Conceived on a May Morning, Nell is claimed by the piskies and faeries as a merrybegot, one of their own. She is a wild child: herb gatherer and healer, spell-weaver and midwife . . . and, some say, a witch.
Grace is everything Nell is not. She is the Puritan minister’s daughter: beautiful and refined, innocent and sweet-natured . . . to those who think they know her. But she is hiding a secret–a secret that will bring everlasting shame to her family should it ever come to light.
A merrybegot and a minister’s daughter–two girls who could not have less in common. Yet their fates collide when Grace and her younger sister, Patience, are suddenly spitting pins, struck with fits, and speaking in fevered tongues. The minister is convinced his daughters are the victims of witchcraft. And all signs point to Nell as the source of the trouble. . . .
Set during the tumultuous era of the English Civil War, The Minister’s Daughter is a spellbinding page-turner–stunning historical fiction that captures the superstition, passion, madness, and magic of a vanished age.
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"I wasn't sure about this book when I started it, but it ended up being a rather good story. I liked how it showed that what our church farthers say may not be the perfect truth and that people will believe whatever they have been told at times. "
— Tacowsh1t (4 out of 5 stars)
" Love this book! Found it in middle school and loved the theme of 'witch craft' and Christianity. The narrator is great! She has different voices for each character. "
— HMT, 4/27/2017" In its way, a brilliant fantasy combined with history. Tied together with beautiful prose. Definitely worth reading. "
— Kate, 4/3/2011" enjoyed this book, easy to read and nice storyline "
— Becka, 3/12/2011" Eh, not as good as I thought it would be. But I'm not really into fairie lore. If you are into fairie lore and can imagine it mixed with Puritanical culture, then give this one a whirl. "
— Cecilia, 1/25/2011" I thought this was excellent. I throughly enjoyed reading this book. "
— Marius, 1/16/2011" What a fantastic story! The final few sentences of the last chapter were a surprise to me - what a great ending. "
— Misty, 1/1/2011" Great story. I love all her books :) "
— Amy, 9/13/2010" It was an interesting story. I liked it, but it didn't "wow" me. "
— Carrie, 9/12/2010" Interesting idea of what happened during early England, and witch trials. "
— Laura, 9/5/2010Julie Hearn was born in Abingdon, England, near Oxford, and has been writing all her life. After studying to be a journalist, she worked in Australia and lived in Spain, before returning to England, where she worked as a features editor and columnist. She is now a full-time writer.
Heather O’Neill is a novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Her previous works include The Lonely Hearts Hotel, which won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and CBC’s Canada Reads, as well as Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, and Daydreams of Angels, which were shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize two years in a row. O’Neill has also won CBC’s Canada Reads and the Danuta Gleed Award.