![]() James set sail from Leith to fetch Anne personally – although he had a retinue of some 300 men with him. A storm had blown James’ wife to be, Anne of Denmark, off course and the ship was forced on to the Norwegian coast. ![]() While the outing of witches had been going on for some considerable time, under both Catholicism and Protestantism throughout Europe, the rule of James V1 of Scotland, 1 st of England, certainly contributed to the frenzied atmosphere. Other characters mentioned in the novel were also real historical characters like Geillis – Doctor John Fian, Agnes Sampson, Barbara Napier and Euphame MacCalzean. ![]() Geillis was hanged as a witch when she was only 15 years old. The novel was written for Geillis Duncan and she is in fact the novel’s main character. ![]() In her recent novel, Hex (2022), she has returned to the Old Town of the sixteenth century as well as taking us out to East Lothian and to the North Berwick witch trials of 1590-92. There can be little doubt that part of the success of Jenni Fagan’s previous novel, Luckenbooth (2021), can be attributed to the way she managed to evoke Edinburgh’s Old Town with its grey tenements, cobbles and closes. Jim Aitken reviews Hex, by Jenni Fagan, published by Birlinn ![]()
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