The Witchfinder's Sister: The captivating Richard & Judy Book Club historical thriller 2018

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I buddy read this with one of my book club friends. As historical fiction lovers we were both excited to read this one. From the synopsis I had expected something quite dark and gothic. I wasn’t disappointed. There are excellent performances from the whole cast, in particular George Kemp as the unflinching & single-minded Matthew, Anne Odeke’s independent (but surprisingly naïve) Rebecca, and Lily Knight’s portrayal of Alice – full of hope, passion & determination. All in all, a disquieting show that shines a light on a truly terrifying period in history – a story that feels startlingly relevant today. The Witchfinder’s Sister

Play Review: The Witchfinder’s Sister - The London Horror Play Review: The Witchfinder’s Sister - The London Horror

I love books, I love theatre, and I love me a spooky atmosphere, so I was well happy to mosey along to this. I was certainly rewarded aesthetically. The production looks and feels fantastic. Libby Watson’s excellent set design cleverly divides the stage into rooms with door frames that stretch up into gallows and feature doors that are pulled up and dropped like guillotines, making manifest the sense of perpetual threat which hovers ominously overhead throughout the action. The handful of doorways and short staircases give a sense of small town claustrophobia, as well as upstairs/downstairs, and the gloaming effect created by Matt Haskins’s lighting wonderfully evokes the darkness of the place and season – England, winter, 1645 – as well as the chill and darkness of the pre-electrically lit world. The production looks wonderful and is well performed. This novel was lush and wonderful. I don't have too much to say about the plot itself, besides the fact that I think readers should take note that while this novel does have a "mystery" to it, the real core is the characters and the stiff historic dramas. The whodunit is NOT the reason to stay—its the layers, the tension, and the atmosphere. Step into the halls of Polneath and see for yourself...By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy – one whose death decades ago haunts her still.

Beth Underdown - School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Beth Underdown - School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

Essex, 1645. Alice Hopkins ( Lily Knight) finds herself widowed, pregnant, and forced to return to her childhood home in Manningtree to throw herself on the goodwill of her brother Matthew ( George Kemp). But Manningtree is rife with rumours of witchcraft, and Matthew is poised to launch upon his infamous reign of terror. Alice races to reveal what’s compelling the obsessively cruel Witchfinder General, before more innocent women are found guilty. Superbly researched and with great attention to detail, the story is so atmospheric and descriptive. It’s very much a slow release story, with complex and in some cases, violent family relationships. There are some characters that are not particularly likeable at all. In fact I wasn’t always too fond of Ivy if I’m honest. I thought her at times selfish, hankering for a life that she felt was denied her, rather than accepting the life she had. Not everyone is as they seem, more than one character has secrets of their own and there were times when I was just one step ahead of Ivy as she reconnected with the past. As the story moves forward, I understood the relevance of the book’s title and became engrossed in Ivy’s quest for the truth about the death of her son and her wish to fully understand the events of that night at Polneath and to finally be able to put those ghosts to rest. I have to be blunt here: highly recommend if you're into pining for your teenage crush for 30 years, couples not communicating with each other, random trips to the other side of the country without telling anyone, more pining, mysterious deaths that are not so mysterious if you think about it, some more pining. Laced with a heavy sense of loss and sadness this book is a slow burn, the story itself quite emotionally harrowing which is exacerbated by the grief felt by Ivy, as well as the, often cloying, atmosphere that the author weaves around the characters. The tension increases as the two threads and timelines start to come to their conclusions, and the sedate pace of what has come before is ramped up a notch or two. What a gothically infused gem of a novel. A dark, mysterious manor house in Cornwall, some of the creepiest characters you will ever meet, and a distinct flavour of Du Maurier throughout. This is a novel where the tiniest of details means something very significant. Keys, shadows, noises next door….and a veil of truth and lies covering anything that might explain away the fog.

Beth's fiction

For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free. In the 1918 section, Ivy has married Richard Boscawen who is the coroner. She has always regretted not marrying the love of her life, Edward Tremain. She has recently found out her son has been killed in the war, and is determined to find out exactly how he died. When she reads in the deaths section of the newspaper that Edward’s son had died in the war she begins writing to Edward in the hopes of rekindling their friendship and perhaps take it further, now that her husband does not have long to live.