
In Defense of Witches
The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial
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Narrated by:
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Carmen Maria Machado
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Alix Dunmore
Mona Chollet's In Defense of Witches is a “brilliant, well-documented” celebration (Le Monde) by an acclaimed French feminist of the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution.
Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?
Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct heirs to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions.
With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who seek to live their lives on their own terms.
©2022 Mona Chollet and Sophie R. Lewis (P)2022 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
2022, NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed
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It feels much more like jealousy and fear based actions. You're not truly the best if you must silence others in order to gain power.
Powerful Look into the History of Women's Oppression
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So much to unpack in the history of women
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While many gems of knowledge were divined throughout her exploration of how medical practices, law, gender dynamics, and environmental studies, to name a few, were affected by the distrust and persecution of the feminine—my favorite overall takeaway, that unsettled me in the best of ways, was this (slightly paraphrased):
“We are all products of the world that hunted the witches, and we remain locked inside the frame of reference that the witch hunts created.”
I call this work revelationary because its revelations could be the seeds of desperately needed revolutions in our thoughts and actions, individually and as a society. We must question where our interpretation of stories and events and traditions hails in order to move forward in wisdom and truth.
Relevant and Revelationary
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Fabulous listen.
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Interesting read
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Powerful!!
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Good.
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An important and fundamental read
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Excellent book
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Intriguing
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