The silhouette of a church stands against the night sky, fragile waning moonlight casting shadows across uneven ground. A person stumbles over the muddy, disturbed space towards a dark void, gaping wide...
***
Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.
But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone, drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…
1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…
Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?
***
This is easily the best book I have read this month.
I always enjoy a book with a dual time-line. I love the way an author can make the past inform the present and demonstrate how linked we are to the past. Ms. Marchant accomplishes this with aplomb in The House of the Witch.
What she does really well is to create two very distinct voices. Ursula is a single woman living in 1646, a dangerous time to live without the protection of a man. Adrianna's story is set in the present day and finds herself living in Ursula's cottage in rural Norfolk when she needs a break from a high stress job in London.
Both of these stories were gripping and were equally well written. This book comprises everything a good dual timeline novel should have. So often I find in novels of this type that I am drawn to one of the timelines more than the other. However, these were equally enthralling as the characters and the plot were utterly believable.
The author has clearly researched the period very well and has an excellent understanding of her characters. I was on the edge of my seat from the very beginning as I could see the dangers lurking ahead for both Ursula and Adrianna.
If you enjoy historical fiction which features courageous women with some supernatural added into the mix then you will love this book as much as I did. I highly recommend it.
ISBN: 978 1836030379
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)
No. of Pages: 328 (paperback)
About the Author:
(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)
(all opinions are my own)
No comments:
Post a Comment