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"Anna Thalberg is shunned by her village for her red hair and provocative beauty, so the neighbors do not intervene when she is accused of witchcraft and imprisoned. Only her husband Klaus and Father Friedrich, a priest experiencing a crisis of faith, are determined to prove her innocence. Can they convince the Church inquisitors to release Anna before she is burned at the stake?"--
About the author
Eduardo Sangarcía is the author of the short story collection El desconocido del Meno, which was awarded the prestigious Premio Nacional de Cuento Joven Comala 2017, and of the novel The Trial of Anna Thalberg, winner of the Mauricio Achar Award 2020. Sangarcía lives in Guadalajara and is studying for a Ph.D. in Humanities with a specialization on Latin American literature of the Holocaust.
Elizabeth Bryer is a translator and writer from Australia. Her translations include María José Ferrada’s How to Order the Universe and How to Turn into a Bird; Claudia Salazar Jiménez’s Americas Prize-winning Blood of the Dawn; and Aleksandra Lun’s The Palimpsests, for which she was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant. Her debut novel, From Here On, Monsters, was co-winner of the 2020 Norma K. Hemming award.
Summary
Does evil lurk in the shadows of the forest, or in the human heart? Eduardo Sangarcía’s tale of one woman’s witch trial opens the door to deeper horrors.
Anna Thalberg is a peasant woman shunned for her red hair and provocative beauty. When she is dragged from her home and accused of witchcraft, her neighbors do not intervene. Only Klaus, Anna’s husband, and Father Friedrich, a priest experiencing a crisis of faith, set out to the city of Würzburg to prove her innocence. There, Anna faces isolation and torture inside the prison tower, while the populace grows anxious over strange happenings within the city walls. Can Klaus and Friedrich convince the church to release Anna, or will she burn at the stake?
Set in the Holy Roman Empire during the Protestant Reformation, The Trial of Anna Thalberg is a story of religious persecution, superstition, and human suffering. While exploring the medieval fear of witches and demons, it delves into enduring human concerns: the historical oppression of women, the inhumanity of institutions, and the existence of God. Frantic in pace and experimental in form, this is an unforgettable debut from Mexican author Eduardo Sangarcía.
Foreword
- Excerpts
- Print galleys
- Digital galleys available on Edelweiss
