Enchanting | The Witch's Trinity: A Novel

A beautifully written page turner | The Witch's Trinity: A Novel | Erika Mailman

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	• The Witch's Trinity: A Novel Erika Mailman Three Rivers Press, 2008 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Spellbinding

From the moment the story begins, Erika Mailman unfolds her tale of the dark side of human nature with such detailed and rich prose that I could feel the chill of the cold, Medieval German winter deep in my bones. Her characters are complex, the setting bleak, the story intense and captivating. It all comes together to create a page turner that will make you infinitely happy to live in contemporary times.

Enchanting

Beautifully written novel about some of the true root causes of witchhunts. Set in a small German village crippled by a famine, Mailman delves into the cruelty people can perpetrate on those closest to them under extreme circumstances. Her prose is poetic, the story compelling. Don't miss this book, it's wonderful.

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A beautifully written page turner

A well-told tale full of vivid characters and details of village life in early 16th century Germany. Tense, and sometimes terrifying, the story of Gude's (and others') deprivation and persecution at the hands of the powerful makes the novel as relevant to citizens of the 21st century as to those of Gude's time. A suspenseful, moving story told with great empathy by a writer of exceptional skill.

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Excellent Read!

I'm a sucker for a good plot, but I like lyrical writing too. Erika Mailman's novel The Witch's Trinity satisfies both of my story needs. You can read the reviews for a synopsis, I just want to point out that this is an incredibly well-written story, a thought-provoking read that has scary parallels to modern day, and a beautiful tale told by one of our best new writers of the day.

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Reviewed by Mirella Patzer - Historical Fiction Author

Bloodstone Castle
Heinrich the Fowler: Father of the Ottonian Empire

THE WITCH'S TRINITY By Erika Mailman

In the 16th century, a great famine ravages the town of Tierkinddorf, Germany. As the villagers slowly starve, a ruthless Dominican friar arrives. He has been on a mission, travelling from location to location to town to purge Germany of witches. The villagers are desperate to blame the famine on someone or something.

Gude, an old woman, lives with her only son, Jost the miller, his wife Irmeltrud, and their children Alke and Mattern. Irmeltrud deeply resents having to share what little food they have with her old mother-in-law and is cruel-hearted towards her behind Jost's back.
Meanwhile, the witch hunt continues and Kunne, the village healer and herbalist and Gude's dearest friends is accused of witchcraft. She is blamed for turning milk sour and for someone's hen refusing to lay eggs. Gude can do nothing as she watches her friend burned at the stake on false accusations. And still, the famine continues.
While Jost is away hunting for food with several other men from the village, suspicion and hatred turn and point on Gude, fuelled by the false testimony of her own daughter-in-law, Irmeltrud. The accusation lands Gude in the witch's tower to await trial. Soon, the witch hunt turns upon Irmeltrud when a barren neighbour blames her for witchery to claim the children as her own.

Sprinkled with elements of paganism, mystical dreams, dementia, and hatred, Erika Mailman explores the effect of starvation and fear upon the human spirit in this marvellous novel about witch trials in the late middle ages. Mailman's passion for witches and witch trials is born from her own heritage where one of her own ancestors was accused of witchcraft during the early years of American history. A deeply moving book which churns the emotions and keeps you turning the pages.

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?A gripping, well-told story of faith and truth.?
?Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner

?A disturbingly effective historical novel.?
?Boston Globe

?Beautifully written, nary a word out of place, and with a few moments that throw you beyond?the way good books do ... deeply satisfying.?
?San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2007

The year is 1507, and severe famine strikes a small town in Germany. A friar arrives from a large city, claiming that the town is under the spell of witches in league with the devil. He brings with him a book called the Malleus Maleficarum??The Witch?s Hammer.? It is a guide to gaining confessions of witchcraft. The friar promises he will identify the guilty woman who has brought God?s anger upon the town, burn her, and restore bounty.

The elderly Güde Müller suffers stark and frightening visions; none in the village knows this, and Güde herself worries that the sharpness of her mind has begun to fade. Yet of one thing she is absolutely certain: She has become an object of scorn and a burden to her son?s wife. In these desperate times, her daughter-in-law would prefer one less hungry mouth at the family table. As the friar turns his eye on each member of the tiny community, Güde dreads what her daughter-in-law might say to win his favor, and that her secret visions will be revealed.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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