The Familiars by Stacey Halls

          Despite the length of this book I read it in one day and, more or less, one sitting.  Maybe it helps that Gawthorpe Hall (where the majority of the book is set) is about 6 miles from my home so I was brought up on the legends of Pendle.  Somehow I think that is far less important than how immersive the setting is and how real the characters are.

Set in the 1620s when Gloriana has handed her throne to the Scottish King who has brought his twin paranoias of witchcraft and popery to England, any woman is not safe.  For centuries wise woman have practised using herbs and plants to treat all manner of ailments suddenly they are at risk of being branded a witch, especially if they have a "falling out" with a neighbour.  Couple this with the prevailing ideals of womanhood at the time it is a precarious time to be a strong, free spirited woman and, despite only being 17, this is definitely what Fleetwood Shuttleworth is.  When she is pregnant for the fourth time and in fear of both her life and the child's she turns to a local midwife to help her and finds her self subsumed in to the witch trials.

Told entirely from Fleetwood's perspective it portrays the events surrounding the arrest and trial of the Nutter and Devizes families with no holds barred.  Being a pragmatic woman Fleetwood is convinced that the hysteria is nothing more than the ambition of an ageing man who wants to gain favour with the king and when her midwife is arrested on charges of associating with these families and being a witch herself she steps from the shadows of the solar to try and disprove the charges.

The book gives you not only an insight in to the legal processes of the time but also the daily lives of a young, wealthy family in a post-Elizabethan England.  From Fleetwood and Richard's interests in the Playhouses to the way in which the household operates.  It covers the importance of appearances but also how machiavellian even the simple act of greeting a fellow land owner on a hunt can be.

The level of research by the author is clear and not only are Fleetwood's surroundings brought to life but you get a real sense of the times and the huge gulf between the haves and the have-nots.  There are also recognisably modern themes of manipulation and misunderstanding - never more clearly than those shown between Fleetwood and her own mother.

Even if Historical Fiction is not usually a genre you enjoy this book really does transcend the genre.  So fresh and alive are the people you can almost see them in the shadows living out their tale.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA READERS FIRST.