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rosalind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual content, Child death, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Cursing
Minor: Torture, War, Slavery, Excrement, and Suicide
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
🧙♀️ The plot: Manningtree, Kent, 1644. War and famine breed poverty and superstition across England. When the Witchfinder, Matthew Hopkins, comes to town, telling tales of women who can be in two places at once and bargain with the Devil for misfortune to befall their neighbours, Rebecca West finds herself suspected. What must she do to survive?
When I think of witch trials, I think of Salem, Massachusetts and pilgrims in tall hats. But like many terrible things from history, they were a British export. This novel brings to life the witch hunting hysteria that took place in England 50 years before the trials in Salem, vividly conjuring the material and religious conditions that led to this brutality.
It's rare to read a book about historical injustices against women and not feel the contemporary gaze intruding on the narrative. But here, you quickly become entrenched in the fearful logic of this community - in fact, you feel its pull all the stronger for your awareness that it's wrong. Living through war and famine, it makes a tragic kind of sense that, if there is a providential God who rewards the righteous, then poverty and misfortune look like evidence of sin. The fortunate clutch their fortunes all the tighter; the most vulnerable, usually women, are mistrusted, blamed, killed. It's what makes Hopkins such a successful villain, because you see how he gains power while remaining as flawed and fragile as everyone else.
Belief and self-deception are big themes and for the most part I thought they were brilliantly executed, but there were a couple of moments where it seemed like you were meant to question if witchcraft had been real the whole time which was a bit jarring to me. The use of decorous language also went OTT at times - mostly it helped to make it feel vividly like the past, but sometimes it was like being beaten over the head with a thesaurus.
🐈⬛ Read it if you like vivid prose, social commentary, twisted villains and protagonists with great character development.
🚫 Avoid if you hate over-descriptive language or if you want a really plot-driven read.
Graphic: Excrement, Blood, Religious bigotry, Torture, Animal death, Classism, Death, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence
lostinthelibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Torture, Animal death, Death, Sexual harassment, and Confinement
Moderate: Excrement, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault
closelywatchedfilms's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Rape, Slavery, and Trafficking