Kate Crackernuts
by K.M. Briggs
The two Kates -- Katherine Lindsay and Kate Maxwell -- first met by
chance when they were young children of six and seven years of age,
and an unbreakable bond of friendship was formed between them.
From that moment they contrived to meet secretly, until Katherine
was twelve and her father married Kate's mother. The two girls
were overjoyed to be together, but Kate soon discovered that her mother
was jealous of the beautiful Katherine and was employing her black
arts against her. Kate, although she tries desperately, cannot
forestall her mother's attempts to bewitch Katherine, and Katherine
unwittingly falls into the hands of the witch Mall Gross, who works a
hideous enchantment on her. To save her, Kate takes her to the
safety of Yorkshire, where they will look for their trusted friend
Gideon, who they hope will be able to help them.
The story of Kate 'Crackernuts' is moving and dramatic -- steeped in
the folklore and politics of 17th century Scotland, amid witch
hunts and religious argument, inter-family disputes and the wars
between Royalists and Parliamentarians. But it is above all the
story of the timeless struggle of personal convictions of truth against
the powerful forces of opposition.
Katie Crackernuts
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