Witch Child

Published in 2000, Witch Child is an epistolary children’s novel written by English author Celia Rees. Set in seventeenth-century Old England and New England, the story follows fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury, a young witch-girl forced to make a daring escape to the New World after her grandmother is hanged to death for being a witch. Once Mary lands in Salem, Massachusetts, she must keep her identity a secret while contending with extreme religious persecution, intolerant Puritans, paranoid witch-hunts, the threat of violence, and the fear of death. Along the way, Mary documents her experiences in a personal diary that she aims to keep as secretive as her true identity. Witch Girl has been called “an expertly written, potent novel” by Horn Book Magazine, and “sure to be in high demand for a long time” by Kirkus Reviews.

Narrated from a limited first-person perspective, the novel is presented as a series of diary entries by protagonist Mary Newbury. The story begins in 1659 in a small cottage in England, as fourteen-year-old Mary admits that she is a witch. More specifically, Mary explains that she is the grandchild of a witch and that her grandmother, Eliza Nuttall, was recently tortured and hung to death in a public square for being one as well. Upon witnessing Eliza’s death with her own eyes, Mary narrowly escapes a similar fate when an anonymous rescuer spirits Mary away to a nearby Inn. Mary soon realizes the noblewoman who spirited her away is actually her long-lost mother. At the inn, Mary’s mother dresses her as a Puritan and prepares her for her sojourn to the New World. Mary is brought to Southampton, passing the Temple of Winds along the way, a sacred place Eliza told her about. In Southampton, Mary meets the Rivers family. With Mary’s life in grave danger, the Rivers family agrees to give Mary free passage to sail to the New World on a ship bound for Salem, Massachusetts.

On the ship, The Annabel, Mary befriends Martha, a middle-aged woman. Mary also meets the apothecary Jonah, who has a son named Tobias. Another man, Jack, informs Mary of how to make money in America by trading and exchanging goods. En route to Salem, Mary fears her identity will be exposed at the mere mention of witches, which occurs nearly every time something bad happens. Mary also documents the hardships of traveling by ship, the cramped conditions, grave illness, the widespread anxieties of exiles starting life anew, etc. When The Annabel reaches Salem, Mary and the others continue on to Beulah, Massachusetts. They arrive at a newfound settlement in the forest built by the preceding pilgrims. Mary lives with Martha, Jonah, and Tobias in the settlement, while the Rivers family builds a home nearby. At first, Mary spends much of her time helping Jonah study the healing powers of various indigenous plants. In the woods one day, Mary meets Jaybird, a Native American boy who teaches her all about the surrounding land. Jaybird eventually takes Mary to meet his grandfather, White Eagle, who has a surprising knowledge of Eliza that he shares with Mary.



Reverend Johnson, a religious Puritan, asks Martha to look after his ill children. Martha agrees, asking Mary to help. Johnson becomes angry, questions Mary’s faith in God, and tells her to abide by God’s word. While caring for Goody, the Reverend’s wife, Mary learns that the Reverend rescued her from being drowned as a witch. Mary decides she would rather perish than live as Goody Johnson does. Later, Goody passes away while giving birth. Reverend Johnson courts Rebekah Rivers, even though she is already promised to wed Tobias. When Rebekah rejects the Reverend’s advances, he claims to suspect Mary of performing witchcraft. Mary spots the Vane sisters and a group of their friends dancing in the rain one night—a practice of witchcraft. However, the girls accuse Mary of practicing witchcraft, instead, and promise to keep her secret if she helps them find suitable husbands. Mary denies the offer and the girls engage in more witchcraft.

Martha finds Mary’s diary in the forest and intends to destroy its dangerous content. However, Mary stitches her diary into the lining of her quilt instead. When female underwear is found in the woods, Mary is interrogated once again for witchcraft. Mary has an alibi of being in the woods with the Vane sisters, who corroborate Mary’s story. The Vane sisters are caught engaging in witchcraft during a rainstorm, but when they fake madness to absolve themselves of guilt, a witch hunter, Obadiah Wilson, is summoned from England. Obadiah, tasked with identifying who in town is a witch, immediately recognizes Mary from England and points to her. Obadiah, in fact, ordered the execution of Eliza. The Vane sisters and their friends join in Obadiah’s accusations. Terrified, Mary runs to find Martha, telling her about Obadiah’s discovery. Martha fends off the inquiring masses and decides to help Mary flee by giving her food and clothing. Mary runs away by herself to a place nobody can find her. As the novel concludes, Martha adds an entry in Mary’s diary explaining that she, Jonah, and the Rivers family will soon follow Mary out of Beulah with hopes of reuniting with her someday soon.

Celia Rees is the author of several children’s books and young adult novels, including Every Step You Take, The Vanished, Midnight Hour, Soul Taker, Truth or Dare, Sovay, The Fool’s Girl, and many others. Witch Child was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2001 and won the Prix Sorcières in 2003. Its sequel, Sorceress, was published in 2002 and shortlisted for the Whitebread (Costa) Children’s Book Award.