Rating: ★★★★★
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, Penguin and Viking Books in exchange for an honest review.
You’ve heard of Salem, but have you heard of Manningtree? This book follows the fictional sister of the real Matthew Hopkins, England’s self-proclaimed Witchfinder General, who prowled the towns of East Anglia in the mid 1600s, hunting witches. When Alice Hopkins returns home following her husband’s death, she is horrified to find that he has become influential thanks to his ruthlessness in tracking witches. When Alice tries to intervene, suspicious eyes turn to her, and when she tries to understand the root of her brother’s rage, she discovers family secrets that had been hidden for decades.
My favourite part of this book was Beth Underdown’s writing, which was full of tension and suspense. The tone and first person narration, in the form of Alice’s journal, really made the characters and story feel real, and the atmosphere of fear and suspicion was palpable. To top it all off, this book had the only final sentence which made me literally GASP IN SHOCK. I don’t believe in spoilers in reviews, so please read this book and come back to SCREAM WITH ME.
Alice was a fascinating protagonist who you can get behind. I liked that she and the other characters all had a detailed backstory without their pasts taking over the plot. The author was brilliant at making characters’ pasts relevant to the story rather than just background information, and was also great at bringing characters together in interesting and believable relationships. I particularly liked the friendship that formed between Alice and one of the women suspected of witchcraft.
I love reading about little known parts of history and this book was fantastic at bringing the Manningtree witch hunts to life. I loved the excerpts of real historical texts, and also the author’s note at the end of the book which set out which parts were true and which were fiction. It made me want to learn more about Manningtree and Matthew Hopkins, as well as want to dive back into a 17th century historical novel. Generally, I loved its insight into how women were accused of witchcraft for all sorts of reasons, such as mental illness, birthmarks, promiscuity, or just having pissed off the wrong person.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and how it was both a gripping story and informative. I loved the atmosphere and how it chilled me to the bone, Alice’s brains and the other smart women that made up its cast.
Ink Drops Books 