One of my favorites of all time!

I first picked up this book somewhere around the third grade, hoping it had a real witch, or at least some magic in it. When descriptions of Puritans and small rural towns cropped up, I was disappointed and tossed the book aside. Then two years later, my interest was peaked again while watching a PBS program in class. They read an excerpt while a man drew pictures of the dark but mysterious Connecticut colony and the strange, old Quaker woman who lived by Blackbird Pond who the town calls a witch. I decided to give this book another try. When I began reading, I was entranced. Not only was I plunged into the middle of what life was like in 1687, but I unexpectedly found one of the best romantic stories I have ever read, on par even with what Lizzy and Darcy had in “Pride and Prejudice”. I read it again on a whim just last week, and even at twenty-seven, I still found it as entrancing and wonderful.


PLOT

Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler had sailed for five weeks up the Atlantic from Barbados to the cold, harsh Connecticut colonies. She did not know what to expect, but she faces it with remarkable aplomb for someone who had just lost her loving grandfather and wealthy life to join an aunt and uncle she had never met. When her eyes alight on the coastal town of Saybrook, her first view of America, she is disappointed. It is so different from the tropical paradise and expansive estate she had just left. Things do not get better from here. At Saybrook, a shrew of a woman, Goodwife Cruff, and her family arrive onboard. The woman Cruff instantly dislikes the pretty clothes Kit wears, and the feeling intensifies when Kit jumps overboard to save a toy for Goodwife Cruff’s defeated looking daughter, Prudence. That display of swimming earns her the first warning of witchcraft from the captain’s son, Nat.

“’Don’t you know about the water trial?’ Nat’s eyes deliberately taunted her. ‘’Tis a sure test. I’ve seen it myself. A true witch will always float. The innocent ones just sink like a stone.’”

When Kit reaches the town of Wethersfield, where her aunt and uncle lives, Kit realizes that there is no place in the colonies that resemble the developed and affluent townships of her old home. It is a Puritan establishment and it frowns on the very decadence that Kit grew up with. Her once beautiful Aunt Rachel is just a ghost of the vibrant and gay woman she once was in England while her Uncle Matthew is stern and forbidding. Kit also has two beautiful cousins close in age. The oldest, Mercy, accepts Kit with open arms and is the gentle figure that upholds the household despite her physical lameness. Judith, the youngest cousin, is not so kind. Jealous of Kit’s beautiful clothes and apparently pampered character, Judith mocks Kit’s genuine efforts to learn the household chores and astonishments at life in such a strict environment. When William Ashby, the man Judith expected to court herself, turns his eyes towards Kit instead, it seems likely that Judith will be crueler. However, despite Judith’s jealousy and impatience, her pride forces her to stay her tongue until she meets John Holbrook, the divinity student who had journeyed with Kit up the river from Saybrook to Wethersfield. Confident in her own winning beauty, Judith “sets her cap” for John, not knowing that doing so hurts her sister Mercy.

Kit lives a full year in the Puritan colony, attending church twice on Sundays and completing harsh chores like making candles and spinning. She has her accidents at first, but she learns and grows to actually add to the household. She even starts teaching at a dame school with Mercy. But despite all her efforts, Kit does not fit in, and after a particularly awful disappointment, she escapes to the freedom of the Meadows by Blackbird Pond, where she meets Hannah Tupper, the Quaker everyone calls a witch. Hannah turns out to be everything but. Patient and caring, Hannah offers Kit a willing ear and blueberry cake. Kit from then on escapes to the Meadows whenever she can to find solace and a place where she could be herself. Surprisingly enough, she comes across the company of Nat Eaton again in Hannah’s small house. Nat had been visiting Hannah since he was eight and had helped the old woman through the years survive in the swamp. Here, their friendship grows, along with a pupil Kit brings along – Prudence Cruff, the little girl who had lost her toy the first day in Saybrook. It was the only place that the poor, abused child could learn to read away from the tyrannical eyes of her mother.

That winter, an illness hits and claims the lives of several children. There must be a reason why God is cursing them, and the town decides it is all the fault of the witch by Blackbird Pond. Kit hears the mob bent on collecting Hannah for trial and risks her own life to save her. She reaches the house just in time and helps Hannah escape. But the town’s unabated anger now falls on the head of Kit and Goodwife Cruff finally finds a way to bring down the girl she hated for so long. Cruff convinces her husband to file charges against Kit for witchcraft.

The trial is very realistic, with evidence as ridiculous and unfair as can be imagined. All seemed lost until one man, who risks much, finally arrives with Prudence as witness. The ending is happy hereafter, with the cousins’ romances all righted and Prudence finally escaping the miserable circumstance that she was borne into. As for Kit, she discovers what she really wants and the man she relied on most and loved above all else.


MY THOUGHTS

“The Witch of Blackbird Pond” is a wonderful read, no matter the age. It sits on my shelf alongside Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling. Kit may be headstrong, but she is also full of spirit and character. She is uplifting and morally strong in the face of danger and fear. Her character growth, changing from a privileged girl to a hard working, humble young woman, gives the story a nice, round arc. And although she was mentioned more than once to be “plain”, this must be her own humble opinion of herself (it is 3rd person, limited POV through Kit) and Judith’s. Children found her pretty, as well as William Ashby, who fell for her after spotting the well-dressed Barbados girl in church one Sunday.

Elizabeth George Speare’s writing style has a near melodic cadence to it, like a slow hymn. It is very fitting for the topic, and although a year’s time is spanned in 249 pages, Speare manages to fit in multiple plot threads without making the reader feel rushed. The back cover states the recommended reading age at grade six, but I suspect this is mainly due to the heavy social analysis this book offers. The words are not too difficult if a child is willing to look up what pillory and flax is. (Period vocabulary like that is hardly ever explained.) At the same time, the text is not dumbed down for the young.

As a child, I was enthralled with the witch trial, knowing full well that this could have happened in 17th century America. The Puritan colonial life was also fascinating as well as the family life back then. The characters are so well drawn that you do not have to work at all to imagine them. You just fall completely into the story. But the thing I remembered most was how I felt after I realized that this was a love story as well. All the little things that happened throughout, the things my 10-year-old mind didn’t realize meant anything about a man’s affection for a woman, converged at the end and I was both surprised and in love myself… with the book of course.

The only minor complaint is, as was mentioned in another review here, that the ending was a bit abrupt. After taking her time to draw out the rest of the book, Speare did not linger on what could have been the most beautiful part of the story. However, that is a minor disappointment and is completely overshadowed by all the great things this book has to offer.

I recommend this book to any child who wants to learn about colonial America, witch trials and prejudice, and who likes a good romantic story. I also recommend this book to any adult for all of the same reasons with the promise that the words and ideas are challenging enough to make you forget that this is a children’s book.