I just finished Witch Child, by Celia Rees. This is an absorbing novel about a 14 year old named Mary Newbury living in 1659 England. Her grandmother is accused, tried, and convicted of being a witch, and arrangements are made for Mary to be taken to the New World. Unfortunately, she ends up living in a Puritan settlement, and has to try hard to fit in and conceal her own identity. Because Mary is a witch herself. Not in the sense of riding a broom and casting spells, but in the sense of gathering herbs and using them to make medicine, and of being attuned to the changing seasons. However, her Puritan neighbors don't see much of a difference. And things begin to go bad when "evidence" of witchcraft is found in the forest just outside of town. Tongues wag and fingers point, eventually to Mary. The book paints a chilling image of the society which forms the foundation of many American religions, indeed, former Jehovahs Witnesses may see uncomfortable similarities in the manner in which Puritan society was governed. Want to know what living in a theocracy would REALLY be like? Look no further. I found this book very difficult to put down, and will likely read it again.