In 1645 England, Nell is the granddaughter of a village healer, and a “merrybegot,” a child conceived on the first of May, a joyful and auspicious day according to Pagan tradition. Her new neighbors, Grace and Patience, are daughters of the widowed Puritan minister, a stern man with no tolerance for the villagers’ superstitious customs. Nell cares not for the prissy, stiff girls who are rarely allowed outside the dark walls of their forbidding house, and Grace thinks Nell is more wild animal than girl, with the way she races headlong through the forest on bare and dirty feet. When the minister embarks on a mission to clear the village of remnants of the “Old Religion” once and for all, Nell and her grandmother are immediately singled out as possible witches. Nell stands defiant against the minister’s crusade, even as her grandmother weakens and grows ill. But when Grace needs to hide a terrible secret, she takes advantage of her father’s “divine” cause to get rid of Nell and her independent ways once and for all! Shivery, shocking, and wonderfully atmospheric, The Minster’s Daughter blends fact, fiction, and fantasy in a way that will have you frantically flipping pages to find out what happens next, while simultaneously hoping this amazing book will never end!
I read this a couple years ago, so I don’t remember all of it, but out of curiosity I looked it up here! All I can clearly remember is liking the book enough to buy, as I see it sitting on the shelf before me. I would suggest it to any and all who are interested in historical fiction or “witchcraft”. A very under appreciated book if I do say so myself, and to finish off my very small and fragmented paragraph I leave any who may read this with the knowledge that i will certainy be picking the book up off my shelf again soon for a quick reread.