In honor of Mr. Morrow visiting this month with an interview, I thought I’d include this book review for his novel, The Last Witchfinder.

The Last Witchfinder tells of Jennet Stearne, who makes it her life's mission to bring down the 1604 Parlimentary Witchcraft Act...Visit The Last Witchfinder Website to read the full synopsis.

Despite the fact that Morrow’s earlier works received great acclaim in the sci-fi/fantasy world, I found this new novel in the literature section of my local bookstore. (See Between the Cracks 101 for more on this topic).

The Last Witchfinder is a historical tale of the last witch trials in England and pre-independence America. Ben Franklin, is a prominent, though not main, character of the story. As far as I can tell, the plot works within the parameters of his true history. The fiction surrounds his lover, Jennet Stearne, a natural philosopher who abhors the tradition of “prickers” or witchfinders.

Now many readers would not consider history fiction as fantasy. It’s true that Morrow’s story has no real sorcery, aliens, or faerie, but the narrator is a book.

Yes, a book.

Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principals of Natural Philosophy, to be precise. And he is quite a character, not just a passive tome, but an active protagonist. Mathematica fights the good fight alongside his hero, Jennet, and possesses her lovers to feel her touch. He communes with other like-minded great works such as Poor Richard’s Almanack which comes to Mathematica’s aide in the fight against his arch-nemesis Malleus Maleficarum, the inquisitors’ bible.

Morrow has great fun with this unique character. He is a whimsical, slightly snobbish and wholly romantic incarnation. And really, who among us readers, has not at least once wondered if books have souls?

But being a sentient inanimate object is not all fun (staplers, for instance, are rather dull). Says Mathematica:

Sentience is a mixed blessing, of course, burdening the beneficiary with much pain and many pathologies. Even the most cheerful of us are vulnerable to antisocial urges. I think of how in recent years the shadow half of Heidi has been plotting bibliocide against Sister Carrie. It’s common knowledge that the sinister aspect of Magnificent Obsession seeks the annihilation of Naked Lunch, and that Anthony Adverse harbors unsavory impulses toward Lolita. (Page 55)

This name-dropping narrator makes The Last Witchfinder a Between the Cracks story. What makes it great fiction, is that the talking book is not just a cute plot device. Mathematica’s battle against the evil Malleus Maleficarum is the eternal struggle between reason and rationalized irrationality, or blind faith. It’s a reflection, an extension, and an parody of Jennet’s own struggle to free her society from the oppression of misguided witch hunters.

Jennet wins her struggle in the end, but not without much sacrifice. Mathematica’s victory is less clear-cut. While reason may be considered the new religion, it will never completely obliterate faith, and Mathematica realizes that he does not even want to. It is a philosophy reflected in our newspapers every day.

The Last Witchfinder, is sure to please, whatever your literary preferences are. For other great Between the Cracks books by James Morrow, check out Towing Jehovah and Only Begotten Daughter. Sorry, I’m not sure where they will be in the bookstore.

James Morrow:

Born in Philadelphia in 1947, James Morrow spent his adolescent years making short 8mm fantasy films with his friends, including adaptations of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." His affection for satiric and philosophical fiction comes largely from the novels he studied in his high school World Literature course... Visit James Morrow’s website to read more.