The Doctor, the Witch, and the Rose Stone, Joanne Coyle, APR2025 LTER
Talk Reviews of Early Reviewers Books
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1LyndaInOregon
The first thing a potential reader of The Doctor, the Witch, and the Rose Stone should know is that, despite the echoes of high fantasy in its title, this novel bears absolutely no resemblance to tales of wizards, enchantments, or magical swords. It is instead an often-grim novelization dealing with one of the worst witch-hunts of the late 16th century, the North Berwick Witch Trials in which as many as 200 persons in Scotland were accused of, and many ultimately executed for, consorting with the Devil.
The second thing is that the story tries hard but never really rises to its subject. The "B" plot, as it were, detracts from the drama of the midwives and herbalists who were terrorized and executed because of superstition, hysteria, and power plays by ambitious men.
Coyle splits her narrative between the village of North Berwick, home to midwife healer Agnes Sampson and her protégé Gelly Duncan, and the story of Assen Verey, a young doctor educated at the finest medical schools of Paris but who turns his back on a lucrative royal court appointment to practice in the charity hospitals during the plague years of the late 1500s. He clashes with the medical establishment by departing from formal medical teachings and by experimenting with both traditional healing substances and the earliest teachings of ancient Greek physicians. At the same time, hundreds of miles away, Agnes and Gelly attract the unwanted attention of a local power-hungry clergyman who wishes to curry favor with King James VI of Scotland. The young monarch is obsessed with the notion that he has been singled out to defend Christianity against the forces of the Devil. At essentially the same time, In both narratives, the characters find themselves literally fighting for their lives as powerful political forces attempt to destroy them.
By the way, readers unfamiliar with the reign of James VI might recognize him better when he got a better job (ruling England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I), changed his name to James I, and sponsored a little book now known as the King James Bible. So this is kind of history writ large, but focused on the stories of fictional and fact-based characters generally unknown today. (Coyle provides an informative afterword, specifying which of her book’s characters and events are constructs.)
The ”Rose Stone” of the title doesn’t really make an appearance in the narrative until almost three-quarters of the way through the story, and its importance isn’t revealed until the final chapters, by which point it feels almost like an afterthought. More important, and probably where the thrust of the novel should have remained, is the description of how easily the witchcraft accusations against Agnes and Gelly gained momentum. Ignorance, self-interest, group hysteria, and general distrust of women – particularly women who were not under the direct control of a husband or father -- were easily turned against a politically powerless group with devastating consequences.
In all, the novel might be considered a cautionary tale, reminding us that evil never goes away. It just puts on different clothes and selects new, but equally powerless groups to destroy.
The second thing is that the story tries hard but never really rises to its subject. The "B" plot, as it were, detracts from the drama of the midwives and herbalists who were terrorized and executed because of superstition, hysteria, and power plays by ambitious men.
Coyle splits her narrative between the village of North Berwick, home to midwife healer Agnes Sampson and her protégé Gelly Duncan, and the story of Assen Verey, a young doctor educated at the finest medical schools of Paris but who turns his back on a lucrative royal court appointment to practice in the charity hospitals during the plague years of the late 1500s. He clashes with the medical establishment by departing from formal medical teachings and by experimenting with both traditional healing substances and the earliest teachings of ancient Greek physicians. At the same time, hundreds of miles away, Agnes and Gelly attract the unwanted attention of a local power-hungry clergyman who wishes to curry favor with King James VI of Scotland. The young monarch is obsessed with the notion that he has been singled out to defend Christianity against the forces of the Devil. At essentially the same time, In both narratives, the characters find themselves literally fighting for their lives as powerful political forces attempt to destroy them.
By the way, readers unfamiliar with the reign of James VI might recognize him better when he got a better job (ruling England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I), changed his name to James I, and sponsored a little book now known as the King James Bible. So this is kind of history writ large, but focused on the stories of fictional and fact-based characters generally unknown today. (Coyle provides an informative afterword, specifying which of her book’s characters and events are constructs.)
The ”Rose Stone” of the title doesn’t really make an appearance in the narrative until almost three-quarters of the way through the story, and its importance isn’t revealed until the final chapters, by which point it feels almost like an afterthought. More important, and probably where the thrust of the novel should have remained, is the description of how easily the witchcraft accusations against Agnes and Gelly gained momentum. Ignorance, self-interest, group hysteria, and general distrust of women – particularly women who were not under the direct control of a husband or father -- were easily turned against a politically powerless group with devastating consequences.
In all, the novel might be considered a cautionary tale, reminding us that evil never goes away. It just puts on different clothes and selects new, but equally powerless groups to destroy.
