The Familiars by Stacey Hall is a novel based upon the Pendle Witch Trials held in Lancashire in 1612. All the main characters in the novel are based on historical figures from those trials and the author has woven a work of fiction around that framework. The author has a very atmospheric writing style and the tension builds as the day of the witch trials draws ever closer.
Of course, we already know what happened in Pendle in 1612 and the hanging of 10 people denounced as witches, based on the testimony of a young child and daughter of one of the accused, is infamous here in the North of England. But knowing the main outcome of the events of that time does not diminish one's enjoyment of the novel.
In The Familiars the lady of Gawthorpe Hall, Fleetwood, is desperate to have a child. Her previous pregnancies have ended in miscarriage and she is determined to do all she can to carry this child full term, thus presenting her husband with the heir he requires of her.
Out in the woods one day she meets a young woman, Alice, who claims to be a midwife and Fleetwood decides to hire her. Alice is skilled in herbs and healing and a friendship soon develops between these two young women. That is, until events overtake them and Alice is taken up on a charge of witchcraft and thrown into the dungeons of Lancaster Castle.
Convinced of Alice's innocence and that she will not be able to bear a living child without her midwife, Fleetwood embarks on a collision course with the male authorities and protocols of the time, as she sets about trying to help her friend and prevent her from swinging as a witch.
The Familiars isn't spooky or scary, but it is an authentic retelling of historical events and one that sympathizes with the plight of the witches, and indeed, of the powerlessness of women during that precarious period of history, because as Fleetwood herself says in the book "I wouldn't wish a girls life on anyone". It's a great book to curl up with on a chilly autumn day and the perfect witchy read for October.
Blessed Be
Marie x
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