154 lines
8.6 KiB
Plaintext
154 lines
8.6 KiB
Plaintext
Review "Witch Hill"
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By
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Marion Zimmer Bradley
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(reviewed by Paul Suliin)
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One would like to believe that Bradley wrote and sold this book in her callow
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youth, to an unscrupulous publisher who is now finally releasing it in order
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to capitalize on Bradley's name recognition. Unfortunately, "Witch Hill" is
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copyrighted 1990 to Bradley herself, and is published by Tor Books.
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There really isn't too much a reviewer can say about "Witch Hill" that can
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truly do the book justice, but sadly, that is not because it is good. I have
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decided therefore to simply present a plot summary and a few
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representative quotes, and let my readers decide for themselves. Because I
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realize that many of Bradley's fans may find this hard to believe, I am also
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providing page numbers for important passages, so that the doubtful reader
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may check the book in the store without having to shell out good money.
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* * *
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Sara Latimer is a young artist who suffers the loss of her entire family in a
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tragic series of accidents. Shortly before her father dies, he tells her the
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story of the original Sara Latimer, hanged as a witch in 17th century New
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England. In the three hundred years since, there has always been a Sara
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Latimer in the family, and they have one and all come to violent ends.
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After her father's death Sara learns of the family's ancestral home, owned by
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the last Sara Latimer (our heroine's great aunt) until her death seven years
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before. The house is in the tiny Massachusetts town of Witch Hill, near
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Arkham and Innsmouth (the fictional towns created by H.P. Lovecraft).
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Having nowhere else to go, Sara decides to move into the old family house, at
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least until she can get her life back in order.
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From the moment of her arrival in Witch Hill, odd things begin to happen. It
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appears that Sara is the living (if much younger) image of the last Sara
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Latimer, dead these seven years, and that the townsfolk have some very
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strange expectations of her. Everyone seems to think that that Sara is her
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great aunt back from the dead, and it quickly becomes apparent that the last
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Sara Latimer was a witch.
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Sara soon takes up with Brian Standish, a handsome young doctor. Thanks to
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a curious jar of aphrodisiac ointment in "Aunt Sara's" old bedroom, Sara and
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Brian wind up in bed together soon after they meet, and the two fall in love
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as only gothic romance lovers can.
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The next day, Sara gets a visit from Matthew Hay, pastor of the nearby
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Church of the Antique Rite. Hay explains to Sara that he is the High Priest of
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the local coven of witches, and that Sara's great aunt was the High Priestess
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until her death. He seems to feel that Sara is indeed her great aunt returned,
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and he expects her to resume her former role in the coven.
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Much to her surprise, Sara finds that Hays' church is strangely familiar, and
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she knows things about the altar setting (a standard Wiccan layout) that she
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should not know. When Hays realizes this, he "seduces" Sara violently before
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the altar, and Sara finds herself strangely excited by Matt Hays' brutal way
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of lovemaking (she is left bruised and bleeding). Hays takes this as the final
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proof of Sara's "true" identity, because, as he explains,
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"All witches are promiscuous, and take their pleasure where they please."
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(p.84)
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Sara is shocked by her own strange behavior, and she begins to suspect that
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she is being somehow influenced by the spirit of her great aunt. She soon
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meets Tabitha, another member of the coven, and in her talk with Tabitha it
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is made very clear that these "witches" are followers of the Old Religion and
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the Old Gods. It seems that Sara's great aunt was much-feared by the rest of
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the coven, and that in fact the entire coven is controlled by force and threat
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of force.
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Enter Colin MacLaran. Long-time Bradley fans will recognize MacLaran from
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"The Inheritor". It seems that he and Sara are old friends, and that he is
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teaching a summer course at Miskatonic University in nearby Arkham.
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MacLaran is a friendly face when Sara badly needs one, but it seems he may
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be too late to help her.
