Chez Maximka: The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins

Friday, 20 May 2022

The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins

Chez Maximka, fiction about persecution of witches

"Now two women stay beneath the same roof, sharing the same shelter. The walls keep out the cold, hold strangers beyond the door; it is a refuge where secrets and promises and love are precious treasures that have never been uttered for centuries.

Two women live in the house, embraced in its protective hold, watching, waiting. Two women, one then, one now".

"Well, it is a blackthorn tree... Do you know what it symbolises?... There are all sorts of myths surrounding the blackthorn, from way back to the time of the Celts. Death, misfortune - some people call it the witch's tree - it has a long association with witchcraft. It's about opposites too: spring and autumn, blossom and berry".

The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins is a ghost story, told in a dualtime setting.

The narrative shifts from the past to present with ease, with entrancing parallels between the lives of two protagonists.

The prologue sets the melancholic atmosphere, when we enter the old cottage, with the blacktorn tree tapping against the window and casting long shadows across the moon. There is an unhappy, despondent entity, a spirit of a woman who cannot depart the domain of the living.

"The house hides so many memories, so many years of fingers touching the same walls, being warmed by the same fire.

She knows the house well: it is hers, she will not leave it".

The present day. Manchester.

Selena is devastated when the man she loves leaves her, once she announces her pregnancy. She knows David is married, but like all delusional women who believe in fairy tales fed to them by the married cheats (his wife is vulnerable at the moment, as soon as the moment is right, he will leave her, they haven't had sex for years, have nothing in common, etc etc), imagines her story would be different. The love affair comes to an end abruptly, and Selena is hurt.

"David had broken her heart, along with all her hopes and dreams". Of course, it's the scumbag David who's the culprit, but delusional Selena is not entirely blameless either. Once she's discovered her lover is married, she chooses to believe his promises.

Claire, Selena's flatmate and business partner (they co-own an art gallery) warns her repeatedly, "a relationship with a married man was bound to end in tears, especially one like David, often self-absorbed, uncommitted and capable of manipulation".

Intent to move on, Selena wants to have her baby and bring her/him up alone. She believes she can manage, while Claire promises to help. Tragically, she loses the baby.

All her dreams for her future are in tatters. To recuperate and revive her artistic mojo, Selena is looking for a retreat.

Searching online, she discovers a lovely little cottage in the Somerset village of Ashcombe, named Sloe Cottage. It looks picture-perfect and offers a lot of possibilities for a determined artist. It might be just the right place for Selena if not to forget her problems, then come to terms with the loss of her baby and her dreams.

As the spring arrives, Selena is settled in her new temporary home. Weeks of her rural retreat give birth to numerous paintings. If only the strange presence in the cottage didn't manifest itself so often and so vividly. "The house seems to affect my paintings. I feel isolated and a bit edgy; sometimes it's as if someone is watching me when I paint. And my work is becoming influenced by that".

It isn't long til she becomes aware of the strange shenanigans in the house. She glimpses a shape shifting in the shadows, there is a feeling of being watched, the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door. The secrets of the past come unravelling. Who is the unquiet spirit, stuck in the cottage?

In 1682 Ascomb, Somerset, young Grace Cotter is living with her father in a little old cottage. She is content with her lot, working on a nearby farm, milking the cows, growing medicinal herbs in her garden, looking after her ailing father and learning midwifery secrets from her grandmother Beth.

Grace dreams of having a family of her own one day. Grace's grandmother is anxious to see her married, "A young woman on her own is prey to such wicked creatures. You need a husband to take care of you". But being a dreamer, Grace would only marry for love. Her love interest is above her station though, being a son of rich farmers.

The times are hard for innocent single women. Both men and women are easily accused of withcraft on any trumped-up accusation. The gossip spread by the ignorant villagers could become a deadly weapon. One misstep could turn fatal.

Knowing the fate of many women of that period in history who didn't conform, it is not hard to predict how Grace's story will progress.

Three centuries between them, Selena and Grace have to deal with deception and betrayal by those who you trust. In a way, both female protagonists share the same level of naivety when it comes to men.

There appears to be an invisible thread which connects the two women. Will Selena's distrust in men become an obstacle in finding new love? Will she heal and be able to fall in love again?

How can she help the restless spirit find peace?

The cottage and the witch's tree feature prominently in the narrative, they acquire a personality of their own, and become a contact point between the centuries.

There are other parallels in the story. Grace's grandmother is a healer who knows her herbs. Selena's new friend Joely is a herbalist who brews healing tisanes and makes a range of natural cosmetics.

Selena's love of painting gets a new stimulus. Living among the stunning countryside, she takes numerous photos to use as references for her artwork. "Cottage was an inspirational place to live: strange, yet somehow inspiring, as if she was almost connected to the people who had lived there before, who had been immersed in the harsh beauty of rural Somerset".

She is a prolific artist, and paints with an amazing speed (which in itself is almost supernatural. As someone who studied at art school, I found the speed at which she works quite extraordinary).

Selena's character becomes more mature as the story develops. When we meet her, it's hard to relate to her. In her thirties, she appears quite immature, naive and too submissive. David is so unpleasant that it's hard to imagine what would attract Selena to him in the first place. Moving away, living in isolation and having time to re-assess her life and priorities allows her to grow from passive to active.

The rural Somerset setting is evocative and atmospheric. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the landscapes.

The Witch's Tree is a quietly eloquent novel of love and loss, betrayal and hope.

This is not a terrifying tale with a vindictive ghost, more of a melancholic spirit story. The sense of creeping dread is well-executed.

Many thanks to Elena Collins, NetGalley and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!

This post is part of the blog tour for The Witch's Tree.

fiction about persecution of witches in England

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3Cl2rVF

Author Bio –

Elena Collins is the pen name of Judy Leigh. Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens, A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.