Publisher's Synopsis
"A fascinating story-full of twists." - Toronto Star
"This was awesome! Delicious historical fiction with a lesson: a hater priest. A mysterious loner. A mystery surrounding a poltergeist. Plot twists and chilly images lead to one helluva courtroom showdown." - Suzanne Rogers, This Book Right Here
QUARTER-FINALIST in the Screencraft Cinematic Book Competition 2022!Taleflicks Book of the Month!
An astonishing true story from 1850s France.
Thorel Felix was an outcast and a witch, angered at the imprisonment of his coven leader by local priest Father Jean Lariat. In retaliation, Felix placed a hex on the two boys studying with Lariat at the rural Cideville parsonage. Instead the parsonage began to erupt with strange noises. Lariat forced Felix to apologize to the boys, but the noises only grew louder-and stranger. An exorcism failed. Seances by an occultist from Paris failed. Driven nearly mad by the poltergeist, Father Lariat followed Felix to a hill outside the village and tried to beat him to death.
But the witch recovered-and sued Lariat for assault. What followed is the only known witch trial where a witch-battered, uneducated and unyielding-was the plaintiff.
"A lively circus of a novel, animated by a most intriguing cast of characters. The story is truly bizarre and engaging-at times suspenseful, humorous, unsettling, even poignant-and rips along at a brisk and entertaining pace. It is richly imagined, well told, and made even more compelling by the truth."
- Barnes & Noble