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A full moon Esbat is fast approaching, and Matthew Hay, the rest of the
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coven, and most of the town seem to expect Sara to take up her great aunt's
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position as High Priestess. Sara wants nothing to do with any of this, and
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tries to leave Witch Hill, only to be stopped by Tabitha's manipulative magic.
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(p.157)
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When Sara still refuses to attend the Esbat, she is drugged with belladonna
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and taken there by force (pp.165-167). At the Full Moon rite, Hertha,
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Cernunnos, Astarte, and Ishtar are invoked in the Circle, along with
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Azathoth, the insane creator from Lovecraft's Cthulu stories. The Rite
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becomes an orgy, and Sara is then "welcomed" as the coven's High Priestess
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by being ritually raped on the altar by Matthew Hay wearing the mask of
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the Horned God (pp.172-173). This is followed by a gang rape from the rest
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of the men in the coven.
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The trauma of this experience appears to bring the spirit of Sara's great aunt
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into full control of her body. "Aunt Sara" tricks Claire Moffat, Colin's
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assistant, into thinking that she is still the younger Sara, and sets about
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reestablishing her power base within the coven and the community of Witch
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Hill. This includes using magic to strike a young boy with asthma,
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apparently just because he irritates her (p.216).
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The Lammas rite is coming up, and there Sara will be formally installed as
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the coven's High Priestess. Matthew Hay and Tabitha are trying to persuade
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Sara to get rid of Brian Standish, because he could threaten her power as a
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witch. The book explains that this is because--
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"A witch cannot love, and keep the tremendous power to manipulate
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peoples' minds and lives....A person in love is thinking of someone other than
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herself. The power of a witch comes -- at least in part -- from a tremendous
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concentration upon her own will and her own desires....The slightest thought
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about the well-being of another and the total self-concentration is broken
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and destroyed." (pp.226-227)
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For a brief time Sara toys with the idea of bringing Brian into the Old
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Religion. After all, a doctor could provide the coven with ready access to
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drugs and convenient death certificates when they are needed. But she
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finally realizes that he could never put his own welfare ahead of a person in
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need, and so could never be a witch. She therefore agrees to drive Brian
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away by allowing him to discover her having sex with Matthew Hay and
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Tabitha.
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A human sacrifice to the Horned God is planned for the Lammas Rite, to
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mark Sara's return to the coven. Sara recalls that it has always been this
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way:
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"The black-handled knife on the altar was the memento of this; the only
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human sacrifice made to the Horned One, at the installment of a returned
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witch into her place. With it, she would kill, upon the ritual altar, and for
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that one Sabbat, the living nude body of a woman on the altar was replaced
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by a corpse. This meant that she could never leave or betray the coven -- at
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the price of being accused and convicted of murder by all twelve witnesses.
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After, the dead body would be abused by all present, then secretly buried in
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a place known only to the coven." (pp.234-235)
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At the Lammas Rite, Sara learns that Colin MacLaran and Claire have
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somehow gotten themselves invited. For some reason, however, they do
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nothing but watch as the final scene unfolds. The sacrifice turns out to be
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Brian Standish, and seeing him, Sara throws off the controlling spirit of her
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great aunt. She frees Brian, who then takes on the rest of the coven. Brian
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kills Matthew Hay, and Tabitha winds up in a mental hospital. The two
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young lovers then live happily ever after.
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* * *
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I must emphasize that it is made abundantly clear in the story that the
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coven in Witch Hill follows our ancient Gods, using human sacrifice and
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brutal ritual sex as their offerings. The witches in the book are vicious, self-
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centered, and manipulative. Nowhere in the book is any counter-example
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offered, nor is it ever suggested that these are not authentic witches.
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It is doubly tragic that this book was written by the author of "The Mists of
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Avalon." Marion Zimmer Bradley cannot plead ignorance or inexperience.
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For myself, I will no longer purchase any book written or co-written by
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Marion Zimmer Bradley, nor will I recommend them to others. I hope that
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my readers will examine "Witch Hill" for themselves and make their own
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decisions.
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