The Bewitching
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping basket is already at capacity.
Add to cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
₹0.00 for first 30 days
LIMITED TIME OFFER
Get 2 months for ₹5/month
Offer ends on 14 April, 2026 at 23:59.
Pay ₹5/month for 2 months and ₹199/month after 2 months, Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 14 April 2026 at 23:59. Take this offer!
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep.
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks.
Download titles to your library and listen offline.
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Bewitching
Narrated by:
Daphne Kouma, Jilly Bond
Buy Now for ₹500.00
-
Narrated by:
-
Daphne Kouma
-
Jilly Bond
-
Written by:
-
Jill Dawson
About this listen
Alice Samuel might be old and sharp-tongued, but she's no fool. Visiting her new neighbours in her Fenland village, she suspects Squire Throckmorton's household is not as God-fearing as it seems and finds the children troubled. What she cannot foresee is that all five daughters will succumb in turn to a terrifying affliction and accuse her of witchcraft - who else to blame than an ugly, black-capped woman with mysterious healing skills?
The Throckmortons' maid Martha, uncomfortably aware of strange goings-on in the household herself, is reluctant to believe that Alice is a witch. Yet visiting scholars attracted by the news are convinced, evidence mounts and soon the entire village is swept up in the frenzied persecution of one of their own community.
Exploring a neglected episode in English history to powerful effect, The Bewitching chillingly conveys the brutal tribalism that can erupt in a closed society and how victims can be made to believe in their own wickedness.
(P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2022 Gold Dust Mentoring Ltd
Critic Reviews
Novels about witch-hunts are not rare beasts, but The Bewitching, which is based on the true story of the witches of Warboys, is a particularly fine example. Tension builds, events spiral out of control and it builds to a devastating finale (Antonia Senior)
In this literary page-turner, Jill Dawson brings vividly to the page the chilling tale of the witches of Warboys . . . a compulsive and thought-provoking account of guilt and persecution (Paula Hawkins)
Jill Dawson enters thoroughly into her characters' religious world view, while giving a meaningful glance at the issues of today . . . she colours in the crude woodcut of history with passionate emotions and plausible motivations . . . And what more easy way to stifle an obstreperous woman's accusations than to accuse her first? Dawson's vivid retelling doesn't leave us with any comforting notion that human nature has advanced much (Suzi Feay)
This well-researched historical novel weaves history and literary fiction to powerful, chilling effect (Edward Argyle)
[A] finely tuned tale about power and persecution
Alice, demonised for being outspoken, is a timeless female archetype, rendered with great skill by Dawson . . . a terrific piece of storytelling, immersed in its period but rich in resonance for the Twitter generation (Max Davidson)
A deeply satisfying and highly feminist novel . . . Jill Dawson has a knack for putting you right in the time and place, dousing you in terrified concern and setting you alight. Highly recommended
An important novel which gave me fresh insight into the wicked mechanism of misogyny. The truth and sadness of it is breathtaking, and the writing is just wonderful (Sadie Jones)
Novels about witches - or, alternatively, women scapegoated, silenced and shunned - have flourished in recent years, but Dawson's is a cut above and cumulative in its emotional heft, being also an empathic examination of internalised misogyny and shame. And while its uncompromising denouement feels inevitable, a coda flares with reclaimed agency and even joy (Stephanie Cross)
She crafts magic out of darkness and light. Nothing evokes the past as vividly as her deft prose. Dark as The Bewitching is, with its uncanny echoes of our own times, we know we are safe in her superb, story-telling hands
Profoundly involving, vivid and new . . . she brings all a poet's skill for the seductive texture of life to a breathlessly exciting narrative
A magnificent writer. I would read her shopping lists
Set in the 16th century, The Bewitching by Jill Dawson promises a powerful and chilling tale of witchcraft and persecution from one of our most skilful and absorbing storytellers (Books of 2022)
A fascinating and deeply disturbing tale of witchcraft, male power, and the age-old fear of women
No reviews yet