What a truly amazing novel this was. From the Drop of Heaven follows two families in France in the late 1500s. All over Europe during this time people were often accused of practicing witchcraft and the majority of the accused were women. Anything from using herbs as a medicine or birth control, to the plague, could land someone in prison for practicing witchcraft. Once imprisoned the accused would be questioned and tortured until they said whatever the inquisitor wanted them to say. They would then be forced into a sham of a trial and eventually executed. The mode of execution that the powers that be enjoyed using on a “witch” was to burn them alive. Throughout this novel you learn how these two families constantly lived under the threat of being accused of witchcraft. Any enemy made was a person who could potentially accuse them of witchcraft. The families also had to deal with a particularly corrupt priest who enjoyed harming children.

It has been awhile since a book has made me cry, but I cried at the end of this book. I felt so invested in the characters and even more so after learning this novel is about the author’s ancestors. Grab this book, you won’t regret it.

Juliette Godot write an interesting historical fiction novel about witches in Europe in this interesting book, From the Drop of Heaven. The year is 1582 and books are absolutely forbidden. But that may be the least of their worries. And the root!