The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone!  

In honor of the spooky pumpkin spice latte season, I bring you a review that's rather witchy, at least in the historical sense.  When we think of historical witches, we often think of Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the 1690's.  Beth Underdown's The Witchfinder's Sister takes us to pre-Salem overseas in England in 1645 where like in Salem, women were hunted, tried, and murdered for being a suspected "witch." 

This novel follows the story of Alice Hopkins, who after becoming a recent widow when her husband dies in an accident, is forced to return to her childhood home, which is now owned by her brother Matthew Hopkins.  Alice, after miscarrying and losing many children while her husband was alive, is pregnant once again.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  It is a blessing because it is something that she has yearned for, for so many years and because it is the last physical tie she has to her deceased husband, but it is also a curse because now it will be so much harder for her to remarry.  It appears as though her future lies with being a single mother under the rule of her brother's home.  But then Alice loses this baby as well.    

One night, Matthew comes home late and terribly frightened.  He saw something, but when questioned by Alice he will not speak of it.  Alice herself had felt something... animal and dog-like come inside with Matthew that night but she cannot explain the phenomena and wishes to forget it.  It is after this, that Matthew begins to hunt women, especially those without family, children, or who have had children recently  pass, as well as those who may be suffering from mental distress and tries and kills them for being witches.  According to this Wikipedia article, the real life Matthew Hopkins is believed to have murdered 300 women for suspected witchcraft.  Isn't that crazy?

I always had a fascination with the witch trials, which I why I decided to pick up this book.  That being said, historical fiction isn't always my thing.  While I found this book interesting, I wasn't overly blown away with it, especially towards the end.  So dear Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read!

~Jessica