Something Wicked : The Lives, Crimes and Deaths of the Pendle Witches

Before Salem, there was Pendle

<p>The autumn must read: <i>Something Wicked </i>this way comes...<br><b><br>Accused. Condemned. Redefined.</b><br><br>On 20 August 1612, ten people from Pendle were executed before a vast crowd at Lancaster's Gallows Hill. The condemned and their associates had endured six months of accusations, imprisonment and torture; their treatment was such that one of the group died in Lancaster Castle's dungeons, while awaiting trial.<br><br> Today, a thriving tourism industry exists in and around Pendle, the former home of the so-called witches, yet virtually everything we know about the case originates from a single source: Thomas Potts' <i>Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches</i>, hurriedly published in 1613 and distinctly skewed in favour of the prosecution. Until now...<br><br><i>Sunday Times </i>bestselling author Carol Ann Lee brings an entirely fresh perspective to the story by approaching it as true crime. Having worked in the genre for more than a decade, her research leads to revelatory discoveries, transforming our knowledge of those shadowy figures behind ill-famed names, and the terrible events that befell them.<br><br> After four centuries of superstition and surmise, the two central, warring families - each headed by a fiercely independent widow working as 'cunning women' - emerge fully formed, as the book uncovers the reality of their lives and their alleged crimes before exploring the trial and executions.<br><br> Along the way, we uncover the truth behind some of the story's most enduring mysteries: the legend of Malkin Tower and the final resting place of the Pendle witches. <br><br>This is a ground-breaking book that will take the reader on a spellbinding journey into the dark heart of England's largest and most notorious witch trial.</p>