Author Description

"In 1604, twenty-year-old Anne Gunter appeared to be bewitched: she suffered violent fits, fell into trances, contorted wildly in her bedchamber. Her garters and bodices unlaced themselves. She was said to be able to prophesy the future. Most remarkably, she vomited pins and "voided some pins downwards as well by her water or otherwise." Somewhat suspiciously, the three women she accused as her tormentors were involved in a murderous feud with her father. As Anne's case became ever more celebrated, Oxford dons and local notables weighed in with their opinions, providing us with an extraordinary record of her trials. Ultimately, Anne's case was appealed directly to King James I, a noted witch-hunter, and her examination in the king's imposing Star Chamber - with more than fifty witnesses - revealed all.". "Popular history at its best, The Bewitching of Anne Gunter opens a fascinating window onto the past. It's a tale of controlling fathers, willful daughters, nosy neighbors, power relations between peasants and gentry, and village life in early-modern Europe. Above all, it's an original and revealing story of one woman's experience with the greatly misunderstood phenomenon of witchcraft."--BOOK JACKET.