![]() I was still invested enough in this part of the book to read on to the end and I was interested to see that John Milton (author of Paradise Lost) makes some appearances as Thomas Treadwater’s former tutor and has some input into the unfolding of the story, taking it into the territory of biblical allegory. The pace speeds up and things become more exciting, but the sinister, slowburning sense of foreboding that I loved in the earlier chapters was gone. In the second half of the book, the magical realism elements of the novel come to the forefront and the story then goes too far in that direction for my taste. There’s a real aura of mystery as Thomas begins to investigate, speaking to the witchfinder, the magistrate and the witch herself in an attempt to find out what is really going on. The pace is slow as characters are introduced and the scene is set, but I quickly became drawn into the story, intrigued by the mystery surrounding the ‘witch’ Chrissa Moore and the strange events at the Treadwater farm. ![]() The atmosphere is wonderful and the author creates an authentic sense of time and place through attention to detail and careful research. The narrative moves back and forth between the 1640s and the year 1703, where Thomas is now living in ‘a place far from the sea’ and is trying to come to terms with what happened in the past and the impact it is still having on his life in the present. What follows is a story which at first appears to be a tale of witch hunting in the 17th century, but eventually develops into something even darker and more unusual as Thomas discovers links with a shipwreck that occurred years earlier. Entering the house, he learns from Esther that their father has suffered a stroke and is dying, and the servant, Chrissa, has been arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. ![]() Arriving back at the farm, Thomas finds the sheep dead in their field, with no visible signs of violence – and there are bigger shocks to come. England is currently torn apart by civil war but Thomas has been summoned home from the fighting by his sixteen-year-old sister, Esther, who has accused a new servant of seducing their widowed father. It’s 1643 and Thomas Treadwater is on his way home to the family farmhouse in Norfolk. If the content was helpful, please drop a comment below or like leave a like on the post.I was drawn to this book, Rosie Andrews’ debut, by the title, the cover and the comparisons to other books I’ve read, such as The Essex Serpent, Once Upon a River and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – comparisons which for once turned out to be quite accurate! This was a list of magical realism books that might pique your interest and I have already read most of these so I can guarantee a good time to be had by a reader who checks them out. It will help you acquire a much bigger perspective by providing you a story that won’t quit and any reader would be blown by the story told in this book due to the way it is presented. The first part tries to describe everything that you will read in the next chapter and the second part is where the fictional plot of the book lays its soul. The book is separated in the form of chapters and each chapter has two different sections that talk about the story. And if you are fond of a good story with a mixed storytelling perspective then this is just lovely for you. The way it presents the story that resides in this book is as wondrous as the storyline itself. I have saved the best book according to me for the very last.
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