The Witchfinder's Sister

The Witchfinder's Sister

by Beth Underdown

Blurb: 

Essex, England, 1645. With a heavy heart, Alice Hopkins returns to the small town she grew up in. Widowed, with child, and without prospects, she is forced to find refuge at the house of her younger brother, Matthew. In the five years she has been gone, the boy she knew has become a man of influence and wealth--but more has changed than merely his fortunes. Alice fears that even as the cruel burns of a childhood accident still mark his face, something terrible has scarred Matthew's soul.

There is a new darkness in the town, too--frightened whispers are stirring in the streets, and Alice's blood runs cold with dread when she discovers that Matthew is a ruthless hunter of suspected witches. Torn between devotion to her brother and horror at what he's become, Alice is desperate to intervene--and deathly afraid of the consequences. But as Matthew's reign of terror spreads, Alice must choose between her safety and her soul.

Alone and surrounded by suspicious eyes, Alice seeks out the fuel firing her brother's brutal mission--and is drawn into the Hopkins family's past. There she finds secrets nested within secrets: and at their heart, the poisonous truth. Only by putting her own life and liberty in peril can she defeat this darkest of evils--before more innocent women are forced to the gallows.

My Reaction:
I almost gave up on this book a couple of times.  It has a very slow mid-section where not much happens, and (surprise!) it's a dark, depressing read.  (I know-- what else did I expect?!)  I wondered if it was worth my time, continuing to read.  Well, I did keep reading, and my verdict is... When it's interesting and things are happening, it's good, but it could do with trimming down and tightening up.  

This was a 3-star read for me.  It has things to say, but sometimes I found it a little heavy-handed.  (Serious fans of The Handmaid's Tale might like it for that reason...)  There were also times where it would have helped to have a greater familiarity with this period of English history.  As an American who hasn't done any independent study of that period, I found it a bit confusing at times.  Historical knowledge isn't absolutely necessary, but I suspect it would have made the reading experience somewhat richer. 

Speaking of history, there were times when I questioned the historical accuracy of the book.  Certain phrases and certain characters' ways of thinking just gave me pause.  Were they not too modern?  I can't say how accurate any of it is, of course, but at the very least, wondering about that took me out of the story a few times.  

I'm not sure how I feel about the very light scattering of "maybe magic".  I think I'd rather read a book that is either set very firmly in a world with magic or a world without magic.  I'm not sure "magical realism" is for me, if that's what that is.  

I was relatively happy with where the book was heading in the end-- and then we get that last line.  I was torn between a laugh and a decisive "No!"  I still can't decide whether it's clever or just the literary version of a horror movie ending where the apparently slain serial killer suddenly opens his eyes or the last scene reveals that the monster laid a clutch of eggs before it was killed or captured.  Oh well!