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Spellbound : Inside West Africa's Witch Camps by Karen Palmer (2010, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherFree Press

ISBN-101439120501

ISBN-139781439120507

eBay Product ID (ePID)84329102

Product Key Features

Book TitleSpellbound : inside West Africa's Witch Camps

Number of Pages256 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2010

TopicWitchcraft (See Also Religion / Wicca), Folklore & Mythology, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Customs & Traditions

GenreBody, Mind & Spirit, Social Science

AuthorKaren Palmer

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight12.4 Oz

Item Length8.4 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2010-008675

Reviews"With her smart, soulful novel, author Pekkanen explores the place where self and sisterhood intersect." -Redbook?, "Fresh and funny and satisfying. A terrific book about sisters that actually made me laugh out loud. I was completely drawn into Lindsey's world and rooted for her from beginning to end."?— Jennifer Weiner,New York Timesbestselling author ofBest Friends ForeverandIn Her Shoes, "Sharp-tongued. . .a spot-on portrayal of the existential dilemmas of young adulthood." —Washington Post, "If a book makes you think and be introspective, well that's magic, andThe Opposite of Mehas done just that. Pekkanen has hit the nail on the head with her unique premise and original observation on what makes us who we are'an absolute must read" —New York Journal of Books, "Pekkanen's wry voice and engaging characters—the bumbling parents are especially lovable—keep things fresh" —People (3.5 out of 4 stars)

Dewey Edition22

Dewey Decimal133.4/30966

SynopsisAs I attempted to digest stories of spiritual cannibalism, of curses that could cost a student her eyesight or ignite the pages of the books she read, I knew I was not alone in my skepticism. And yet, when I caught sight of the waving arms of an industrious scarecrow, the hair on the back of my neck would stand on end. It was most palpable at night, this creepy feeling, when the moon stayed low to the horizon and the dust kicked up in the breeze, reaching out and pulling back with ghostly fingers. There was something to this place that could be felt but not seen. With these words, Karen Palmer takes us inside one of West Africa's witch camps, where hundreds of banished women struggle to survive under the watchful eye of a powerful wizard. Palmer arrived at the Gambaga witch camp with an outsider's sense of outrage, believing it was little more than a dumping ground for difficult women. Soon, however, she encountered stories she could not explain: a woman who confessed she'd attacked a girl given to her as a sacrifice; another one desperately trying to rid herself of the witchcraft she believed helped her kill dozens of people. In Spellbound, Palmer brilliantly recounts the kaleidoscope of experiences that greeted her in the remote witch camps of northern Ghana, where more than 3,000 exiled women and men live in extreme poverty, many sentenced in a ceremony hinging on the death throes of a sacrificed chicken. As she ventured deeper into Ghana's grasslands, Palmer found herself swinging between belief and disbelief. She was shown books that caught on fire for no reason and met diviners who accurately predicted the future. From the schoolteacher who believed Africa should use the power of its witches to gain wealth and prestige to the social worker who championed the rights of accused witches but also took his wife to a witch doctor, Palmer takes readers deep inside a shadowy layer of rural African society. As the sheen of the exotic wore off, Palmer saw the camp for what it was: a hidden colony of women forced to rely on food scraps from the weekly market. She witnessed the way witchcraft preyed on people's fears and resentments. Witchcraft could be a comfort in times of distress, a way of explaining a crippling drought or the inexplicable loss of a child. It was a means of predicting the unpredictable and controlling the uncontrollable. But witchcraft was also a tool for social control. In this vivid, startling work of first-person reportage, Palmer sheds light on the plight of women in a rarely seen corner of the world.

LC Classification NumberBF1584.A358P35 2010