This book has a great title. Who wouldn't pick it up off the shelf? The title also really captures the voice of the protagonist and the tone of the writing. It's thematically appropriate too. If there isn't a book award for titles*, there should be, and Everyone knows should be nominated.
Title aside, Everyone knows your mother is a witch has a lot to recommend it. First of all, it's short. Yeah for short books, and especially for short historical fiction! There's a time and a place for wrist-busting world-building, but Everyone knows shows that you don't need to include pages of historical background, detailed descriptions of places, people, and things, or write in an accurate historical dialect to capture something essential about a time and a place and a person. Instead, Everyone uses the voices of the accused witch (Katharina), her neighbour Simon, and the depositions of Katharina's accusers to build a compelling picture of an aged widow whose sharp eyes, sharper tongue, and complete lack of tact turn much of her community against her.
So read about Katharina Kepler, the illiterate mother of Imperial Mathematician (and famed physicist) Johannes Kepler, laugh at her observations of the ducal governor Einhorn (the false unicorn), smile at her fondness for her cow Chamomile, and ponder the fate of this "frighteningly intelligent woman -- also a fool".
You won't regret it.
(*The Diagram Prize is awarded to the book with the oddest title, which is not at all the same.)
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