Whether in England or Europe or the United States - the witch trials of the 1600's were fascinating to me. How can people believe that their cow died because some woman looked at it? Why was it always women that were accused? This book does an excellent job at bringing attention to the misogynistic beliefs that fueled these despicable trials through a wonderful, engaging heroine. This book, to me, was unputdownable.

I feel bad that this was a DNF for me. The premise was so good, and I normally love historical fiction from this time period - I am a huge Salem buff. However, this was dry and dull, and despite the spookiness promised, all I felt was cold.

This one was just kind of meh for me. Throughout most of the book, I was a bit bored and nothing much seemed to happen. I wasn't that impressed.

Hauntingly good! 
This is a fictional account of the Manningtree witch trials in Essex, England, in the 17th century, and of the witchfinder himself, named Matthew Hopkins (a historical figure). What would happen, if Matthew had a sister, a witness of his doings? 

Widow Alice Hopkins returns home, penniless and expecting a child from her late husband. She hopes for a living at her family's house (now only her step-brother Matthew living there, as their parents are both dead). Yet, her beloved brother has changed. There was always certain pain in him, certain strangeness, yet Alice had always tried to understood, protect - and the siblings had simply loved each other. But now, there is darkness in Matthew. Together with his strictness, methodicality and certain hate for women - and with fear old and new in the peaceless times; with rich men with no humble attitude towards losses and certain superstitions well living - the situation is ready to be used for some hunt. Witch hunt.

Hundred and six women had died because of Matthew Hopkins. The authoress takes the historical frame and smartly interwoves her take on the story around it. The story is exquisitely written - well-researched, deep and real. I especially like how Alice was written, as she feels real - not some warrior princess of certain tales, but simply a normal woman put into abnormal situation, who goes from shock into horror and then into fight. But her fight is taken realistically (I would probably do the same as her (or maybe even less, who knows?) - while feeling terror, fear and one person's smallness against the crowd. And the darkness of times is also well expressed in the "smaller", domestic matters - as Matthew's doings have their beginnings and the fuel in their home situation.
And the darkness does not stop there - there are hints here and there about something lurking, charms and the reality of the darker powers...

I quite dislike the ending scene, but it is written within the settings and the tone of the story.

I like that the authoress tries quite new approach - not the simple black-and-whiteness, but deeper questions, the way down into the souls to remember and to understand better - what was hidden for a child, might be known to a grown-up. And one needs to grown up with this all this knowledge. Human's smallnesses are seen through civil, even kind lens here (but these lens are not rosy and naive!). 
And maybe we can ask ourselves - which kind of witchhunt could be done today? Who might be the victims (even the improbable victims)? Because in every time there are the weak and the silent ones. And the crowds. Wisdom and real (if sometimes tough) love is always needed.

The Witchfinder's Sister takes place in England, in the 1600's, where the Manningtree witch trials were taking place. Ran by a cruel, bitter man, Matthew, terrorizes the poor women. His sister Alice, moves in to his home after the passing of her husband, and gradually uncovers many unexpected truths. Full of surprises, this historical fiction was very good. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the e-reader for review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book and the history and the research that went into it.  But it was a DNF for me because it just didn't keep my attention.  Is that fair to say?  It was just a bit too dry and hard to attach myself to.

A wonderful historical thriller The Witchfinder's Sister was for me.   I enjoy reading books about witchcraft and the history of it.  This book was right up my alley.  I like the story line that was added to some of the facts and  truths from that era.   Such a tense, sad and scary time for all women then.  To think that a lot of this did happen in England and then again in Salem MA.  
Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read this!

I will read absolutely anything related to the Salem Witch Trials, but I'm not as familiar with the trials in England. So when I found a book loosely based on the actions of a real witchfinder from 1645, I had to read it. And this book did not disappoint. The characters are so complex that it's not always clear whether you should root for or against them, and the author clearly did her research regarding the way people lived at that time. If you have any interest in the witch trials, whether in America or England, then I highly recommend checking out this book.

“This summer, my brother Matthew set himself to killing women, but without ever once breaking the law.”

Essex, England, 1645. With a heavy heart, Alice Hopkins returns to the small town she grew up in. Widowed, with child, and without prospects, she is forced to find refuge at the house of her younger brother, Matthew. In the five years she has been gone, the boy she knew has become a man of influence and wealth—but more has changed than merely his fortunes. Alice fears that even as the cruel burns of a childhood accident still mark his face, something terrible has scarred Matthew’s soul.

There is a new darkness in the town, too—frightened whispers are stirring in the streets, and Alice’s blood runs cold with dread when she discovers that Matthew is a ruthless hunter of suspected witches. Torn between devotion to her brother and horror at what he’s become, Alice is desperate to intervene—and deathly afraid of the consequences. But as Matthew’s reign of terror spreads, Alice must choose between her safety and her soul.

Alone and surrounded by suspicious eyes, Alice seeks out the fuel firing her brother’s brutal mission—and is drawn into the Hopkins family’s past. There she finds secrets nested within secrets: and at their heart, the poisonous truth. Only by putting her own life and liberty in peril can she defeat this darkest of evils—before more innocent women are forced to the gallows.

Inspired by the real-life story of notorious “Witchfinder General” Matthew Hopkins, Beth Underdown’s thrilling debut novel blends spellbinding history with harrowing storytelling for a truly haunting reading experience."

Witches, England, what's not to like?

In case you've noticed, I'm a little behind on my reviews. Not because I haven't been reading, just that if it's a choice between reading and posting, I usually choose reading. Which puts me on track for my reading year, but regretfully behind here. 

