Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hexenkind | 2000 | Celia Rees | N/A |
| 2 | Witch Child | 2000 | Celia Rees | Buy |
| 3 | Sorceress | 2002 | Celia Rees | Buy |
The Witch Child series follows Mary Newbury, a young English woman who flees to colonial America to escape accusations of witchcraft, only to find that suspicion follows her across the ocean. The first book, Witch Child (2000), is written as Mary’s journal and has an intimate, first-person quality that pulls readers into her world. Sorceress (2002) continues the story, and the German-language edition Hexenkind rounds out the trilogy.
Rees’s historical research gives the books their weight. The daily life of colonial settlers, the fear and paranoia surrounding witchcraft accusations, and the limited options available to young women in that era all feel convincingly rendered. The series works both as historical fiction and as a story about intolerance and the courage it takes to be different.