Nancy Kilgore, author of "Bitter Magic" speaking on Witches and Mystics

Nancy Kilgore, author of a historic novel on the life of Isobel Gowdie, "Bitter Magic; Inspired by the True Story of a Confessed Witch." She reveals a little-known corner of history-the lives of both pagan and Protestant women in the Scottish Reformation of the 1600s as witch trials and executions threatened their lives, values, and beliefs.
The story is told by Isobel Gowdie herself and also by Margaret Hay, a fictionalized seventeen-year-old noble woman. When Margaret stumbles across Isobel one day, it seems as though Isobel is commanding the dolphins in the ocean to dance. Margaret is enchanted. She becomes interested in Isobel’s magic, in fairies, and in herbal remedies; Isobel freely shares her knowledge. While Margaret worries that being around Isobel could be dangerous, she also respects Isobel’s medical successes and comes to believe that acknowledging the efficacy of herbal remedies or believing in fairies does not challenge her Christianity.
But Isobel believes in more than cheery fairies and herbal medicine. She has dark wishes as well, unknown to most people. Isobel seeks vengeance against the local lord who executed her mother for witchcraft. More important, Isobel’s trance experiences (or are they dreams?) lead her to confess to a wide range of sins, including consorting with the devil. Then, during her trial, Isobel names thirteen others, calling them all witches. To her great shock, Margaret hears her own name. Can her tutor, a Christian mystic named Katharine, save them?
Find out more at NancyKilgore.com

[@susankowalsky9619]

wonderful video to go along with a great read!

[@starr_love6196]

I’d love to visit there someday and findout more about my ancestors

[@rebeccabuchanan2769]

Nancy, This certainly left me wanting to know more! So many layers and connections to our present day as well as a good read.

[@nancyadams2978]

These pictures and the video just pulled me in. I loved “A Bitter Magic,” and I wanted to know more about where and how it was written.

[@carolmacdonald6253]

So interesting the connection with the authors family history and that of her characters.

[@catherinejoanne2098]

Great connection between witch trials/executions and foundational misogyny.