of America's past may never awaken from Morrow's spell.— The Washington Post
Janet Maslin
It is a book to which Mr. Morrow devoted seven years, according to its jacket copy. And that prodigious dedication pays off. Here are storytelling, showmanship and provocative book-club bait (try finding another recent novel that rivals this one for erudite talking points), all rolled into one inventive feat.— The New York Times