Mary is whisked away by a mysterious woman, and then given into the care of some Puritans who are sailing for the New World. Mary Newbury's story begins in Cromwellian England, and the action begins in the first chapter when Mary's grandmother is hanged for practising witchcraft. Well, author Celia Rees does a terrific job of making you feel like a historian/anthropologist who has just discovered an amazing find: the diary of a young colonial girl which has been stitched into a quilt. So compelling, in fact,that I think my students may well ask, "Is this real?" I have to continually explain that good fiction SHOULD convince you that "it" (the characters, the emotions, the storyline) is "real," but sometimes they find that concept confusing. "This is a particularly compelling example of historical fiction.
Now that the pages of Mary’s journal have come to light, discovered in their centuries-old hiding place between the patches of a quilt, listeners can experience what it was like living in a society where differences were feared and defiance was deadly. Mary must disguise herself as a pious Puritan girl, hiding her true nature, or else face terrible danger once again. But the difficult ocean voyage only leads her to a community of inflexible, fearful grownups who try to decide for her who and what she will be. Then a stranger with hauntingly familiar eyes approaches her with an opportunity–safe passage to America. It is 1659 and Mary Newbury, theyoung granddaughter of a witch, sees her wise and beloved grandmother tortured and hanged as a servant of the Devil.
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