In the 1500s in Europe, rumours of witches practising evil magic and werewolves eating children spreads fear through the believers.
A gripping prologue introduces five-year-old Sidonie whose father and mother are accused of being werewolves. No justice is shown and Sidonie escapes out a window helped by a mysterious child hiding in their stables.
When Sidonie is 21, her cruel guardian in Paris dies. Her guardian had previously arranged a forced marriage with a violent predator.
She seeks safety in her estranged rich aunt’s home in Dole. Her aunt is a powerful woman who is well respected in the community, protecting orphaned youngsters in her property. She also has a tender queer relationship with a younger woman.
The mysterious child who helped Sidonie escape years ago, re-enters the narrative, as Apolline, living quietly in a hut in the forest with Gilles, her strange, but kind, husband. She has a knowledge of healing herbs so is a suspected witch, and Gilles is a suspected werewolf.
Witch hunter and misogynist Pierre, strives for power and status. He teams up with a pedophile priest with a shameful past. So Apolline, Gilles and Sidonie, whose lives become entwined, are agents of the Devil, and are hunted mercilessly. Can they find a safe home?
Willimott wrote her thesis on witchcraft and paganism and this debut novel is inspired by a historical werewolf trial in eastern France in the winter of 1572-73. Her engaging, sensuous description of life in this era and the horror and cruelty towards suspected witches and werewolves, is hard to imagine. No-one who seems a bit different is safe.
This is an exciting tale that is hard to put down. The action and description would make an excellent movie. The pieces connect in a satisfying way, lightening the tragic events.
Reviewed by Judith Grace
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amanda Willimott writes historical fiction centring the experiences of women.
She has always been captivated by history, mythology and folklore, which led to her pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in History and Anthropology with Honours in Anthropology, where she wrote her thesis on witchcraft and paganism.
Her first novel, Winter of the Wolf, is based on a real werewolf trial that took place in eastern France in the winter of 1572-1573.
When she’s not researching, writing or editing, you can find her singing popular show tunes, reading from or adding to her to-read pile of books, or trying to find gluten-free bread that tastes like real bread.
Amanda lives in Melbourne, Australia with a large, co-dependent rescue tabby named Titus.
0 Comments