Stacey Halls debut novel is not only a visual feast, it is an utterly enveloping tale of two intriguing women from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Fleetwood Shuttleworth is just seventeen but she's already been married for four years. She's had three pregnancies end in stillbirth and is pregnant again, determined that this time she will deliver a healthy child, however she finds a letter from the doctor to her husband which states that she is unlikely to survive another pregnancy. She fears for her life and her child's and she begins to mistrust her husband. Fleetwood meets a young midwife called Alice Grey who promises to help her deliver a healthy child but when women begin to be accused of witchcraft in the local area and Alice is named by the accuser it seems both women's lives are at stake. The story takes place against the backdrop of the infamous Pendle witchtrials and both Alice and Fleetwood were real women who lived in the area. Stacey Halls has done some meticulous research to bring the era and the atmosphere of fear and betrayal alive but it is her storytelling and brilliant characterisation that makes this book a pulse pounding and utterly breathtaking read. I was completely engrossed. This is a truly spellbinding debut.
Available now in hardback from Zaffre books who kindly sent me a review copy.
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