Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publishers for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this as it had the theme of witchcraft hunts, which is a period of time I find really interesting. A family of Cunning Women live on the outskirts of a village, selling healing balms and spells in order to survive. However, many of the villages distrust them, calling them witches and refusing their sales, meaning the oldest girl, Sarah, and her sister Annie have to resort to begging for coins. The mother and her son, fed up of the way the villages treat them, end up putting curses on the villagers, resulting in the villagers hating them even more. Things change for Sarah when she meets Daniel, the heir to the farm, and the feelings they develop for each other.

It did take me a while to get through this book, it just didn’t hook me until right at the end when everything seemed to happen at once. I just wasn’t wanting to pick it up. The idea of the plot was really good but something just didn’t click with me. I think I maybe wanted more information on the background of the family and if their powers were real or the mother had made them up? It felt quite slow as well and the pace didn’t pick up until the last 20% (ebook) when everything exciting happened and was really emotional.

Character wise I didn’t really connect with any of the main characters and didn’t care about them until right at the end. Sarah annoyed me with how she could go from being quiet and begging for money to shouting curses at people within a matter of minutes. Daniel just seemed a bit too wimpy so I doubted the whole time about whether he’d be able to change Sarah’s life for the better. However, I did enjoy a few of the minor characters. I loved Sarah’s sister Annie and how wild and child like she was. You didn’t want anything to hurt her and I felt really worried for her near to the end. I also really liked Bette (I think that’s her name? I’ve forgotten already! The woman at the farm who cleans etc) and how she could see past the family’s poverty and curses and was kind to them. 

Overall it was an okay read and did become really enjoyable towards the end. I just wish the rest of the book had been as fast paced.

This was an interesting read. It focuses on Sarah the daughter of a cunning woman, someone we might now call a herbalist practitioner, but back then they were feared.

Daniel is the other main character and he really grows on you. He is a farmer's son and expected to behave a certain way.

The language used is old fashioned as the story is based in 1620.

This book made a change to my usual reads.

I received an advanced copy of this novel thanks to #netgalley.

Set in the 1600's, this is the story of Sarah and her family, who have fallen on hard times since the death of Sarah's father. The family do what they can to make ends meet, and are know as the 'cunning women', creating potions and salve's to help the local villagers.
Sarah meets the quiet Daniel, son of the local farmer and he cannot decide whether he loves or whether she has bewitched him. 
I loved this story from the offset, the characters were well rounded and dragged me into their world. It was refreshing to read a historical novel from the point of view of the normal, common person and not the rich , wealthy ones in the big homes. I loved the little touches of their home life and the life of the villagers.
Lee has obviously researched the time period well and the dialogue really brings the period to life. 
I adored the characters of Sarah's family, especially little Annie with her love of all things natural. She felt like a real part of the land she lived within. 
The settings are described clearly and bring the rural setting to life. A wonderful read and highly recommended.

Cunning Women is a dark, captivating story set during a particularly dangerous time for women. I found the characters of Sarah and Daniel to be realistic and fully formed, if a little naive, and I would love to read more of Sarah's mother, who suffered so much and is ultimately a fierce mother protecting her young. Beautifully written and atmospheric. 
A promising debut.

Not really my cup of tea although from the synopsis I was looking forward to reading it.
Rather slow going, heavily descriptive and alternating present/past tense. I did have some sympathy for Sarah. The book is not badly written and the characters are well drawn. I strongly suspect that there will be a lot of people for whom this is an excellent read. My attention did wander and I found myself re-reading bits. The cover of the book is very similar to Essex Serpents-in fact the cover almost put me off reading it
Not for me but not a bad read

This story is told from the perspectives of Daniel and Sarah.  He is the son of the only farmer in the village, therefore a well-to-do young man in the local social hierarchy.  Sarah, is an outcast, living in the plague village, regarding with fear and suspicion as the daughter of the local cunning woman.

What follows is not simply a love story (Daniel and Sarah are our very own Romeo and Juliet), but also a look at the impact of prejudice and ignorance on not only individuals, but society as a whole.

At first, I found this to be quite a slow-paced read and it took me a while to really get in to it.  However, as I got used to the style of writing, and the characters developed, I found myself getting drawn in deeper.  About half-way through I found myself determined to read just one more chapter before moving on to the real world.

Whilst other reviewers before me have shaken their heads at Sarah and Daniel’s initial deception, I think it works.  Yes, it is ridiculous.  No, as an intelligent bystander, you can’t see it working. However, for me, it lends to the idea that those with predetermined beliefs will see what they want to.  It is entirely fitting with the theme of prejudice and the casting out of “others”.  If you look like one of us, you are one of us. If you don’t, then you are not.

As a whole, I found this is an interesting story, with interesting characters, and a lot of depth throughout.  A strong debut novel, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on this author.

I found the style quite difficult initially, but persevered. The book has lots of detail of living condtions, superstitions and fighting for survival in the times of witches in Lancashire.

I really enjoyed this historical novel, written about an unlucky family in an English fishing village in the seventeenth century. It really drove home how some women could be forced into cunning work (healing and curses)  because of their circumstances, and how difficult it would be to break away from the village's opinion of you. I was rooting for Sarah as she tried to build a new life with the farmer's son, and the plot carried me along like a whirlwind. This is gritty, realistic historical fiction, not romance , and the life of of the poor was vividly brought to life here. A great read.

A brilliant opening chapter is followed by a slow but intriguing start. While this is a slow burn, the writing is captivating and the uncertain fate of the characters alongside the building sense of unease and suspicion makes this a compelling read. The characters feel fully fleshed and utterly believable and the setting and atmosphere are realised brilliantly. I read the last 20% hardly daring to blink and loved how the author chose to close the narrative.

