The Witch’s Trinity: A Novel
by Erika Mailman
Published by Three River Press
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Reviewed By Michele E. Davis
During the 16th Century in Tierkinddorf, Germany, the populace has suffered from horrible weather, poor harvests, and most are on the brink of starvation. They blame a witch in their midst for the problems that are happening in their small community–where gossip is prevalent. A visiting friar, Johannes Fuchs, drags out a voluminous witch’s bible, the Malleus Maleficarum, to help root out the evil witch, wherever she may be.
The resident herbalist, Kunne Himmelmann, is accused of witchery and eventually burned at the stake. You’d think they’d be done with it, but the famine doesn’t stop and the village lusts for blood to be shed. Jost Muller, his wife Irmeltrude and his mother Güde, reside together with the Muller’s two younger children. Irmeltrude is vicious to Güde and puts her out of the house on a stormy, snowy, freezing night, locking the door against the grandmother’s return.
Irmeltrude spreads rumors that Güde is a witch and her own trial begins. Güde is accosted by Friar Fuchs with a scary metal object that would cause grave wounds if he used it upon her. After he leaves her cell Güde thinks, “I had seen two kinds of evil in a short space of time. The one that had urged me to pledge my soul away had seemed far kinder.” She is rightfully confused. Güde doesn’t know if she witnessed the devil and his minions or she only imagined it. She tells the Friar, “…of whether my old eyes have tricked me into seeing things that were not there.” And he responds in kind, “It is all the devil’s work,” he said firmly. “If you have seen witchcraft or only thought that you saw it, it is all the devil’s work.”
In the end it wasn’t delusional, aging Güde who was burned, but the real troublemaker, Friar Fuchs, who stood on the logs threatening the Pope’s vengeance. He screamed like a woman when the fire started to burn his robes.
Interesting and well-written book. Pinions the Catholic Church against common folk and how gossip can get out of control.
Armchair Interviews says: Fictional, yet historical, a great read!
Author’s Web site: http://www.ErikaMailman.com