The 1600’s is an alluring but also daunting time. It was a time of simplicity, a time of quiet and a slower pace. It was also a time of dark magic, of corruption and disease. A time of condemnation based on a single man’s judgement. No judicial system based on law and rights. The era was that of a double edge sword that makes for a wonderful novel premise!

Set in the 1600’s of the English countryside, The Manningtree Witches follows the life of Rebecca West. A young, (fatherless and husbandless) woman at the mercy of town rumors. The village is bored and lonely enough after the war to create some vicious rumors centered around a small group of women, namely Rebecca West and her mother.

Rebecca aims to simply survive her days of repetitiveness, trapped in the small town gossip and struggles of poverty. Then enters Matthew Hopkins, the Witch hunter General, to stir up trouble and ask daunting questions that may lead to Rebecca’s demise. The story is based on true events that occurred during the notorious witch hunt trials.

The novel was incredibly well-researched and earned my empathy for what single women of the 1600’s endured. Both at the hands of controlling men and vicious women. The novel elegantly depicts a balance of historical factual events, the atrocities a single man can commit, and the result of jealousy, gossip and small town grudges.

Most chapters are told from the perspective of Rebecca. She is an easily liked main character, whose will and strength soon gained my respect. She had a dash of humor and enough spunk to keep me interested. I found the chapters centered around Matthew Hopkins to be a bit less engaging, and harder to fully connect. I never grew to like his character, even from the perspective of an antagonist. 

With as much premise as the subject matter contained, the writing style made the novel hard for me to truly love. Its poetic, old English diction didn’t quite pull me into the character mindsets. It simply made the read slower and harder to fully engage. It did pick up towards the end, after a very slow start. I just did not jump headfirst into the novel and race to the end as I usually would in a historical fiction. 

If you are a history buff, engaged in the more poetic writing style of Blakemore and love the witch hunt era, you would definitely enjoy The Manningtree Witches. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars. It held my attention but there were instances when it was a very “loose” hold. It did peak my interest in novels set in this time frame and subject matter, as usually I migrate more towards the early to mid 1900’s for my favorite historical fiction era. 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare caught my eye from the “you might also like” reads, so I will put that on my next to read list!