Why a Booktrail?
1589: Nothing scares men like witchcraft . .
The Burnings
What you need to know before your trail
1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries “witch”, no woman is safe.
Yet when the marriage of King James VI and Princess Anna of Denmark brings Geillis and Margareta together, everything they supposed about good, evil, men, and women, is cast in a strange and brilliant new light.
For the first time in history, could black magic – or rumours of it – be a very real tool for women’s political gain?
As the North Berwick witch trials whip Scotland – and her king – into a frenzy of paranoia, the clock is ticking. Can Margareta and Geillis keep each other safe? And once the burnings are over, in whose hands will power truly lie?
Travel Guide
North Berwick Witch trials
“The North Berwick witch trials represented one of the most brutal periods in Scottish history. More than 100 individuals, mostly women, from the East Lothian area were accused of witchcraft. Many were imprisoned and tortured: it’s likely some died of their wounds. The exact number of those executed remains unknown.”
“Per capita, Scotland executed four times a smany so -called witches than the average figure for any other European country, and three times as many as their English counterparts.”
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Burnings
Destination: North Berwick, Denmark Author/guide: Naomi Kelsey Departure Time: 1538
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