The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston

A book review

The Witch's Daughter dips into three historical periods, with a frame story in the present day. Bess Hawksmith is a young woman in Wessex in 1627 when most of her family dies in a plague epidemic; she nearly dies herself, but her mother resorts to supernatural means to save her. Readers know from the present-day beginning that Bess is a witch, having lived almost four centuries into our own time. "I have more in common with the ancient oak on the village green, though I doubt it has seen as many summers as myself." She moves often and tries "to remain as invisible as my admittedly unusual appearance will allow." She is tall and striking, with "a snow-pure swathe, an icy sweep" of white in her coppery hair testifying to a fearful history.

Is witchcraft good or evil? Bess insists her mother was a good woman. She herself strives to do only good. But through most of the centuries of her life, she has avoided using the supernatural abilities taught her by the cruel, dominating and charismatic warlock who gave her mother the means to save her. "We are of a kind," this villain tells her. Even in the twentieth century, she still fears him and the haunting tune, "Greensleeves," which heralds his presence.

Bess's story takes readers through the witch persecutions of the seventeenth century, the nineteenth-century London of Jack the Ripper, and the trenches of World War I. Despite the historical atmosphere, the focus is less on history than on the struggle between Bess's benign practice, called Wicca in the present-day chapters, and the luridly evil force represented by the warlock who pursues her down the centuries. Naturally, the story builds to a final showdown. Readers who enjoy historical fantasy built around an epic struggle between good and evil should enjoy this original take on the theme. Don't expect a literary writing style or theological depth; The Witch's Daughter is strictly for fun. (2011; 305 pages)