Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of The Last Witchfinder.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Introduction
The Last Witchfinder tells of one woman's heroic quest to overturn the
Parliamentary Witchcraft Act of 1604. Set in Restoration England and the
American provinces, James Morrow's historical epic is a meticulously researched
and richly detailed narrative of sorcery, science, and the sea change from the
witch-hunting era to the Age of Reason.
Jennet Stearne, the daughter of Witchfinder-General Walter Stearne, is
quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and hungry for knowledge. Under the tutelage of her
beloved Aunt Isobel, our heroine acquires a passion for "natural philosophy" and
an abhorrence of her father's work. After witnessing Isobel's unjust execution
as a witch, Jennet makes it her life's mission to destroy the statute that
sanctions the hanging and burning of innocent women.
In a tour-de-force writing performance, Morrow follows Jennet as she emigrates
with her family from Colchester to America, where she becomes entangled in the
machinations of the Salem Witch Court, the designs of her Nimacook Indian
captors, and the bedsheets of her fascinating lover, the young Benjamin
Franklin. But Jennet faces the ultimate challenge when she courageously puts
herself on trial for sorcery in Colonial Philadelphia, thus sparking a
monumental confrontation between two incompatible worldviews.
Set many generations ago,
The Last Witchfinder features characters whose
goals and obsessions sometimes seem remote from our way of thinking.
Nevertheless, Jennet's adventures raise many issuesconcerning religious
beliefs, the scientific picture of reality, and the role of women in public
lifethat resonate for contemporary readers. We hope the following questions
will help you connect the universe of James Morrow's novel to our modern,
post-Enlightenment world.
Questions for Discussion
- It's easy to see why Jennet Stearne calls her campaign against the 1604
Parliamentary Witchcraft Act a "quest." If it succeeds, her mission will
have enormous social ramifications. But must a "quest" always be so lofty?
Did you ever undertake a personal project that also felt like a quest?
- Walter Stearne, the self-appointed "Witchfinder-General" who dominates
the first third of the novel, systematically detects Satanists using such
"proofs" as "swimming the witch" and pricking her supposed Devil's mark. In
performing these tests, is Walter practicing a kind of science? How do
Walter's "proofs" differ from the experiments with light and acceleration
that Jennet and Aunt Isobel perform in chapter one?
- In the late 1750s the playwright Oliver Goldsmith remarked that he "who
would court a lady must be capable of discussing Newton and Locke."
Goldsmith meant that, for his generation and those immediately before it,
women no less than men took a keen interest in "natural philosophy." Does
this same situation hold today? Does an intelligent man assume that his
female friends will want to discuss scientific and philosophical matters?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Harper Perennial.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.