A wonderfully written book which whisks you back into a world long lost to us. Simple things, used by gifted people kept the world ticking along, until people got suspicious. This book is a mixture of historical fiction and a moving love story. It takes you on a journey through many emotions. I didn’t want the book to end as I was enjoying being in another time and place - a gifted writer!

I liked this book but I think that the similarities to The Essex Serpent are overstated in the description. The cover is similar, but the feel of the stories is very different.

A big thank-you to Elizabeth Lee, Random House and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
The novel, set in the early years of the 17th century, with King James's 'Demonology' looming over the life of a hamlet in lancashire, is a promising debut by Ms Lee. The Haworths, craving for love and normal life and yet doomed to be shunned by the others, become victims of the omnipresent poverty after tragic death of the breadwinner. The locals turn up in their humble house under the cover of night should a need arise since the women are 'cunnning' and know ways to heal and treat illnesses, however, during the day, all they receive is contempt and indifference. In the wake of some events, a new magistrate arrives determined to root out any evil deeds and he poses a real danger to the Haworths.
Ms Lee offers atmospheric HF, with the feelings of danger, helplessnes and prejudice prevailing thoughout the novel. It is a solid read linked to the issue of the witch hunts and trials so common under the 'patronage' of King James I. The book turned out to be an enjoyable read for me despite one a rather unbelievable idea. Still, since the cunning women how magic tricks ....

This one started out with a first chapter in present tense which had be worried, then it continued in past tense in chapter two and I soon caught on that it was alternating tense with alternating characters. I'd prefer it to be all in past tense but there you go. The story itself soon began taking shape.

In the seventeenth century, Sarah Haworth comes from a family of witches. They live apart from the villagers and sometimes have to steal to eat, yet the villagers come to them when they need healing or other magic. Sarah tries to accept that they are different and must stay separate from the villagers, but an attraction to a local boy with a special magic of his own complicates that division.

I liked Sarah and her sister. I also liked Daniel and kept hoping things would work out for them. There were a couple of characters I didn't like at all as well, but the villains are what made the tension build. That young girls were too often victimised in that era is just a matter of history. That healer women could be accused of witchcraft is also a matter of record.

This story had me gripped. Close to the end when possibilities of how it would resolve narrowed, I really didn't know which way it would go. This was one of those late night but I have to see what happens reads. Hard to imagine it as a debut novel! I will be following this author to see what else she writes.

Cunning Women is unlike any other book that I have read. The story tells of a family of four that live away from the main village. as the mother is a 'cunning woman' - a woman who makes remedies to heal or curse and the people of the village are wary of her
Sarah (the daughter of the cunning woman) meets Daniel (the son of a farmer) whilst he is trying to tame a horse and they fall in love.
The story is interwoven with mystery, each character that is introduced is a piece of the jigsaw that eventually gives us the whole picture of the family towards the end of the story. 

The characters are believable and there are some surprises threaded throughout the tale. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystical book.

My thanks to Elizabeth Lee, Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of CUNNING WOMEN.
Set in the time of the early 17th century witch trials CUNNING WOMEN tells the story of the Haworth family, Sarah, Annie, John and their mother who are ostracised by the inhabitants of the village where they once lived. Sarah believes she has the mark of the devil on her and does all she can to protect her little sister, Annie from receiving a similar mark. Their mother is a herbalist and maker of potions and tinctures, her skills frequently sliding over into curses which brings them a reputation of witchcraft and demonism. After a chance meeting, Sarah finds herself wishing she could live an ordinary life like those in the village, but realises she is so ingrained with her mother's beliefs she cannot free herself because of her distrust of other people, including Daniel, a young man she sees taming a horse with kindness and patience, who falls for her and offers her a way out.
I started to read CUNNING WOMEN a couple of times before I could become immersed in the story. It has a rather slow start but I'm glad I persevered because I began to champion Sarah and her family. What an awful way to live and how frightened must they have been when anything one said and did could be misconstrued and used against a person. Elizbeth has a unique voice and once I'd found the rhythm I found it to be a very enjoyable read.

I am sorry but this was just not my cup of tea. I thought it was really slow and I found it really hard to keep reading. 

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

I love a good Historical fiction book and am always on the look out for my new favourite read, this unfortunatly was not it.
Having said that, it was not the worst either and did actually engage with the story and the charecters.
I have read a lot of books about families living on the edge of society because of the fear of superstition and witchcraft. 

This is a book that, if you enjoyed other novels like Essex Serpent or indeed the Familiars then, please do partake in this tome, but for someone who was not a fan of either of those books , i did struggle to keep attentive to this book.

I recently watched a film called ‘The Reckoning’, about a young girl who is a witch in a village at the time of the witch trials. This book really reminded me of the film, in a good way!
Sarah and her family are outcasts and have been accused by villagers of being witches. It’s not an empty accusation - Sarah’s mother is a herbal healer but isn’t adverse to the occasions cursing either. Sarah has the ‘mark’ and knows that if anyone sees it she could be hanged as a witch, another reason for her to keep her distance from the villagers. Then she meets Daniel, a local lad, and things get very complicated!
The story had quite a slow start and at first I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. I can imagine it being quite a good film too!
Recommend for fans of movies like The Witch and The Reckoning and books/plays like The Crucible and Age of Witches.

Tense, well executed 16th C tale of poverty and forbidden passion. Is the farmer’s son really in love with the cunning woman’s daughter? Or has he been bewitched? Pitch perfect sense of time and place.

I tried very hard to like this and must have read the same 1/4 of the book about 4 times but it was one that just didn’t gel with me. 
I found the characters didn’t connect with me at all and I wasn’t interested in the plot even though I was from the synopsis. 
I think it was just poor choosing on my behalf though because it was not a bad book by far in terms of writing but not one I liked so much.