The Lancashire Witches

(4 stars)

Fan of the (19th) century

Worth your time. Excellent narration. Some actual history as-well. (much more dramatic license than fact) A good book. I recommend.

(5 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

I've listened to this story many times and will listen again. I love Ainsworth and wish Andy Minter would read Old St Paul's, my favorite Ainsworth story. This story is long but oh so worth it. Thank you Mr minter, very well done.

Excellent recording

(5 stars)

elaineandsparky

this is a good book and read excelently which makes the story even more enjoyable.

Wonderful

(5 stars)

ThreeCat

If you've been put off by other Librivox volunteer recordings - which often leave an awful lot to be desired - try this one. It is excellent, and of the quality that you'd expect from a commercially produced recording. The reader does a brilliant and appropriate range of accents and voices. The story itself is a cracker. Thoroughly recommended.

Admirable story, well read.

(5 stars)

Pcupitt

I enjoyed this a lot. Andy Minter is an amazing talent. I must admit though, that some of the accents of the characters (Welsh?) made it hard to understand every word, but, I got the gist of it sufficient to follow the story 😀

(4.5 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

A good story with a good triumphs kind of ending, although still with some bittersweetness to it.

engaging tale of witchcraft, beautifully read.

(5 stars)

Lord de Ville

this is an example of how all audiobook presentations should be delivered. the late Andy Minter provides individual voices for the several doesn't characters and imparts a great deal of personality for each, making the complex story very easy to follow. in terms of the novel itself, this is a fantastic tail with action and events at every point during its length. if you enjoy the Lord of the Rings but our bored by one journey through a forest too many; if you enjoy the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but tyre of the Relentless two-dimensional nature of good vs evil; if you are a Potterhead but can't help thinking that you have come across every plot device and every character somewhere else before: if you enjoy His Dark Materials but feel slightly queasy about the nature of dust then perhaps you should give the Lancashire Witches a go.. the plot is inspired by the Pendle witch trials of 1612 and features a number of the key individuals listed in the trial journal. this is a true masterpiece.

Highly Fictionalised!

(4 stars)

Elpenor's Ghost

As a Lancashire lass myself I well know the real story of the Pendle Witches, and this isn't it. However it is a very entertaining yarn. Harrison Ainsworth was a Mancunian by birth and clearly knew and loved the Lancashire countryside which he describes beautifully throughout the book. He clearly knows the real history of the area too, but chooses to ignore much of it here. Ainsworth takes the names of many of the real Pendle witches but creates his own, wholly imaginary version of their lives and ultimate deaths. e.g.witches were never burned in England - they were hanged. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed this recording. Andy Minter deserves the highest praise for his efforts.