The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

AADL has no copies of this item

Originally published: Great Britain : Macmillan Children's Books, 2009.
In seventeenth-century Scotland, sixteen-year-old Maggie Blair is sentenced to be hanged as a witch but escapes to the home of her uncle, placing him and his family in great danger as she risks her life to save them all from the King's men.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good historical fiction read submitted by karaelise on June 29, 2011, 7:10pm If you were accused of being a witch, what would you do? Where would you go? For teenager Maggie Blair, the only option is to travel to the farm of her uncle and aunt who she has never met, and hope that they will be kind enough to take in an accused witch. Set in 1600’s Scotland, Elizabeth Laird’s The Betrayal of Maggie Blair follows its heroine as she goes from living as a persecuted witch, to living as a persecuted covenanter with her gracious aunt and uncle. Maggie never guessed that when she escaped death--after being condemned as a witch along with her grandmother—that she would wind up living with the family of her deceased father’s brother, who was a strong protestant opposed to the religious laws placed on Scotland by the English king. Even more than that, Maggie never dreamed that she would be so accepted, loved, and even admired by her family after telling them her story. But what will happen when the king’s soldiers discover that Maggie’s new family is hiding a protestant preacher known for his stance against the king?

Chock full of historical references and descriptions of the beautiful Scottish countryside, The Betrayal of Maggie Blair depicts a time when superstitions and prejudices ran rampant and religion was at the forefront of all minds. There is no actual witchcraft in this book, just as there was not for the many women who were accused of the crime during the 1600’s. Instead, readers get a true sense of how terrifying it must have been to realize that no matter how innocent you were, nothing mattered but the opinion and, often times, lies of the crowd. There is so much suspense leading up to Maggie’s witch trial and the eve of her scheduled execution that the book feels like it should not go on. However, after a couple of slow-paced pages, the pace quickly picks back up and readers get to follow Maggie as she matures and jumps from the frying pan into the fire. Recommended for grades 7 and up.