Sister Witch

The Life of Moll Dyer

Fiction - Historical - Personage
265 Pages
Reviewed on 01/03/2018
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Author Biography

Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer: I developed this story idea over several years due to my ongoing fascination with the mythos surrounding this famous (infamous?) colonial witch. Her story has intrigued me since my youth. Sister Witch is both a historical fiction (with a distinct overlay of the paranormal), and a coming of age story in a world of extreme prejudices.

After 300 years, Moll's name is still often heard here, especially around campfires late at night, or as a warning to misbehaving little people. The historical evidence of her life is mostly undocumented. Courthouse records from the late 1600's were destroyed in a fire. However, there is evidence of two Mary Dyers arriving in Maryland around this period. There is a letter written by a colonist describing "Moll Dyer having a countenance so ugly it hurts to behold her." Further circumstantial evidence includes a road named after her, and likewise a small run that traverses what is said to be the original Dyer homestead.
Over the years, many reputable eyewitnesses have reported seeing the ghostly white figures of a woman and her dog spiriting along the small creek that bears Moll's name. Wide eyed drivers in numerous automobile accidents have stated the same. It is interesting to read those police reports!

    Book Review

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer (Legends of the Family Dyer) by David Thompson is a paranormal tale with a dark edge, a story that powerfully demonstrates the irresistible pull of evil and allows the reader to follow one woman’s journey as she struggles to find a suitable response to her family’s evil and mysterious legacy. Moll Dyer had thought that life would be different when she immigrated to the New World. Now in Maryland and far away from home, she is somewhat hoping that things could work out for her, but the call of the succubus continues to awaken the darkness in her. Can she resist the evil spirit? That is a question whose answer the reader has to find out.

David Thompson had me enthralled by his story and I couldn’t leave his protagonist for a moment. There is a darkness that whispers through the narrative, a sense of the tragic that is both unsettling and attractive. It isn’t easy to weave a story that makes the reader feel the supernatural, and to create characters that are as real as they are beguiling, but David Thompson has succeeded in doing both. His narrative voice is compelling and natural and readers will enjoy the way he unveils the inner workings of the minds of the characters and the language of their soul. I felt like this was legend, but the beauty of the narrative voice makes readers feel as if they are reading something very real. Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer (Legends of the Family Dyer) is a gorgeous treat for fans of the paranormal. It is gripping and pulsating.

Michelle Randall

Those in Maryland have heard the legend of Moll Dyer and her witchy ways, but if you want to know the truth of the matter you'd be best off reading an account from someone who was there. Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer is her own personal reflections and diary. A young girl only wanted the best in life, never looking for any trouble, but the prejudices of men influenced and affected every part of her life, from hiding her training in the old world herbal ways, to passing her baby off as her brother. When she and her uncle needed help on the farm, she refused to buy a slave. She made her uncle buy a black woman, Nema, that no one wanted and then immediately told her that after she had worked seven years, she was free. For that, Nema became her best friend and fiercest protector. Author David Thompson has given us a well written book that looks into the life of someone who didn't subscribe to the attitudes of the time.

In Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer, Moll makes friends with the local Indians and a former slave. This bothers people in the town. Because she and her uncle had the foresight to build their farm beside a small creek, and they had water while most of the town was suffering a drought, instead of realizing their good planning, the townsfolk called Moll a witch. When Moll worked from sunup to sundown to bring in a good crop, instead of acknowledging her hard work, people said women couldn't work the way a man did - it must be witchcraft. Author David Thompson gives you the life of a woman from innocence to death, who wanted nothing more than to provide for her family and friends, to give her son a good life, and to have loyal friends around her. She never wanted any trouble with anyone, but it seems that trouble is what she ended up getting. This is definitely a story everyone should read.