Sometimes, a book just comes out of nowhere, and sends you reeling. Up until several months ago, I had no idea that "A Mirror for Witches," a novel about hysteria in 17th century New England, existed. I knew the author, what I falsely would have claimed to be "quite well." You likely would be hard pressed to find a person who has gone through the American educational system and is not at least aware of our writer, as at one or many times in grammar, middle and even high school, children are assigned to read Esther Forbes' "Johnny Tremain," a seemingly all-American tale of the adolescence and the Revolutionary war which established the country of the United States as it exists today.But I digress.
Sadly, Forbes appears to be solely remembered for "Johnny Tremain," while having written about 11 novels between 1926 and 1954. And that is nothing to say against the novel of young Mr. Tremain-- however, after reading "A Mirror for Witches" it is all at once brilliantly clear that the work is a tremendous feat, and one so easy to have fallen through the cracks of time and the literary canon, though the novel itself has never been out of print.
Published in 1928, a full 25 years before Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Forbes' novel is at once historical, personal and timeless, in each and every sense of those words. From the opening pages, Forbes throws the reader into the world of Doll Bilby, a girl mistreated and abused by this world at every step of her life, in the form of a historical document. Anyone who has read sermons or narratives of the time will likely recognize the capitalizations of many words we'd now consider odd and the long, flowingly specific chapter titles as birthed right out of the era. While the reader may never be told who is telling us the story, this is a voice known all too well. As the title page so puts it: "A Mirror for Witches; In which is reflected the Life, Machinations, and Death of a Famous DOLL BILBY, who, with a more than feminine perversity, preferred a Demon to a Mortal Lover. Here is also told how and why a Righteous and Most Awful JUDGEMENT befell her, destroying both Corporeal Body and Immortal Soul."
And throughout the novel the voice never stops, and is relentless until the very last page, creating an uncanny sense of sympathy and injustice in the reader, one which likely would not have been so strongly achieved had the narrative constantly sided with his or her subject. Though the events as described by the narrating religious hysteric happened some few, short hundreds of years ago, the echoes are heard throughout American history, of the oppression of many others. And Forbes' style is not genius simply because of her choice of narrative voice. The narrative itself creates, in tune with the voice, remarkable moments or irony, sadness and poignancy.
Born in Brittany to parents literally burned at the stake before their young daughter's eyes, Doll is rescued by a kind sea captain who takes her back to his family in America, in an eff
ort to try and preserve whatever may be left of her innocence, or at least give her a childhood befitting a child. In the new world, Doll meets a vibrant cast; from her viscously jealous step-mother, to Zacharias Zelley, who "preached the Word of God. But in time fell from God..." (19) and "[said] unseemly prayer-- not like those one hears in church...Zelley talked to God as you might talk to a friend." (197) But perhaps the most debate-worthy player who comes into Doll's life does so when "Hell laughs and a Witch meets that which she has long sought" (109) and the man we are told is her demon lover comes into her life.
Published in 1928, a full 25 years before Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Forbes' novel is at once historical, personal and timeless, in each and every sense of those words. From the opening pages, Forbes throws the reader into the world of Doll Bilby, a girl mistreated and abused by this world at every step of her life, in the form of a historical document. Anyone who has read sermons or narratives of the time will likely recognize the capitalizations of many words we'd now consider odd and the long, flowingly specific chapter titles as birthed right out of the era. While the reader may never be told who is telling us the story, this is a voice known all too well. As the title page so puts it: "A Mirror for Witches; In which is reflected the Life, Machinations, and Death of a Famous DOLL BILBY, who, with a more than feminine perversity, preferred a Demon to a Mortal Lover. Here is also told how and why a Righteous and Most Awful JUDGEMENT befell her, destroying both Corporeal Body and Immortal Soul."
And throughout the novel the voice never stops, and is relentless until the very last page, creating an uncanny sense of sympathy and injustice in the reader, one which likely would not have been so strongly achieved had the narrative constantly sided with his or her subject. Though the events as described by the narrating religious hysteric happened some few, short hundreds of years ago, the echoes are heard throughout American history, of the oppression of many others. And Forbes' style is not genius simply because of her choice of narrative voice. The narrative itself creates, in tune with the voice, remarkable moments or irony, sadness and poignancy.
Born in Brittany to parents literally burned at the stake before their young daughter's eyes, Doll is rescued by a kind sea captain who takes her back to his family in America, in an eff
ort to try and preserve whatever may be left of her innocence, or at least give her a childhood befitting a child. In the new world, Doll meets a vibrant cast; from her viscously jealous step-mother, to Zacharias Zelley, who "preached the Word of God. But in time fell from God..." (19) and "[said] unseemly prayer-- not like those one hears in church...Zelley talked to God as you might talk to a friend." (197) But perhaps the most debate-worthy player who comes into Doll's life does so when "Hell laughs and a Witch meets that which she has long sought" (109) and the man we are told is her demon lover comes into her life. In summary, there is a great deal to admire in this novel, and a great deal I was left to wonder about, with few tidy-- if any-- answers given. The individual power and achievement of the book alone is enough for me to want to get my hands on what else Esther Forbes may have written and not be remembered for. "A Mirror for Witches" is a spectacular novel of oppression, whom and what society decides to often cast out, prejudice and the religious zealotry mashed together to try and justify it, and our American history which all too often repeats itself.
