How To Kill a Witch by Dr Claire Mitchell QC and Dr Zoe Ventidozzi

How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Ventidozzi, reviewed by Lisa-Marie Hughes

How To Kill a Witch is the debut book by Witches of Scotland’s Dr Claire Mitchell QC and Dr Zoe Ventidozzi, whose campaign lead to the then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, offering a public apology to those accused of, and murdered for witchcraft.

Expanding on the themes and stories of the brilliant Witches of Scotland podcast and traveling from Scotland to Norway to Salem, these Quarrelsome Dames investigate the anatomy of witch trials in a way that is sensitive and readable and not short on gallows humour. 

Renfrewshire is no stranger to Witch Trials, and the Paisley Witches feature as one of the case studies. What the authors set out is the common threads in witch trials across the world; the social and religious settings of the time, the role of fear and superstition, the commonality of child accusers, and of course the insidious hatred for women who are too loud, to clever, too powerful.

The format of each chapter presents factual evidence followed by a semifictional account by someone involved: accused, accuser, or judge. Its a fascinating format that helps the reader get into the mindset of all involved. 

Whether you’ve never read anything about Witch Trials, or they are your ‘Roman Empire’, this is essential reading that tells the incendiary tale of the persecution of (mostly) women that echoes across the ages, lessons that remain scarily relevant today.

We have loads more book reviews online by Lisa-Marie Hughes and Brian Hannan from Abbey Books in Paisley including:

• Nothing Ever Happens by Nouele P. St John
• Architecture of Thomas Coats Memorial Church Paisley
• Confidence by Denise Mina
• Glasgow, The Clyde and Slavery by D. Pettigrew
• The Thief Takers by Patrick Pringle
• The Renfrewshire Victoria Crosses by Graham Fulton
• The Earth Is Weeping by Peter Cozzens
• The Waste Land, A Biography of a Poem by Matthew Hollis
• Black is the Colour by Seamus Connolly