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

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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... This is a very well written novel in a style in keeping with the times and gives excellent historical context, depicting the world of 1888 and the changing world of 1918/19. It is abundantly rich in atmosphere especially in Polneath, Cornwall, allowing you to picture the big house, the gun powder mills, the unlikeable character of Old Tremain and the enigma of Edward Tremain, his son and William’s father. Polneath lies at the heart of everything we learn about Ivy and the death of William. The 1888 storyline is spooky, chilling, secretive and deeply mysterious and links well to 1918 when characters are unmasked. By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim, a loving and kind young man who Ivy loved with all of her heart, before the Great War took him and left her in eternal grief and changed forever. The story shows how women were both powerful and powerless at the same time, more than a hundred years ago, although I know that in some places this didn't change much. This book took me two months to read despite my excitement after reading the blurb. The writing felt very lazy and inconsistent, even though it is just one character. Another issue with he writing is the exact way chapters set in 1888 and the ones set thirty years later sound. Do people think in the exact same words at 20 and at 50? I don’t think so.

The Witchfinder’s Sister, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch Review: The Witchfinder’s Sister, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Told in dual timelines, we are introduced to a host of characters, from the master of the Great House, and his son and heir, to his servants, the local doctor and his daughter, all of whom appear to have plenty of secrets, as the characters slowly reveal their ability to deceive. I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace’.Want to join one of the fastest-growing communities of UK indie horror fans and creators for FREE? Now you can! Narrated by Ivy Boscawen who having just lost her only son Tim, in the Great War is grieving and wondering if this is fate's way of balancing the scales, doors to the past open up and she reflects with a sense of guilt on another boy's death, long ago, This was a slow burner, too slow for me. Even though we are told what timeline we are reading, I still found it confusing at times. Ivy didn't appeal to me at all. She's the local doctor's daughter and thinks quite a lot of herself. Edward is the son of the big house and Ivy is secretly in love with him. He's a weak person and I didn't like him either. My verdict? A chilling show that links the 17th and 21st centuries in a truly terrifying way – atmospheric sound design takes the production to a whole new level.

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

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.

Beth's fiction

However, intriguing socio-religious theories are advanced as to why certain members of the upper classes pursued “witches” – mostly poor, vulnerable women – with such zeal. Alice, too, is superstitious, sensing malign entities and fearing the inexplicable. Once individual malice and grudge-settling have died out, some of the most vivid scenes are those in which the same hostility to perceived outsiders that spawned the witch-hunting craze begins to be directed towards its functionaries. The novel opens in 1918, with Ivy Boscawen trying to come to terms with the death of her son, Tim, shot dead in the trenches of the Western Front. Ivy is desperate to know exactly what happened to Tim, but after speaking to some of his fellow soldiers what she discovers about her son’s death makes her feel even more distressed. Worse still, the loss of Tim triggers memories of another boy, William Tremain, who died thirty years earlier in a fire at the Great House in Polneath, Cornwall. Ivy, whose father was the Polneath doctor at the time, has been haunted by William’s tragic death ever since and has never been able to shake off her feelings of guilt about her actions in the aftermath of the fire. 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. Ivy Boscawen is grieving heavily for her son, she’s immersed within her emotions. He was killed in the war. With her son now dead, Ivy can't help but think its her fault. There was another young boy, several years ago... And his fate was also tragic. She's seeing ghosts in her present, ghosts in her past.

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

This kind of behaviour and response is so deeply ingrained in us all, that the fact that there is only one man in a cast of six makes no difference – you still keenly feel the weight of male power, and the feeling of helplessness that it instils in women. Almost as frightening is seeing women allying themselves with men like this; Mary is the anti-suffrage, Trump-supporting female who either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the damage she’s inflicting on her fellow women by enabling men in power. I liked it that the story is told alternating between 1888 and 1918. It is beautifully written with touching stories about WWI, which show how much the world has changed between 1888 and 1918. This novel was dripping in atmosphere, absolutely drowning in dramatic internal musings, and held a surprisingly dry and witty sense of character. You can ask for nothing less in an old-school gothic novel, honestly. For Ivy is sure 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. 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 SisterFor 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. The story captures both periods perfectly. Although the outcome of both stories is heartbreaking. You know who dies but will people from the past and present be strong enough for the truth? This is the author’s second novel, and it will rip you open. What a talent this lady is. Highly recommended. This lapses from 1888 and 1918 which spans a whooping number of years that accumulate a lot of dark secrets within family, relationships and is written in the style that I’ve come to love from Beth Underdown. Matthew Hopkins is of course the infamous Witchfinder General, who presided over more deaths of accused withes in the course of two years, than in the entirety of the previous 100 years. And though many people will know Hopkins’ story from the Tigon Horror film starring Vincent Price, for the people of Essex, tales of Hopkins run deep in the collective psyche as a tale told across generations. Coming from Essex and as a connoisseur of witchcraft and the occult, I was extremely excited to watch this new play.

The Key In The Lock by Beth Underdown | Goodreads The Key In The Lock by Beth Underdown | Goodreads

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. With a husband afflicted with serious health issues, Ivy feels the only way she will find peace and face the future is if she gets to the truth of what happened long ago when as Ivy Cardew, the daughter of a struggling doctor, she was helping him with nursing duties. This mystery of what happened at the country manor house of the Tremains is slowly revealed and the terrible repercussions that followed in the wake of the fire, including the inquest. The family that includes Edward Tremain, the heir to Polneath, the father of William, is a man Ivy fell in love with. In a narrative loaded with twists and turns aplenty, with its wide range of characters, little is as it appears, we learn that in this small community, everyone had secrets, both upstairs, with the Tremain family, and downstairs, with the servants. Well, there’s plenty of fire and brimstone in this enjoyable gothic tale which is especially resonant in the earlier timeline. Ivy, though not necessarily likeable or the most reliable of narrators, conveys how much the emotive events of 1888 have obsessed her and affected her life. So when the publisher asked if I’d like a copy sent to me in the mail, I did not hesitate for one second.In 1918 we once again meet Ivy who is now dealing with her own grief, after her son Tim was killed in action. Her desperation to know how her son was killed leads her to look up her first love, Edward Tremain. As they start to correspond via letters it is clear that they have unfinished business and a lot of regret. I loved The Witch-finders Sister, but this one didn't have that magic for me. Its very well written, I think maybe its the characters I just didn't connect with in the same way. For me I need to like – or at last feel something – for the main characters and here somehow I just couldn't feel empathy, sympathy, and kind of deep emotion for them. They acted in ways I found hard to accept even as I understood why. And of course there's that time period, it is hard now to understand just how much more flawed the law was then, how women and the poor could lose everything through actions they had little control over. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh on some of them.

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