In the autumn of 1612, in the courts of Lancaster (a county town of Lancashire) in England, 12 people were tried for witchcraft and having familiar spirits—a demon that appears to obey a witch, usually in the form of an animal. This was perhaps the most notorious witch trial of the 17th century where only one was found not guilty. One died in custody, and the rest were hung. What went on to become the legend of the Pendle witches is a dark tale of execution that only makes up just two percent of all the people, mostly women, executed over three centuries in England.
Set against the backdrop of this Pendle witch trials, ‘The Familiars’ is Stacey Hall’s debut novel in which many characters are based on real people. Fleetwood Shuttleworth, mistress of Gawthorpe Hall, has had three miscarriages and she’s pregnant for the fourth time. She has inadvertently read a letter from her doctor, addressed to her husband, Richard, which says she might not survive childbirth. And so she hires a midwife, Alice Gray, to ensure she and her baby both live.
Alice, though having a “low social status”, is a gifted midwife who has learnt from her mother all about delivering a baby. She believes she can safely deliver the child and keep the mother out of harm’s way as well. But her use of different herbs and potions to do so is seen as malevolent magic and Alice is accused of practicing witchcraft and taken into custody. By then, Fleetwood and Alice have formed a bond and are like sisters and Fleetwood vows to save Alice from the fate that awaits her.
Though many of the characters in The Familiars are historical figures, Halls goes beyond a fictional retelling of the legend of the Pendle witches. Through Fleetwood and Alice, she explores what it means to be women and how they are capable of the impossible when their love and limits are tested. Historical fiction can be tricky to get right especially as you have to make sure the facts aren’t distorted while keeping things exciting, and this is where Halls shines. She manages to provide an engaging viewpoint through her protagonist Fleetwood and keeps you intrigued and at the edge of your seat till the very end.
|
About the author
Stacey Halls grew up in Lancashire and has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and went on to become the media editor at The Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk after she moved to London at the age of 21. Currently, she is the deputy chief sub-editor at Fabulous magazine, the UK’s most read women’s magazine with 2.2 million readers and circulation of 1.2 million. |
Book: The Familiars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Stacey Hall
Publisher: Zaffre
Published: February 2019
Language: English
Pages: 420, Paperback
