A Wiccan Style Vision Quest

Sorceress by Celia Rees
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews Get ready for a vision, or should I say a Wiccan style vision quest. The Sorceress written mostly for Middle and high school children is a tour deforce that will take the reader into another world. Beside being a great story the book gives the reader a glimpse into history and informs about the suffering endured by native Americans and the devastation wrought by the Salenm Witch Trials of the late 1600’s. The book is a sequel to the highly successful “Witch Child” Mary Newbury who the story centers around is an orphan who comes to the New World settlement of Beulah. She is accused of witchcraft and flees the village. About to die in the snow she is rescued by a white wolf, who is her manitou or spirit guardian. Her story is framed by her descendant Agnes who goes on a vision quest, not quite of her choosing and watches Mary’s story unfold. The vision quest is prompted partly due to Agnes opening up to a University researcher who is investigating Mary’s story. All her research leads to a dead end. Agnes was raised on a reservation by her aunti M. Her father is unknown and the mother is a croupier in Las Vegas. Mary is taught the ways of the medicine doctors by White Feather, her adopted father in law. She lives peacefully amongst the native americans for many years. Until the White man brings his war to their village. The wars and the plaques devastate life for the native americans. Mary looses family members, inckuding her husband Jaybird. She flees to Canada , gets captured by Europeans and gets adopted into an Iraqois tribe. What ever does happen to Mary? You will have to read in order to find out.