Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer

Legends of the Family Dyer, Book 1

By: David W. Thompson

Narrated by: Honey St. Dennis

The legend of Moll Dyer originated in earliest colonial Maryland.

Despite 300 years of civilization, and the advent of scientific reason, Moll's name is still often heard there, especially around campfires late at night, or as a warning to misbehaving little people.

Her spirit is often seen as a wisp of unnatural fog in the swampy woodlands near her homestead, with her half-wolf companion at her side.

This is her story.

Sister Witch is the 1st place winner of the Golden Quill Award for Fantasy and 1st place (Magical Realism) in the Ed/Pred reader's poll. Official Selection of New Apple and Reader's Favorite contests.

©2017 David W. Thompson (P)2019 David W. Thompson

Loved it!

I loved this so much! It’s hard to find words that will do it the justice it deserves. I kept thinking about the Salem witch trials and how people were accused of being a witch. But it was so different and unique. After being raped, Moll Dyer becomes pregnant and has a choice to make. To save her family’s name from disgrace, she travels with her uncle aboard a ship to America. Along the way she meets a young couple who are expecting a baby. She tries to help the woman with her mom’s remedies and draws suspicion on herself. The trip is hard enough without that. When they make it to their destination, they save a slave girl. She is to become someone who is dear to Moll. After all, she will be someone to help work the land but free at the same time. Moll meets some of the native Americans and becomes fast friends. So much happens. I found myself getting so caught up in their lives. This read like a great story rich in history from long ago, but also had some magical elements when the demons appeared. Moll’s mother had never taken her into her sewing room and shared the secrets she had until the day before she had to leave. Then it was like a crash course. With a small piece of information and a book with lots of secret family stuff passed down, Moll had set off to a new world. Little did she know about her family history involving the demons.

This was the perfect read, especially for Halloween coming up. The narration was so wonderful. I LOVED the accent. I’m so sad it’s over though. I will for sure have a book hangover for a while with this one.

An excellent story!

I love the character of Moll Dyer: strong, opinionated, well ahead of her time but also loving and compassionated. In those times, though, a woman like her was easy prey to suspicion and malicious gossip. Nema and Bluebird, her friends, her sisters in beliefs, are also fascinating characters.

The book is a fantastic portrait of the times, the way superstitions are born, race prejudices and women's position in society. And the story-line is so greatly done! Any time Moll stands for herself you have this sense of foreboding... you know she is dealing with forces she doesn't really understand and that there will be a high price to pay.

An excellent story!

Honey St. Dennis does a great job with the narration per se, but some extra editing would have been a good idea. There are repetitions and intervals of silence too long. But it didn't stop me from enjoying the story.

Very intersting!

Well, for a book that is basically packed with suffering, it really was a great read. It was interesting and well-spoken, seemed fitting of the times (as best I can judge as someone who obviously wasn’t there). Characters were well-developed and I felt compelled to root for them and definitely empathized with them.

When I had to put the book down, I missed it. This one really held my attention, something not much does anymore.

Based on this, I would absolutely read more from this author, and especially in this world.

However …
I feel whoever produced the audiobook took advantage of this author (unless of course they did so at a steep discount and/or are not taking a cut of his royalties).

The narrator was good, her accent and performance were fine and her voice was easy on the ears.
The production itself though was a bit of a disaster.
There are many instances of entire sentences, sometimes more than 1, which are just repeated. That really took me out of the story, every time it happened. Why wouldn’t you just edit that out?! It’s pure laziness or negligence on the producer’s part.

And there were several parts where the narrator sounded as if she was in a tin can or underwater.

I’d give the book 4.5 stars,
The narrator 4 stars,
But whoever was responsible for production, edits, etc. 0 stars.

I hope there was recourse for the author here—there’s nothing I hate to see more than an indie author being preyed upon.

Sister Witch Unbiased Review

This was an interesting story. While listening to it, it was like there was a movie playing in my mind. There were a few spots in the audiobook though that could use some editing as parts of it repeated. One such spot is where she is just getting to know her friend Beth. Overall I would recommend this book and will most likely listen to it again.