Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Hour of the Witch

https://fictionmajorette.blogspot.com/2021/04/hour-of-witch-chris-bohjalian.html

This was a really interesting genre mashup of a book - historical fiction / domestic thriller / courtroom drama. Historical fiction isn't really a go-to genre for me so I was really drawn in by the thriller and courtroom aspects. I think Bohjalian does a good job of balancing the different aspects of the story. The narration style was a little more modern than the dialogue, but not in a jarring way. It seemed like Bohjalian (and/or his editor) did a good job making sure to leave out any modern phrases or names for things. The dialogue uses a lot of 'thine', 'thee', 'thy', etc type of language that did take some getting used to. Since historical fiction isn't my usual genre, I don't know if this is a normal language choice for books set this far back in time, but it certainly made for an atmospheric read.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story and thought they were pretty well developed. It really felt like the reader was just dropped into the story one day and started following Mary around from there. We don't get a whole lot of backstory about the character relationships upfront other than the literal connections (X person is married to Y or A is best friends with B, etc). But as the story develops and Mary interacts with more people, the backstory slowly comes out in dialogue or Mary thinking back to how things used to be a few years ago. I think this is especially well done considering the amount of small town gossip and rumors that were just a matter of life back then.

Where I felt the book fell flat for me was the romance element.This person becomes pretty integral to the plot later on and while Mary's feelings for him grow, I just didn't get enough of their interactions together to really believe she would fall that hard for this man. Now, I do understand that this book being set amongst 1662 Puritans means I'm not going to get the very direct and explicit flirting I get when I read contemporary romance but I just wanted some more conversations, maybe a brief hand holding when he's helping her down some steps or something like that.

I think Bohjalian does a really great job at slowly building up the atmosphere and tension throughout the book. There isn't much by way of action in this story, but there's a lot of smaller events that all culminate at the end. I think the tension works really great in the courtroom scenes, especially. Mary is the center of 2 trials in this book and I think the courtroom suspense parts of this book are the real highlight. Since we are only following Mary's story, it is really easy to get emotionally invested in the trial outcome. I found the domestic thriller aspects to be pretty light so most of the drama and thrills for me came via the courtroom scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is May 4, 2021

Content Warnings

christinecc's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall 4 stars for the historical research and engrossing setup, but personally 3 stars for a bit of a paint-by-numbers tale of women getting accused of witchcraft by Puritans in 17th century New England.

The book opens with an intriguing peek at what's to come, namely: our protagonist Mary Deerfield, daughter of an upstanding English merchant family, petitions for divorce from her husband, town miller Thomas Deerfield. We soon find out why, although we wonder how quickly things will escalate (very quickly, as it turns out). In short, Thomas is cruel and violent, and he and Mary have nothing resembling affection for each other. With no direct witnesses to Thomas's shocking abuse, Mary faces an uphill battle in court.

My favorite aspect of Chris BohJalian's "Hour of the Witch" was its portrait of 1662 Puritan New England and the Puritan outlook on justice, marriage, and morality. I loved how people used cunning and just the right mean word to avoid telling the truth, or imply what they mean, or sow seeds of doubt in others. The playacting, the careful choice of how to behave and how to make it seem authentic and morally unimpeachable... it's all fascinating and the perfect setup for a court battle where your peers really are your judges (or magistrates). Bohjalian did a fantastic job depicting this time period and culture that are so specific to 17th century New England. (By comparison, over in France, Louis XIV was in the first few years of his adult reign, and that feels like something from a whole other planet).

What didn't work for me much were the plot and characters (which just goes to show how much work the historical setting does to keep the reader hooked). We spend a lot of time with Mary in her head, but we don't know much about her except that she isn't happy in her marriage, she didn't think Thomas was a great match for her in the first place, and she's fairly compassionate as a person (except when she tries to manage public expectations). She'll befriend a woman suspected of being a witch, but not much, and she's open to herbal medicine and likes to read books. She's not superstitious but is devout. I suppose what feels a bit hollow is that she doesn't seem to have many flaws. and those she does display mostly serve the plot. I was a bit surprised at how optimistic and cavalier she felt about a divorce, considering divorce was theoretically possibly but rarely granted for domestic abuse (or "cruelty").

The same goes for the other characters: the maidservant who pines for Thomas, Mary's daughter-in-law with the handsome husband, Mary's best friend who is barely in the book but comes in handy later, even a potential love interest who shows intense interest in Mary but we never get to see why (and good grief, does that lead to trouble...), none of these characters feel particularly well-rounded or lived-in. It's a shame because the slower parts of the story might have been used to better effect with more character details.

As for the plot, I know (I know) the title of the book is a bit of a giveaway, but I was really hoping the plot wouldn't center on a witchcraft accusation, because we know that never ends well, and we know courts hearing this kind of issue are never reasonable. It's a story with a known destination, and none of the side mysteries are strong enough (or obscure enough) to make up for the underwhelming tension.

All in all, the book makes for a great historical thriller, even if you see the end coming, because there ARE some surprises along the way, and like I said, Bohjalian does a uncanny job of putting us in an unnerving time and place, where everyone is waiting for the next scapegoat to use as a sign of their own piety and status. Not a great place to be a woman, a Quaker, or really anyone subject to intense public scrutiny. One hint of difference and the crowd smells blood.

Thank you to Doubleday and Netgalley for sending me a free eARC in exchange for this honest review.

Content Warnings

beaconhillbooks's review

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emotional informative lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

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