The Witchfinder's Sister

I recently finished reading The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown. Published this past April, the novel is a fictionalized account of the 17th-century, English, witchfinder, Matthew Hopkins, told from his sister's viewpoint. In actuality, little is known about Hopkins and history does not record that he even had a sister, but we do know that he was one of six children and four are known to be boys, so it's possible he had at least one sister. For a concise account of Hopkins read an article by George Knowles Matthew Hopkins: Witch-Finder General.

In Underdown's story, Hopkins' sister, Alice, returns to her brother's home after an accident kills her husband. She soon realizes that Hopkins is on a crusade to find women accused of being witches and bring them to trial. Her relationship with her brother is strained and it's through Alice's eyes that we watch the frenzy of witch hunting grow in the countryside. Alice is the voice of reason in this story, but what I found most chilling is Underdown's very real portrayal of how little freedom was afforded to women at this time. Alice realizes her brother is preying on the infirm and elderly who can't defend themselves, but she must be very careful in her choice of words and actions so as not to bring undo attention to herself. Underwood expertly shows us how a person can be free to move around and yet restrained and watched to the point of mental imprisonment.

Hopkins eventually forces his sister to travel with him and inspect the women being accused. Alice tries to quietly offer the accused advice in how to answer her brother's interrogations, but unfortunately, Alice doesn't have the power to thwart her brother for long and the novel descends into a mood of hopelessness as each women is hung for witchcraft. I won't give away the ending of the novel, but Underdown does give Alice her moment of revenge which is based on some myths told of Hopkins demise - he died at around age 27 - but most historians believe he died of tuberculosis.

There is little of the supernatural in this book, although there is some. The real horror lies in how easily one person can condemn so many people to die based on rumors and superstitions. In truth, Matthew Hopkins is responsible for the deaths of over 300 people during a three-year period. He published a pamphlet called "The Discovery of Witches" in 1647 that described his methods of interrogation. It eventually made it's way to the new colonies and was used in the trials of witches in Connecticut and later in Salem, Massachusetts.

This is a sad story, but an important lesson. It makes you think about who we are condemning these days. We may not call then witches anymore, but the practice of accusing people for little more than superstition, unfounded beliefs, and rumors still exists.