Genre: Historical Fiction/Adult/Supernatural
Length: 250 pages
Published: April 2024 by Silver Thistle Press
Trigger Warnings: Death, Accusations, Being Burned Alive
Style: Physical
Blurb:
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people were accused of witchcraft. Seven were condemned to death. Six were strangled and burned at the stake. All were accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread-bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.
But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.
As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end, she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul. Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?
Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
An eerie tale of lies, deception, and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
Thoughts:
I enjoyed this read. More than I thought that I would. I was surprised when this book showed up at my door. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did but I found myself loving it. The writing of this was amazing and it made you feel that you were in the time frame that it was written. When it comes to historical fiction, I do enjoy it when it makes you feel like you are in the world with the characters. So that way you are experiencing the world the same way that they are experiencing.
I enjoyed the characters in this one. They felt so real and that is what I like the most when it comes to books like this. Is how the author makes the characters come to life. If you had told me that these were based on real-life people I would have not believed you. The author did a great job at making them feel real that when you learn that they are based on real people then it blows your mind.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of how Christian felt like she couldn’t tell people what was going on. But at the same time, I understand because she felt like if she did tell anyone they might accuse her of being a witch. Which is the last thing that Christian wanted to bring to the family.
The pain that Christian brought her family. You can still feel that is there 25 years later. And how there is this bad omen around the family because of what happened. It seemed like if you said or did one bad thing, then Christian might accuse you of something that you’re not.
About The Author:
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and a historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China, and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part-time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels and visiting schools, libraries, and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle-grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organization working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits, and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Rating:
4 stars
Kathryn Books 