I had never heard of the author Elizabeth George Speare, although she was a popular American writer in the latter half of the 20th century. I would probably never have come across her book ‘The Witch of Blackbird Pond’ by myself, despite it having been a Newbery award winner. It’s a book for older children set in the late 17th century in the United States, which isn’t a genre that generally appeals to me. However some young friends had just read it and thought I would enjoy it.
It took me a few pages to get into the book, which begins on board a ship. Kit is the main protagonist; she is sixteen, though at times she feels a bit younger. She’s been living in Barbados, in an affluent household, but is on her way to the United States to stay with relatives. Her parents died some time before the story starts, and she’s just lost her beloved grandfather as well as her home, as he had considerable debts.
Kit’s Aunt Rachel, who was her mother’s sister, was considered a beauty in her younger days so Kit is quite shocked to find her aunt poorly dressed, rather cowed by her outspoken husband. They have two daughters: Mercy and Judith. Judith, who is around Kit’s age, is quite condescending and arrogant at times, although she is very envious of her cousin’s fine-looking clothes. Mercy, who is a few years older, is lame and unable to do very much, but she’s kind and thoughtful, and quite a peacemaker.
Aunt Rachel and her family are Puritans, who don’t celebrate any feasts, and spend lengthy periods at ‘meetings’ which bore Kit immensely. They work very hard, something she is unused to doing, as her Barbados home had many servants and also slaves. But Kit gradually learns to card wool, to spin, to feed and clean animals, to work outside, and to cook and clean. She’s quite independent but realises she has no alternative but to live with her only relatives.
Kit makes friends with a Quaker woman who is an outcast, considered by some to be a witch. She also befriends a small and neglected girl called Prudence, and starts to teach her to read. But there’s a lot of aggression and prejudice in the town, in addition to very strict ways of living, and more than once she finds herself in trouble…
Once I’d got into the story, I found it quite compelling. I know very little about this period in history, and had not realised how very strict and austere the Puritans were - nor that they considered Quakers to be evil, treating them with contempt at best, persecuting them if they caused any trouble. I also didn’t realise that there were so many British loyalists in the US who still saw the UK King as their monarch.
The author writes authentically - as far as I can tell, anyway - and her main characters are quite believable, most of them three-dimensional, even if some of the minor characters are a bit caricatured. There’s a very low key romantic thread, too - actually more than one thread, which gets a bit tangled at times although (as it’s a book for children and younger teens) it’s all resolved appropriately towards the end.
All in all I liked the book very much, and would recommend it to anyone - adult or older children/teens - who is interested in this period of history.
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