The Witches of Pollok
By Anne Downie
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This is a gripping tale of witchcraft based on a true story set in seventeenth century Scotland on Pollok estate. There is a central character – a young girl, Janet Douglas (whose background is a mystery) who cannot speak initially but who does find her voice to accuse others of witchcraft, which was thought to have caused the horrific, untreatable illness afflicting Sir George Maxwell of Pollok. Counter accusations fly to and fro. Margaret Maxwell, Sir George's daughter, persuades her father to take the girl into his employ but is torn between her concern for her father and her growing suspicion that her new found acquaintance may not be what she seems. She enters her father's library to try and find answers in the pages of James I's book on the supernatural but she is too late to save the five tenants who are tortured, tried and burnt at the stake. The malevolent Janet Douglas disappears amidst the ensuing conflagration ... and turns up again deported to the colonies to possibly start another episode of mayhem ...
Review ‘Anne Downie has seamlessly woven fact and fiction to conjure a truly gripping novel.’
Jackie McGlone, The Scotsman September 2010
Click here to read Chapter 1
About the Author
Anne Downie is the author of many successful plays, Parking Lot in Pittsburgh, The Female of the Species, The White Bird Passes and The Yellow on the Broom and an award winning actress on both stage and film.
| Title | Price | ISBN | Publication Date | |
| The Witches of Pollok | £6.99 | 978-1-906220-36-5 | 7th October 2010 | |