Book Review
Jun. 14th, 2005 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Chimera
by Sebastiano Vasalli
Set in 17th century rural Italy, this novel recounts the brief life of Antonia, a young peasant woman convicted of practicing witchcraft and burned at the stake. The author/narrator indicates that the story is based on a real case for which the court records are still extant, although there is no bibliography. I quite enjoyed the chatty style of the prose, especially in a novel that gives a fairly intellectual treatment of its subject matter. Vasalli provides an interesting and well-developed look at the societal and religious forces that converged to create the witch hunts of 17th century Europe, and he does it mostly through showing rather than mere telling.
by Sebastiano Vasalli
Set in 17th century rural Italy, this novel recounts the brief life of Antonia, a young peasant woman convicted of practicing witchcraft and burned at the stake. The author/narrator indicates that the story is based on a real case for which the court records are still extant, although there is no bibliography. I quite enjoyed the chatty style of the prose, especially in a novel that gives a fairly intellectual treatment of its subject matter. Vasalli provides an interesting and well-developed look at the societal and religious forces that converged to create the witch hunts of 17th century Europe, and he does it mostly through showing rather than mere telling.
