Halloween Bingo 2025
I can't say that I'm wild about this novel. I was mildly interested in both timelines, present day and 16th century Orkney, but the two didn't intersect until halfway through the book, leaving me, as a reader, adrift. The chapters alternated timelines and they were very short, making the narrative feel very choppy to me. Add that to the brutality in each: the witch trial in Orkney and the fire/murder?/missing person in the present, and it made for harrowing reading.
I've read a bit about the witch trials and in my opinion the author represents Alison's treatment very realistically. The men who are trying her have their minds made up and her word is neither listened to nor believed. She is humiliated by being strip searched, tormented with needles and hot iron, and sleep deprivation, fed only the bare minimum, and confined in horrible conditions. As a result, she looks and smells awful and better fits the stereotype of the witch at her trial. It's men and the church using a poor woman cruelly to distract from their own bad behaviour. It makes me volcanically angry!
I had a difficult time motivating myself to finish the book. Alison's timeline was so hopeless, I just didn't want to see it. Erin has a somewhat softer landing, but she has also lost so much. And I absolutely fucking hated the ending. Your mileage may vary.
I read this book for the Spellbound square of my Halloween Bingo card.
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