Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz, a European: A Biography
T.H. Meyer and Terry M. Boardman
Book
Finally available in English, Thomas Meyer's major biography of Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz (1869-1945)...
Marcus Agrippa: Right-Hand Man of Caesar Augustus
Book
Marcus Agrippa personified the term 'right-hand man'. As Emperor Augustus' deputy, he waged wars,...
Angels & Alphas (Angelbound Origins #1) (Alpha Girl #1)
Aileen Erin and Christina Bauer
Book
Becoming Alpha Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could...
Fantasy Young Adult
Ascent
Book
Sir Chris Bonington is Britain's premier mountain man. Ascent will chart his childhood, and...
Who Can Afford to Improvise?: James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listeners
Book
More than a quarter-century after his death, James Baldwin remains an unparalleled figure in...
According to Yes
Book
Dawn French, number one bestselling author of A Tiny Bit Marvellous and Oh Dear Silvia, returns with...
ClareR (5681 KP) rated Cunning Women in Books
May 15, 2021
I’m on a bit of a 17th century bender at the moment, and witches seem to crop up frequently. Basically, if you were female, didn’t have a man about the place (preferably one you were married to) and knew things other than washing, cleaning and popping out babies, you risked being accused of witchcraft. Add to that a birthmark, and/ or an opinion or two, AND not going to church regularly, then you might as well start picking your own stake out.
Sarah and her mother, brother and little sister, all live in a hamlet abandoned after all the inhabitants died of plague, known as the Plague Village. They have no money and little income after the death of Sarah’s father, and what money they do have comes from selling potions, small spells and begging. They’re outcasts, and there’s an atmosphere of dank, dark poverty in where they live and what they wear. They are avoided by pretty much everyone in the village - it seems to be a really lonely existence.
Then comes a spark of hope when Sarah meets the local farmer’s son, Daniel. He lives a very different life: one of open spaces, plenty of food, light and comfort. He’s treated poorly by his father and a farm hand, but he’s never hungry, and his living conditions are so much better than those of the Haworth family.
This is a story that feels so raw and real. You just know that it’s not going to be a happy ending. How can it? DOn’t get me wrong - I rather like endings that are unresolved or just plain unpleasant (weird, I know), but the youth of these protagonists had me hoping throughout for a better life for them.
Ahh, the 17th century - great to read about, but I’ve never been so glad to have been born in the 1970’s!
This is a really enjoyable, heartfelt historical fiction novel, and I’m so pleased that I got the chance to read it. Many thanks to Windmill Books for providing me with an e-arc through NetGalley.
Dead on Arrival 2
Games and Entertainment
App
Intense co-operative zombie survival! PLEASE NOTE: Not compatible with iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4th...
Suite Francaise
Book
By the early l940s, when Ukrainian-born Irène Némirovsky began working on what would become Suite...
Innocent Traitor
Book
I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live. Historical...