I feel a bit guilty, as this is going to be the second negative book review in a row (although I promise it won’t be quite as negative as my last one). I feel even more guilty because of the fact that I usually enjoy Jeanette Winterson’s writings a lot. However, for some reason, The Daylight Gate was not the Winterson book I was looking for this time.

I think one of the things that became the largest hurdle for me with this book was the fact that it was a fictionalized account of a true historical atrocity. It deals with the Pendle witch trials, which occurred in the early 1600s in England during the reign of James I. You know, the king under whom the only approved Bible for good fundamentalist Christians came into being. Never mind that it wasn’t an actual translation of the original texts, but a poor translation of a poor translation that was even further whittled down by random editing to help fit the Bible into all the square pegs James I wanted fitted. James I, of course, being the king who believed during his reign that Scottish witches were plotting against him.

But, again, I digress.

The Pendle witch trials were horrific enough in their facts. Truly, you don’t need to fictionalize anything about the trials to get a terrifying account of what occurred. It started as a decree from King James a year into his reign that all justices of the peace in Lancashire should provide lists of all within their jurisdiction who refused to attend church and take communion. By the end, 10 people had been hanged. Seems fair enough, right?

I don’t know why, but something about adding fictional elements to real horrors, or conversely, injecting real atrocities into fictional horror (see every season of American Horror Story for examples of that) has always bothered me. I don’t like history being trivialized. Call it the Cameron Effect, I guess. However, certain historical horrors should never have to have fictional elements added to make them compelling or important to know. The Pendle witch trial apparently fits into this category for me.

Final Verdict: I still very much like Winterson, and I even believe that this book is crafted well enough that, if you don’t have the same odd hangups that I apparently have when it comes to history and historical fiction, then you might enjoy it. I, however, shall bide my time until my next Winterson fix.