YA book with focus on witchcraft and mind control; mentions Joan of Arc as an inspirational figure/muse (spoilers ahead)

[Jennifer]

I'm searching for the title of a book I read in the mid 2000s. I would have taken it out from my elementary school library in Canada during that time. It had a very 90s vibe; I think it was published in that decade or the early 2000s. I think the cover was yellow or had yellow on it.

Some facts I still remember (not necessarily in order of plot):

It's set in North America (likely a small American town). A central character is a woman who's either visiting or has just moved to the town. She talks about wanting to put on a play containing elements of witchcraft and public execution/burning at the stake. It wasn't The Crucible, but to some extent it was definitely about witchcraft and punishment for being a witch. It gets approved by the community and rehearsals begin in a small space (it may have been a church). I remember there being mentions of how cluttered the space was and how it was difficult to move around.

It's revealed that the stranger practices mind control and witchcraft. Through directing the play, she meets a suburban couple's teenage daughter (who happens to be an only child), and who becomes a sort of apprentice to her. The stranger begins teaching her basic witchcraft and hypnotism techniques. As her witchcraft/mind control "lessons" become more regular, the daughter tries to practice mind control on the family's dog (I think his name was Toby; I feel like the letter "T" was in the name somewhere), and gets disappointed when it doesn't work. There's a part where she's in her backyard trying to mentally lead him to his water bowl and she thinks she almost made it happen, but someone calls out to her and her focus, along with the connection, is broken. It's implied that she feels as though she's gotten directly into his mindset and is behaving as though she literally is the dog. There's also a paragraph or two of telepathic dialogue between the two of them.

The daughter also takes on the role of the assistant for the play and is possibly also a cast member. Some scenes in the play involve a fake guillotine and public burning at the stake. Joan of Arc is mentioned several times throughout the book as inspiration for the burning at the stake scenes. At one point, the daughter checks out a library book about her in order to improve her performance.

During a rehearsal for one such scene (where only the woman and daughter were in the building), the latter consents to being hypnotized by the former into feeling as though the fake flames are real and are approaching her body. When the hypnotic control is removed, they rehearse the scene again. This part is written from the daughter's POV; it includes a line about how amazed she was and how she even laughed a little watching the flames reach her feet the second time without feeling the heat. Her parents are understandably disturbed after hearing that, and question whether they should let their kid keep being around this stranger.

The most significant plot point I can remember is the daughter finding out that the woman is trying to use mind control on the entire town and is planning to hypnotize audiences during performances of the play; but I can't remember her motivation for it. The daughter visits the empty theatre at night to look for concrete proof, but the woman shows up and says that she can't be found out. From there, she threatens to murder the daughter through using the same methods she's been acting out as part of the play.

The next line gave me chills then, and thoroughly disturbs me even now. It was something like "you've been practicing this for months, but now you'll know what it really feels like to be burned at the stake." There was special attention paid to the blue part at the bottom of the flames. I think either a family member or friend suddenly showed up and saved her, but only after she had been tied up.

[Rainbowheart]

Did some exhaustive searches, but nada came up that looked very likely.

I found The Witches of Willowmere, Come Like Shadows, and Songs for Alex, but they're kind of a mish-mash of the plot elements you mentioned.

[Jennifer]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Did some exhaustive searches, but nada came up that looked very likely.

I found The Witches of Willowmere, Come Like Shadows, and Songs for Alex, but they..."

Thank you for checking! I looked through those titles and nothing rings a bell. I'm starting to think I might have made up this book in my head, but I'll keep looking.

[Jennifer]

UPDATE: there was a character with a name that started with J (possibly Jane). Unsure if it was the protagonist or a supporting character.

[Rainbowheart]

When the Night Wind Howls?