The Lancashire Witches by William Harrison Ainsworth

For anyone that does not know anything about the Lancashire Witches, there are other easier texts to read before tackling this one. Not an easy book for some to read because of all the Lancashire dialect, and a lot of people even abandon reading it.Ī great novel, and perhaps WHA's most famous. The first time that I read W H Ainsworth's book was when I was 15, then I re read it again in the mid 1980s. I recently downloaded the Kindle version, so thought I'd write a review. A time when people dress up in all sorts of scary costumes and walk up Pendle after dark. However, the only Witches that I have seen on Pendle have been on Halloween. The most memorable occasions being on Halloween and also on Good Friday. I've lost count of the number of times that I walked up Pendle Hill in my youth. I'm a Lancashire Lass, and have been brought up with tales of the Lancashire Witches and the famous Witch trials of 1612. Ainsworth's last masterpiece, The Lancashire Witches proved a best-seller in its day and influenced many contemporary authors. Ultimately, the book becomes a struggle between Heaven and Hell, with Alizon's fate hanging in the balance. Mother Demdike, a powerful witch, and her clan face rival witches, raise innocent young Alizon Devi as their own, and try to corrupt Alizon despite her innocent ways. Dying, Paslew curses Demdike's offspring - who become the titular 'Lancashire Witches.' The rest of the book set in the 17th century. Years later, granted the powers of a warlock, he returns in the guise of Nicholas Demdike to witness Paslew's execution for treason. When a Cistercian monk, Borlace Alvetham, is falsely accused of witchcraft and condemned to death by his rival, Brother Paslew, he sells his soul to Satan and escapes. The Lancashire Witches begins in the 16th century, in Lancashire, England.

The Lancashire Witches by William Harrison Ainsworth