When I first started to get my thoughts about modern-day fictional witches down on paper, I made a list of books from the past to re-read and mine for information and ideas.
Although I enjoyed renewing my acquaintance with some old friends, the stories were incidental this time around. I wanted examples of various types of witch; I was looking for patterns and features in common in the witches’ lives, personalities and eventual fates; I was looking for fictional characters who reminded me of real people I had known or encountered along the way.
I remembered some relevant scenes and characters from Robin Jarvis’s wonderful Whitby Witches trilogy. The first book in the series is The Whitby Witches.
Jennet and her little brother Ben, two children who are core characters, remind me of Gwendolen Chant and her little brother Cat in Charmed Life. They too are orphans whose parents died in an accident and they are much the same ages.
The villain of the story is a middle-aged woman who first appears under the name of Rowena Cooper. Just like some of the other witches I have written about, she is desperately and obsessively looking for something and will do whatever it takes to get it. She is the most ruthless of the bunch: anything or anyone who stands in her way will be removed.
She attempts to manipulate people with threats and promises. She is described as having a black and rotten heart and being full of evil. She is eaten away with her lust for greater power.
The arrival of Rowena Cooper
When Mrs Cooper first arrives in Whitby, she buys a shabby, dank and musty house that is neglected and run down and has been empty for two years. Her cover story is that she wants to turn it into an antiques shop. This action causes a lot of speculation in the ladies’ circle that Alice Boston, an old lady who is the children’s guardian, presides over. A huge amount of work needs to be done to make the house habitable again, but no local contractors have been retained.
However, Rowena Cooper, who appears to be a warm and sincere individual, becomes popular by making some large charitable donations.
Miss Boston is astounded when she accepts an invitation to tea at the house and finds it transformed: it is in very good condition, well furnished and spotless. It seems impossible that so much work could have been done in so short a time. It is actually all an illusion, a glamour; the house is still in its original damp and dilapidated state. Biddy Iremonger in Witches’ Business aka Wilkins’ Tooth does the reverse when she makes treasures appear to be rubbish. What comes to mind here is the witches’ chant from Macbeth: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
Not only does Miss Boston sense something creepy about the house, she also takes an immediate dislike to Mrs Cooper. She has good instincts: Rowena Cooper appears false and affected and her manner is strangely chilling. She is gushes over Miss Boston, making a few remarks that are a subtle attack on her. There is an immediate and startling change in her when Miss Boston mentions seeing something move in the space leading to the attic. For an instant, something very dangerous shows its snarling face.
Mrs Cooper has an agenda, which involves ingratiating herself by flattery with the woman in whose ancient house the magical artefact she is seeking may be hidden. She has a large supply of very expensive chocolates which, in scenes that remind me of Edmund, the Turkish Delight and the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she continually feeds to this woman.
Three unrecognised murders
One member of the ladies’ circle recognises Rowena Cooper as a foul-mouthed, evil young woman, a nasty piece of work she last saw in Africa decades ago. The newcomer is actually Roslyn Crosier (Roselyn Crozier in later books in the series), an evil witch who was involved in some very unsavoury black magic ceremonies. This lady makes a fatal mistake: she confronts Mrs Cooper without first telling anyone what she plans to do. Her body is found the next morning; the verdict is one of accidental death caused by a fall while walking down some steps at night in the fog.
The next death is that of another member of the circle. This is the woman whose house is of interest to Rowena Cooper, who is now always a welcome visitor even though long-standing friends are denied access. The sudden death happens soon after the house is burgled and ransacked – this was an unsuccessful attempt to find the artefact. The will has been recently changed: the house and its contents have been left to Rowena Cooper. The death is attributed to a heart attack. Neither the doctor nor the police will listen to Miss Boston when she tells them that her friend has been murdered.
The third death involves yet another member of the ladies’ circle, someone who learns that Rowena Cooper was behind the burglary and realises the sinister purpose and outcome of the ingratiation. She is lured to her death when on the way to confide in Miss Boston. This death too is taken to be accidental, the result of missed footing and a fall from the edge of a cliff. Once again the police and the doctor will not listen to Miss Boston.
Miss Boston decides that if the police refuse to listen to her she will have to confront Rowena Cooper herself.
The story then goes into supernatural areas. Rowena Cooper goes from being a type of person we might actually encounter in real life to someone who really has surrendered her humanity to the powers of the dark. Demons are feeding on her soul. She goes crazy with the power to control and destroy that she now has. She speaks in a melodramatic way: she is the Empress of the Dark; she makes me think of scenes in The Lord of the Rings!
Points of particular interest and significance
Is it just a coincidence that Rowena arrives in Whitby shortly after the two children have come to stay with Miss Boston?
Rowena’s choice of place to live and people to work for her are typical and reflect the sort of person she is: she buys a secluded, ugly house like a large dungeon and takes as her ally the most unpleasant member of the tribe of fisher folk.
The sinister black dog arrives at Miss Boston’s house soon after she asks Rowena Cooper an awkward question, something that shows that Miss Boston has guessed who might be responsible for the first murder. It is lucky for the children that Miss Boston has protected her house.
As soon as she comes into possession of the ancient house, Rowena starts a thorough search for the magical item she still believes is hidden there. She leaves a trail of destruction as she rampages through the house. She shrieks and screams with impatience when she can’t find what she is looking for. This is a good way of describing the way that some people go through life.
Alice Boston is an inspiring and enviable character. Despite being 92 years old, she is sharp minded and not at all frail. She uses her own little methods to keep herself fit and healthy.
She is immune to some of the spells and smokescreens cast by Rowena Cooper. She makes connections; she joins the dots; she notices things that others don’t. She thinks it odd that she has never encountered Rowena Cooper when everyone else seems to have met her. She picks up the ‘as if’ in the letter of invitation Mrs Cooper sends her.
Miss Boston defeats Rowena Cooper with a clever trick.
All this makes me surprised by her reaction when no one will listen to her: I would have expected her to know better. She shouts, “That’s three old women in as many weeks. Doesn’t that arouse the slightest suspicion in you…?”
This refusal to listen, the inability to make connections and the suspension of judgement are a big red flag, a dead give-away, a sign that negative unseen influences are at work. It took me a long time to understand what was at work and to stop blaming people for being ‘blind’.
It is not the fault of the doctor and the police that they can’t see what Alice Boston can see, any more than it is the little boy Ben’s fault for not being able to resist Rowena Cooper’s powers when she puts an enchantment on him and forces him to speak her words.
All through this, the tourists in Whitby are blissfully unaware of the evil that is haunting the town. This seems like a metaphor for real life: many people are so grounded, insulated and shielded that they never sense any unseen influences; many people are lucky enough never to have been directly targeted by evil people. I envy these oblivious and protected people.
