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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful novel, 15 April 2007
Having previously read and enjoyed The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, a charming book for children, I decided to read The White Witch, a novel intended for older readers. This is a beautifully written book detailing the lives of the Haselwood family and through them various other characters during the English civil war years of 1642-1643. A large part of the story is seen through the eyes of Froniga Haselwood (the white witch of the title) and John Loggin, a royalist spy and cavalry officer. They, and the other characters, who make up the rich and colourful tapestry of the story, are portrayed with very great realism, their faults and virtues equally described as the story unfolds and they work their way through the heartbreak and bleakness of the civil war. I could not put this book down, it was a wonderful and highly satisfying read.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written, and rather touching, 7 Sep 2008
I've always loved The Little White Horse, and I also recently re-read Heart of the Family, one of Goudge's contemporary (1950s) novels. I was trying to find another of those - The Herb of Grace - when I came across this one. The White Witch concentrates for the most part on the earlier part of the civil war, 1642-43, and on the Oxfordshire/Berkshire areas. Froniga is the White Witch of the title, and she is the central, linking, figure, although the action does not always revolve around her. For me this was a new perspective of the war - parliamentarians and royalists are portrayed with an equal affection and lack of bias, so that it is easy to understand equally why Robert Haslewood - being the character he is - gives his loyalty to Hampden and Cromwell, and why John Lobbin is adamantly for the king. All of the characters are well rounded, not just Frongia, Robert and his children, but also the parson, and Yobin, and even Robert's annoying wife Margaret. The magic in the novel seems entirely believable and accepted as completely natural by everyone, but I like the different ways in which the magic - both good and evil - is laid to rest. I enjoyed this book very much. The only aspect I was not sure about was the Jenny/Francis relationship. It took all of the power of Frongia's visions to persuade me that this could and would work, even though I could understand what it was in each character that the other loved.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A totally absorbing and interesting read., 7 Feb 2010
This truly is a brilliant novel combining the horrors of the English Civil War with the lives of those affected by it.
The main players are the Haslewood family including Froniga who is half Romany and who is the White Witch of the title.
Robert Haselwood is a Puritan and when a roaming artist comes to the area, he is anxious for this man to paint portraits of his children.......however, this man is a Royalist spy.
Another pivotal character is that of Yoben who lives for the most part with the Romany tribe but is also a spy for the Royalists and a recusant Priest. He and Froniga have a deep but unrequited love for one another which ends in his redemption but not quite in the way the reader would hope.
This is a story of hope, love, despair, dark deeds, regicide and so beautifully written that at times I felt transported to Fronigas beautiful 'medic' garden and also the woods beyond. The authors knowledge of the Rom language is impressive too as is her narrative about their wanderings throughout the centuries.
Well worth reading and very highly recommended.
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