SYNOPSIS
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All 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?
MY REVIEW
Bargarran House, 1722, widow Christian Millar is focused on getting the whitest skein of thread she can, she wants it to be whiter than white, but so far she hasn’t done it no matter what she soaks the thread in. She is obsessed with it having to be pure white.
But 25 years earlier in Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Christian had been watching something through an open door she shouldn’t have been watching. Her mother screaming, and blood. Christian thought her mother was dying, with the woman whose shadow looked like a raven with her pointed nose and busy hands stood at the end of the bed. When her mother lets out the last scream Christian thinks that is it her mother has gone, but as she continues to watch she sees this bloody meaty bundle lifted in the air in the light, it looks like something you would get from the butchers but then this raw meat was moving it was alive, and her mother is not dead. But there is lots of blood, a wrinkled face looms in her face and tells her not to worry she has tied a red rag to the bed it will work its charm to stop the bleeding. Christian has to get away from the sight she feels like she will faint, she is 11 years old.
Christian is traumatised by this event which continues to haunt her, especially when a member of staff tells her more the same night. But it’s not long before Christian gets her own back on this member of staff or does she? Things can sometimes backfire.
As this story develops going back and forth in time,Christian is desperately trying to make a prosperous business with her threads with her father and brothers gone it is Christian who has to make money to keep the house running. But as we go back to 1697 Christian became ill, with some sort of fits, the dr’s didn’t know what was wrong with her. She accused had 35 people of witchcraft 7 of the 35 were hung and then burned.
Some of the things that happen within the story are disturbing, it’s hard to know if Christian is involved in some way. It’s also hard to know how Christian has got Meg so close to her, Meg it seems will do anything for Christian she is always watching out for her and stops her causing harm a couple of times.
This was an interesting story, learning it was based on true facts makes it even more disturbing, how many people were hung and burned believed to be witches. Not just women there were men burned as witches as well i had always thought it was just women. There were many things that Christian did that could have had her hung if found guilty but it seems she was never investigated. There are more things happen in the book but that is for the reader to find out. If you are interested in witchcraft, atmospheric reads, then give this a go it is only 167 pages. The bits that freaked me out were the Ravens, as they seemed to follow Christian or did they? Was some of it just her imagination? I think there were many mental health issues in those days which would not have been looked at, it’s difficult enough in this day and age let alone back then. You have to make your own mind up as to whether you like Christian or not, i couldn’t warm to her there were bits i felt sorry for her in the way she learnt some things about life, it definitely disturbed and terrified her. I would have liked to have had a little more added to the story as a couple of things weren’t tied up. But as a novella it packs a creepy punch.
I enjoyed reading this, I would like to thank @silverthistleps @The_WriteReads @WriteReadsTours @strangelymagic for sending me an ARC of the book and for inviting me on to the blog tour. All thoughts are my own and not influenced in any way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Williamson grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked as an educator in a number of different countries, including as an English teacher in China, a secondary science teacher in Cameroon, and a teacher trainer in Malawi.
As well as degrees in Physics and Mandarin Chinese, she has completed a Masters degree in Special Needs in Education. In the UK she works as a primary school special needs teacher, working with children with a range of additional support needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, physical disabilities and behavioural problems.
She is currently working as a full time writer of Middle Grade and YA contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, with a focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs of the children she has worked with, and building inclusive worlds where all children can see a reflection of themselves in heroic roles.
Victoria’s experiences teaching young children in a school with many families seeking asylum inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of redemption and unlikely friendship between Glaswegian bully Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.
Twenty percent of her author royalties for The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle are donated to the Scottish Refugee Council.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and upcoming events on her website: http://www.strangelymagical.com
Jackie’s Reading Corner 