LITFEST: Carol Ann Lee: Something Wicked

On 20 August 1612, ten people from Pendle were executed before a vast crowd at Lancaster's Gallows Hill. The condemned and their associates had endured six months of accusations, imprisonment and torture; their treatment was such that one of the group died in Lancaster Castle's dungeons, while awaiting trial. Today, a thriving tourism industry exists in and around Pendle, the former home of the so-called witches, yet virtually everything we know about the case originates from a single source: Thomas Potts' Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches, hurriedly published in 1613 and distinctly skewed in favour of the prosecution. 

Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Ann Lee brings an entirely fresh perspective to the story by approaching it as true crime. Her research leads to revelatory discoveries, transforming our knowledge of those shadowy figures behind ill-famed names, and the terrible events that befell them. After four centuries of superstition and surmise, the two central, warring families emerge fully formed, as the book uncovers the reality of their lives and their alleged crimes before exploring the trial and executions. 

‘Carol Ann Lee retells this horrifying story with authority and indignation’ OBSERVER

Carol Ann Lee is a bestselling author of true crime and historical biography, and has also written novels and books for children. She has written extensively on the Holocaust and on the crimes of Moors Murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Her biography of Ruth Ellis was shortlisted for the CWA Non-Fiction Dagger and is the inspiration for Silverprint’s drama for ITV A Cruel Love.