This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch is based on the actual court records of a trial in Germany in 1618. The author, Rivka Gelchen, read the testimony and decided to write a book about it. The woman on trial was Katharina Kepler. Katharina was a widowed grandmother who moved to Leonberg, Germany when she inherited the house of her father. She offered herbal remedies to others. She was proud of her four children. Her eldest son, Johannes Kepler, was a famous German astronomer. One of the women in Leonberg accuses Katharina of giving her an evil brew which made her sick. Katharina could be jailed, tortured and executed for being a witch. At that time, in Germany, a woman had to have a "guardian" because they weren't considered capable of answering for themselves in court. Katharina's neighbor becomes her guardian but later declines to act as her guardian. The author took the fact that her guardian quit and the transcripts from the trial and made up a story of what probably happened. Every trail transcript starts with the same question. "Do you understand that any false testimony you knowingly give will provoke God's great anger in your earthly life and will deliver your soul unto Satan upon your death?" No one knows what Katharina was really like but this author has a vivid imagination of life in Leonberg in 1618. I have read about witch trials in Massachusetts but I had no idea such things happened in Europe too. Despite the horrible trouble Katharina went through, I found this story to be hopeful and even funny in spots. The Katharina in this story would be someone I would like to have as a friend.
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