The story is set in Lancashire in the mid 1600s and centres around Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the mistress of Gawthorpe. It begins when she finds a letter from a doctor, written to her husband, saying that his wife is likely to die in childbed if she becomes pregnant again.
Fleetwood, at only 17 is in her 4th pregnancy, and begins to question why her husband would keep this information from her. Different from most gentle-women, Fleetwood likes the outdoors and nature and prefers to spend time in the company of her mastiff Puck, rather than other ladies.
On her land whilst out riding, she meets a strange but local young woman, who intrigues her, but quickly leaves before she could find out any more about her.
In the meantime her husband Richard's friend Roger, has ambitions at court and of hosting the king. As the local magistrate, he talks of local witches and how they must be stopped as the king believes Lancashire to be the root of the problem. He begins a witch hunt to put local 'wise women' on trial for a child death.
Fleetwood learns the woman she met earlier, Alice Gray is a midwife and enlists her services to help keep her pregnancy viable and her alive. Although believing she stole a necklace from Fleetwood, Richard is unhappy with his wife's association with Alice.
As Fleetwood begins to question Richard's integrity, she discovers he has a pregnant mistress living in one of their properties. Fleetwood flees with Alice and Puck to her mother's estate, where she blossoms and becomes healthier.
Eventually, her husband talks her into returning home, but tricks her and Alice is arrested for witchcraft by Roger upon their return.
Quickly Fleetwood's health deteriorates without Alice and with the two women, who are now firm friends separated, Fleetwood does her best to get Alice released from prison - a rotting dark dank cellar, full of other 'witches' and death.
Fleetwood soon learns the back story of Alice (who is innocent) but cannot get anyone to listen or help her. Roger even threatens to incriminate Fleetwood if she ruins his witch trial. Whilst this goes on Richard's loyalty to his friend or his wife is undecided, until Fleetwood is attacked in the forest by wild boars, and he stands against Roger in court by reading out the evidence Fleetwood has gathered to clear Alice's name. Alice is the only 'witch' to be found not guilty and returns briefly to Gawthorpe to deliver Fleetwood's baby safely. She then leaves, never to be seen again.
So that is the bones of the story, and it is fleshed out between the friendship of the two women, which is a lovely relationship.
Then their is a link to their 'familiars'. An animal spirit which society thinks link witches to the devil. This is touched upon but never fully explored, which I think is a real shame as this is the title of the book. For example, Fleetwood's dog Puck is a major part of the story, was he her familiar? The fox that keeps appearing with Alice. These subtle references need exploring a little further I feel. Or maybe the point is to keep the reader guessing about what constitutes a witch?
Now the pregnant mistress? The original letter from the doctor was about her, but she survives her pregnancy and it kind of gets brushed under the carpet as an acceptable thing to do at the time. I feel this thread needed more explanation.
Also is the character of the girl from a witch family who lives with Roger and gives him information for the forthcoming trial. I don't feel like this was fully concluded and I was left wondering what the point of her was.
In saying this, I devoured the book quickly. It was a page turner, beautifully written and a brilliant fictionalised version of real people.
The author said that her aim was to encourage people to find out more about the Pendle witches, and it has certainly made me want to do some research. I really enjoyed this book, even though there were a couple of 'dead ends' that I would have liked to explore further. Yes I would recommend this!
Fleetwood, at only 17 is in her 4th pregnancy, and begins to question why her husband would keep this information from her. Different from most gentle-women, Fleetwood likes the outdoors and nature and prefers to spend time in the company of her mastiff Puck, rather than other ladies.
On her land whilst out riding, she meets a strange but local young woman, who intrigues her, but quickly leaves before she could find out any more about her.
In the meantime her husband Richard's friend Roger, has ambitions at court and of hosting the king. As the local magistrate, he talks of local witches and how they must be stopped as the king believes Lancashire to be the root of the problem. He begins a witch hunt to put local 'wise women' on trial for a child death.
Fleetwood learns the woman she met earlier, Alice Gray is a midwife and enlists her services to help keep her pregnancy viable and her alive. Although believing she stole a necklace from Fleetwood, Richard is unhappy with his wife's association with Alice.
As Fleetwood begins to question Richard's integrity, she discovers he has a pregnant mistress living in one of their properties. Fleetwood flees with Alice and Puck to her mother's estate, where she blossoms and becomes healthier.
Eventually, her husband talks her into returning home, but tricks her and Alice is arrested for witchcraft by Roger upon their return.
Quickly Fleetwood's health deteriorates without Alice and with the two women, who are now firm friends separated, Fleetwood does her best to get Alice released from prison - a rotting dark dank cellar, full of other 'witches' and death.
Fleetwood soon learns the back story of Alice (who is innocent) but cannot get anyone to listen or help her. Roger even threatens to incriminate Fleetwood if she ruins his witch trial. Whilst this goes on Richard's loyalty to his friend or his wife is undecided, until Fleetwood is attacked in the forest by wild boars, and he stands against Roger in court by reading out the evidence Fleetwood has gathered to clear Alice's name. Alice is the only 'witch' to be found not guilty and returns briefly to Gawthorpe to deliver Fleetwood's baby safely. She then leaves, never to be seen again.
So that is the bones of the story, and it is fleshed out between the friendship of the two women, which is a lovely relationship.
Then their is a link to their 'familiars'. An animal spirit which society thinks link witches to the devil. This is touched upon but never fully explored, which I think is a real shame as this is the title of the book. For example, Fleetwood's dog Puck is a major part of the story, was he her familiar? The fox that keeps appearing with Alice. These subtle references need exploring a little further I feel. Or maybe the point is to keep the reader guessing about what constitutes a witch?
Now the pregnant mistress? The original letter from the doctor was about her, but she survives her pregnancy and it kind of gets brushed under the carpet as an acceptable thing to do at the time. I feel this thread needed more explanation.
Also is the character of the girl from a witch family who lives with Roger and gives him information for the forthcoming trial. I don't feel like this was fully concluded and I was left wondering what the point of her was.
In saying this, I devoured the book quickly. It was a page turner, beautifully written and a brilliant fictionalised version of real people.
The author said that her aim was to encourage people to find out more about the Pendle witches, and it has certainly made me want to do some research. I really enjoyed this book, even though there were a couple of 'dead ends' that I would have liked to explore further. Yes I would recommend this!