So enough about that, let's pretend it's the end of January, when I read this book. Brrr! It's freezing! Perfect time to sit in a cozy chair with a hot cup of tea and a warm blanket and read a scary book about witches. But really, if you're like me, there's no bad time to read about witches. This book, though, was a little different for me. For one thing, it was based on the true story of "Witchfinder General" Matthew Hopkins in Essex, England, 1645. Underdown spins a compelling tale based on his investigations, that are every bit as cruel, gruesome and unethical as you might imagine. 

Alice, newly back in town, has her own troubles to deal with even before she starts to unravel the mysteries surrounding her brother, the now-famous Witch Finder. There is a lot going on in this otherwise sleepy town, and everyone seems to have a skeleton (or a witch) in their closet. The author leaves some things a little vague, but she does not spare the reader. This was an uncomfortable story for me to read; I really longed for a little bit of goodness in this world. I think that in her debut, though, Underdown has crafted an intense, often frightening, but ultimately well-told story.

Written in language of the day, but easy to understand, this book had me craving Book Time!  An addictive read about the details of the Witch Hunter as experienced by his sister.

I'm sorry. I don't remember requesting this book. I will see if I still have it and dive right in.

Terrifying true tale of the lengths one man went to to make himself superior and to fight his own insecurity. Knowing that these things really did happen makes you shiver and feel a deep sadness. Excellent storytelling.

I really wanted to like this but just didn't. I found it really slow and I just couldn't finish it.

Great debut novel of Beth Underdown. I disliked Matthew so much I almost felt like he was real. He was a horrible man(witch hunter) he sent those who he thought were witches to death by hanging.



My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Between 1645 and '47, a man named Matthew Hopkins declared himself "Witchfinder General" and promptly began to hold more trials for witchcraft than England had ever known, leading to the deaths of about three hundred women. <i>The Witchfinder's Sister</i> is a novel detailing these events from the point of view of Matthew's sister Alice (who does not actually appear in the historical record, though she could theoretically have existed). 

The book opens with Alice newly widowed, forced to return to her hometown and the brother she hasn't seen in years. Without money, without other relatives to go to, without influence, and with the general lack of independence granted to women in the seventeenth century, Alice quickly finds herself trapped as a dependant member of Matthew's household. She's shocked to learn of his belief in witches (given their father's general reliance on logic, common sense, and an academic approach to the Bible) but is unable to talk him out of it or stop his trials. She desperately investigates old family secrets, in the hope of figuring out what drives Matthew to do such things, believing that if she figures out his motivations she'll be able to stop him. At the same time, Matthew slowly maneuvers her into acting as an assistant during his interrogations of "witches". 

<i>The Witchfinder's Sister</i> is mostly concerned with exploring how witch trials could be allowed to happen; it goes with an explanation based on the general chaos of England during the Civil War, particularly the tensions between Protestants and Catholics, as well as Matthew's troubled relationship with his mother. Which, you know, is probably accurate enough, but somehow felt a bit shallow in the depiction, though I can't put my finger on exactly why. There's also a twist at the very end (it's literally the last sentence) that seemed silly compared to the serious-minded tone of the rest of the book. 

Despite those complaints, I mostly liked <i>The Witchfinder's Sister</i>. The characters of Alice and several other disadvantaged women are very well done, and give a real sense of the constriction of their lives. The mystery of Matthew's childhood secret kept me turning the pages until the ultimate reveal. But the best part of the book is its excellent depiction of the terror and tension of Alice's position. There's a scene of a swimming trial – where a woman was tossed in water to see if she sinks or floats – that was particularly chilling.  It's more literary fiction than horror novel, but <i>The Witchfinder's Sister</i> does a good job of reminding one of how scary normal humans can be. 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2166320238

After 30% of nothing happening, this book lost me. You can't spend that much of your book remembering past events. The main character never experienced things; she only looked back on them. Not intriguing at all. It was too slow and had no emotional weight. The main character is bland and naïve...not a winning combination. 

I had high hopes for this book. Sad to close it so early, but there is so much time spent setting up the plot and characters, that the book ends up having no plot whatsoever.

I seem to be coming across a lot of debut novels lately. I hope I also come across the author's next books, because I've been blown away. This one has everything a reader wants in historical fiction. You learn about the place and the everyday life of living in those times. Meet Alice Hopkins, a sister to Matthew. After her husband dies, she has no choice but to leave London and return to the Essex region. There, she has to deal with a lot of unsettled business, including a brother who now heads up a group of men who go on witch hunts

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in this book. I thought the whole premise of witch hunting would be fascinating and exciting. I expected a fast-paced story from an insider's perspective. Unfortunately, that is not how this book played out. 

This is a rather slow-paced tale of a woman trying to figure out what happened to her brother and exactly what he is up to. The problem is that we already know, even from just the title of the book, what her brother is doing. I didn't feel there were any big surprises and not really any new information regarding the witch hunts either. 

The book was atmospheric in the beginning, but seemed to lose the feeling somewhere along the way and not much really happened until the end. I almost stopped reading several times because I didn't have any desire to pick it up once I put it down. Because of this, it took me a long time to read.

There are a couple of plot points that were thrown in that didn't make sense in the book. I think they were added to add some mystery and a sense of anticipation, but they were never really explained and just left hanging there. 

Ultimately, this turned out to be a mediocre book which could have been a lot better. I thought the pacing was too slow, but the end was interesting.

I love witch stories and anything historical fiction so I was intrigued by this book. It started off a bit slow and I struggled to get through the first half, but once I really delved into the book it was definitely worth it and exposed me to a whole level of witch hunting and blaming in the English countryside that is rarely talked about!