The House Of The Witch by Clare Marchant

 

My thoughts

What a book. A first for me by this author. It's very good.

This is the story of two women who are basically terrorized by men. Not in a physical way, at least for one, but emotionally. It's told by both women and in dual timelines. One is 1646 and the other in 2024. While some things have changed as far as women's rights, there is a lot to be done. Don't let them turn back the clock... 

In 1646 in the prologue a body is buried. Who's body is yet to be discovered by the reader. But eventually it will become clear. 

Ursula is a herbalist. She helps her neighbors by administering herbs when they are sick or expecting a baby. She's been doing this for a while. Ursula lives alone and likes it that way. She doesn't have any use for men. Her father was a brutal man who killed her mother so why would she want a life like that. She is doing fine until she's not. A man accuses her of being a witch and thus Ursula's story begins. What happens. And why she's been accused....

Adrianna left her job and apartment in London to move to the quiet of the country of Norfolk. She's had a breakdown of sorts and needed to get away for some rest and relaxation. She's rented a cottage for six months and begins to fix it up a bit. Working in the backyard clearing away brush she finds all kinds of interesting things. She's also found letters or a journal in the house and starts to translate it. It's very old and she discovers it was Ursula's. 

There are two men in this story who are horrible. One in 1646 and one in 2024. Neither have any respect for women and I honestly despised them both. The Dr, Oliver Bruton, wanted to have a relationship with Ursula but she wanted no part of it. Rick wanted control over Adrianna and almost succeeded in gaining that control. In many ways he did. He was horrible and I didn't like either man. But this story would not have been complete without both.

It didn't take much to accuse a woman of being a witch and for the whole community to believe it. A few tricks or accidents. A drastic change in the weather. Any natural cause and she could be held accountable regardless. People just turned. Friends would forsake her. Even in modern day it seems men are superior to women in so many ways. 

This is the story of two women. Two who you will like. Or at least I did...

Thank you #NetGalley, #BoldwoodBooks, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this story.

Five big stars. It's that good.

About

Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.

But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone, drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…

1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…

Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?