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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
2.5 stars
i enjoyed the last couple chapters of the book and thought it was an incredibly wholesome ending. I also really liked the wondering how it would all play out.
I didn't particularly enjoy the writing and found it difficult to read. The dialogue was a bit clunky and it felt like it was all a bit TOO simple for the mc.
I also wish the 2 stories had been more connected? I enjoyed the moral, about not bending to anyone else's will, but I thought that aside from the ending and location there wasn't much linking them together.
i enjoyed the last couple chapters of the book and thought it was an incredibly wholesome ending. I also really liked the
Spoiler
way we were picking up on Rick's subtle gaslighting and manipulation, before The main character and I enjoyedI didn't particularly enjoy the writing and found it difficult to read. The dialogue was a bit clunky and it felt like it was all a bit TOO simple for the mc.
I also wish the 2 stories had been more connected? I enjoyed the moral, about not bending to anyone else's will, but I thought that aside from the ending and location there wasn't much linking them together.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I nearly DNF near the beginning but had found something of interest in the story, so I kept going. Poor writing, very little research - which is almost confirmed in the Acknowledgments where Marchant says she wrote the book "in record time". The ending wasn't worth sticking it out really. Clumsy telling not showing. Could have been much more complex and woven something interesting together.
Instead I recommend Weyward or The Witchfinder's Sister.
Instead I recommend Weyward or The Witchfinder's Sister.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment
Using two different time periods, author Clare Marchant compares and contrasts two women, Ursula in 1648, and Adriana in the present. She shows how cultural and institutional bigotry have corrosive effects on those it is used against, and how easily abuse can be normalized and condoned.
In the present, Adriana rents a cottage in rural Norfolk. She's there to lick her professional wounds and is on sabbatical from her demanding job as a project manager. Her boyfriend Rick isn't happy she won't be in London with him, and is a little peeved that she won't leave him her car. But she does remind him that he's living in her swanky apartment in London. Adriana soon finds Rick to be displeased that she's enjoying a country life, with him dismissing her new friendships and interest in gardening.
While puttering around, she finds a bundle of notes under a floorboard, and feels these are important. She begins reading, and is drawn into the life of Ursula, a midwife in the mid-17th century, who happened to live in the same cottage.
In 1648, Ursula helps the women of her village to birth their children, and also prepares herbal remedies for a variety of illnesses and complaints. As a single woman resistant to ever taking a husband (her immigrant mother was abused), Ursula is seen as an anomaly, and an oddity, and she knows that it's a quick hop and skip from that to someone labelling her a witch.
When a wealthy man arrives in town, he immediately decides that he wants Ursula, and tells her so. She resists, at which point he begins a campaign to discredit her, which is too successful, and Ursula knows she's on very dangerous ground; i.e. witch accusation….
Marchant switches back and forth between Adriana and Ursula, ratcheting up the tension and danger in Ursula's life, while dismantling the fictions Adriana has come to believe about herself and her life in London.
Ursula's chapters were particularly interesting, and I liked the idea that this lone woman, despite the increasing peril she's in, maintains her principles and refuses to give in to the increasingly nasty demands of her aggressor.
Adriana's chapters were interesting, but I knew what was going on from early in chapter one, and it was just a matter of time waiting for Adriana to catch up to what was obvious.
I liked the recurring motif in the form of the bird in both timelines, and though I enjoyed this book, wished that Adriana's story had been more complex.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
In the present, Adriana rents a cottage in rural Norfolk. She's there to lick her professional wounds and is on sabbatical from her demanding job as a project manager. Her boyfriend Rick isn't happy she won't be in London with him, and is a little peeved that she won't leave him her car. But she does remind him that he's living in her swanky apartment in London. Adriana soon finds Rick to be displeased that she's enjoying a country life, with him dismissing her new friendships and interest in gardening.
While puttering around, she finds a bundle of notes under a floorboard, and feels these are important. She begins reading, and is drawn into the life of Ursula, a midwife in the mid-17th century, who happened to live in the same cottage.
In 1648, Ursula helps the women of her village to birth their children, and also prepares herbal remedies for a variety of illnesses and complaints. As a single woman resistant to ever taking a husband (her immigrant mother was abused), Ursula is seen as an anomaly, and an oddity, and she knows that it's a quick hop and skip from that to someone labelling her a witch.
When a wealthy man arrives in town, he immediately decides that he wants Ursula, and tells her so. She resists, at which point he begins a campaign to discredit her, which is too successful, and Ursula knows she's on very dangerous ground; i.e. witch accusation….
Marchant switches back and forth between Adriana and Ursula, ratcheting up the tension and danger in Ursula's life, while dismantling the fictions Adriana has come to believe about herself and her life in London.
Ursula's chapters were particularly interesting, and I liked the idea that this lone woman, despite the increasing peril she's in, maintains her principles and refuses to give in to the increasingly nasty demands of her aggressor.
Adriana's chapters were interesting, but I knew what was going on from early in chapter one, and it was just a matter of time waiting for Adriana to catch up to what was obvious.
I liked the recurring motif in the form of the bird in both timelines, and though I enjoyed this book, wished that Adriana's story had been more complex.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
mysterious
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This was the first audiobook I finished! It was a wonderful story, suspenseful and while the ending felt slightly rushed it did all come together nicely in the end.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A good read 📚 👌 Some poignant quotes. A little slow to get into at first and maybe slightly predictable but I was hooked by the end. I liked the short chapter lengths. Recommended overall 👍
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated