I did find this book difficult to get into at first, although after a while I found it held my attention and I was intrigued as to what would happen. The front cover I thought was very appealing and will definitely stand out on a bookshelf. The story is set in the early 1600s in the County of Lancashire and things are so very different to what they are now. The main character is a young woman called Fleetwood and she is the mistress of Gawthorpe Hall. She has had trouble carrying a baby full term and she is pregnant when she meets a young girl in the woods called Alice who tells her that she is a midwife and she can promise her a healthy living baby. Fleetwood is worried that if she cannot produce a healthy baby for her husband he will not want her anymore and she will be useless and he may move his mistress into their home. As the book progresses we learn about the trial of the Pendle witches and this book is basically about the friendship between the two young women, one of whom has been accused of being a witch and a murderer. The book is full of secrets and it does turn out to be quite an interesting read.