{"id":438,"date":"2007-09-18T16:07:02","date_gmt":"2007-09-18T23:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/438"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:36:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:36:48","slug":"the-last-witchfinder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/438","title":{"rendered":"The Last Witchfinder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Last Witchfinder<\/em> (2006) James Morrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>I picked up The Last Witchfinder<\/em> when I came across a four for the price of three book sale. It looked interesting, and was set in the late 1600s early 1700s, so it’s a time period I find interesting, so I picked it up.<\/p>\n

Jennet Stearne’s father is a witchfinder. While her father searches out witches in England, Jennet and her brother Dunstan are educated by their Aunt Isobel, a woman who is strong minded and firmly believes in giving girls a complete education, so they can be equal partners with men in marriage.<\/p>\n

Yet these are not the only characters in the book. Interwoven with Jennet’s story is a narrative told by the personality of Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophice Naturalis Principia Mathematica. From him (and the narrative voice is most definitely male) we learn some of Isaac Newton’s struggles, Jennet’s struggles, and the struggles of books.<\/p>\n

We also see the field of witchfinding, the kind of men who enter the field, and how the end up as witchfinders. The story also travels to the American colonies and spends time not only with Algonquin Indians, Benjamin Franklin, and even some West Indies pirates.<\/p>\n

Taking the book as a whole, I found I preferred the first part of the book, and the time Jennet spends with her Aunt Isobel. I suppose part of the problem was that I never found Jennet a satisfying character as an adult. It was nothing I can quite place my finger on, except that I sometimes found her reactions to things strange–even considering her life and her past. I also was frustrated because just as I started to find a supporting character interesting, Jennet would move on to a new set of supporting characters.<\/p>\n

Also somewhat disconcerting, considering that this was a period piece, I didn’t always quite get the feel of the times or places where Jennet lived.<\/p>\n

However, despite these issues I had with the book, I did in fact enjoy The Last Witchfinder<\/em> and wanted to find out what happened to Jennet and her various friends, so even when I was mildly frustrated, I still kept reading, because I did want to know what happened.<\/p>\n

So this was an interesting book, but one I don’t think I care to read again.
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Last Witchfinder (2006) James Morrow I picked up The Last Witchfinder when I came across a four for the price of three book sale. It looked interesting, and was set in the late 1600s early 1700s, so it’s a time period I find interesting, so I picked it up. Jennet Stearne’s father is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-paper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-74","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22626,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22626","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":0},"title":"Whispers Under Ground, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"December 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Whispers Under Ground, Audio Book (2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London) My mum translated this in her head to \u201cwitchfinder,\u201d which was good because like most West Africans, she considered witchfinding a more respectable profession than policeman. this was a murder inquiry, and woe betide any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Whispers Underground","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Whispers-Under-Ground-e1510886372845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4206,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4206","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":1},"title":"Jar City","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Jar City (2000\/2004) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Inspector Erlendur is a detective inspector with the Reykjavik CID. He's a divorced loner with a terrible relationship with his two grown children, both of whom have issues with drugs. The body of an old man is discovered in his apartment.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Jar-City.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3605,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3605","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":2},"title":"Graveminder","author":"Michelle","date":"March 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Graveminder (2011) Melissa Marr Rebekkah Barrow is called back to Claysville for the death of her grandmother, the Graveminder. Byron Montgomery has gone into the family business, and helps his father at their funeral home. But the death of Maylene Barrow, Rebekkah's grandmother, makes him there's way more going on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"graveminder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/graveminder-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4396,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4396","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":3},"title":"In Camelot’s Shadow","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In Camelot's Shadow (2004) Sarah Zettel I originally picked this book up because I fell in love with the cover. This is one of my favorite book covers, ever. It's gorgeous, it's romantic, and it shows an active heroine not in need to rescue, but capable of defending herself. Luckily,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Camelots-Shadow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25498,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25498","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":4},"title":"Upside Down","author":"Michelle","date":"November 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Upside Down (2019) N.R. Walker \"There has to be a reason you picked Sisko.\u201d He smiled at me and seemed to relax before launching into a spiel on consistency and compassion and how Sisko\u2019s being a father in the show made him more relatable. She inhaled deeply, her eyes shooting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Upside Down","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Upside-Down.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3818,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3818","url_meta":{"origin":438,"position":5},"title":"Sabriel","author":"Michelle","date":"May 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Sabriel (1995) Garth Nix I was feeling depressed and sad, so I took advantage of the fact I'd picked up Sabriel as a deal at one point, and decided it was just what I needed to re-read. Sabriel has spent most of her youth in Ancelstierre, and is now preparing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sabriel-e1511019506918.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}