A review by abookishtype
The Willow King by Meelis Friedenthal

3.0

The seventeenth century was a time of great confusion—even more so on the edge of the Swedish kingdom in Dorpat (now Tartu) Estonia. On the one hand, scientists like Newton and Boyle were making great strides in physics and chemistry, Descartes was taking on Aristotle and Plato, and Hobbes and Locke were reinventing government. On the other, 1692 saw the Salem Witch Trials and physicians were letting blood from Ireland to Turkey. This confusion between early modern science and old superstitions and beliefs is embodied in the protagonist of The Willow King, by Meelis Friedenthal (translated by Matthew Hyde). Laurentius, a Swedish university student at the new university in Tartu, is on a quest to understand the soul while repeatedly getting caught up in potentially deadly local superstition...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.