The Familiars

By: Stacey Halls

Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown

To save her child, she will trust a stranger.

To protect her secret, she must risk her life.

1612 Pendle Hill, England

Young Fleetwood Shuttleworth is with child again. As the mistress of Gawthorpe Hall, she is anxious to provide her husband with an heir. But none of her previous pregnancies have come to term. Then she discovers a hidden letter from her physician that warns her husband that she will not survive another pregnancy.

Distraught over the frightening revelation, Fleetwood wanders the woods of Pendle Hill, where she comes across a young local woman named Alice Gray who is gathering herbs. A midwife, Alice promises Fleetwood she can help her deliver a healthy baby. But soon Alice is drawn into the frenzied accusations of witchcraft sweeping the countryside. Even the woodland creatures, the “familiars,” are suspected of practicing the dark arts. Can Fleetwood trust that Alice is really who she says she is?

As the two women’s lives become intertwined, Fleetwood must risk everything to prove Alice’s innocence in order to save her own unborn child. The hunt for witches reaches fever pitch. Time is running out. The trials are about to begin. Both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the real Pendle Witch Trials of 1612, this rich and compelling novel draws its characters from historical figures as it explores the lives and rights of 17th-century women, ultimately raising the question of whether witch-hunting is really just women-hunting.

©2019 Stacey Bartlett (P)2019 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited.

Too much buildup for nothing

Is this a book about real witches, witch trials, pregnancy and giving birth, or something else? Ultimately, it just annoyed me.

Overall, a pretty good story

I really liked the story. I didn’t find it slow or plodding. I like the fact that the characters were based on real historical people that were involved in the Pindall, which trials. I found the fictional parts of the story themselves, very entertaining, and thought the liberties that the author took with the lives of these characters that truly existed in history, was tastefully done, and who knows, could be true. I thought her historical portrayal of how women were treated in that day and age to be fairly accurate and enlightening, such as only being important in that they birth errors to their husbands, particularly sons and run the home, but not have The right to have an opinion, on their husbands, taking mistresses or spending money, as well as the power men had at the time.

Enjoyable

I really enjoyed listening to The Familiars. The descriptions of how people lived in the 1600’s, e.g., brushing their teeth and scrubbing their bodies with linen, was insightful.

I love historical fiction!

I love historical fiction. I really love historical fiction that is about strong women and navigating that time period

Good book

This really was a good book. Very enjoyable to listen to. The Narrator did a great job.

Good Historical Fiction Read

Is it the best historical fiction story ever, no. But definitely captivating. I like that the story used actual real people from that era, but the author sort of wove them their own story. Preset hood read. 👍🏻

Great Story!

Absolutely loved this book! The combination of real life problems with the world of witches was exactly what I wanted to read this October

Such a good book

I definitely recommend this book. The story is wonderfully well written and the narrator does it justice

Loved it!

I really enjoyed listening this book. I love hearing stories that keep you rapt and unable to stop listening.

Wanted to love it

It took me all month to get through this short book because I kept losing interest. I love witchy books and had hoped there would be more witch content in it. The narrator did a great job and the imagery was good but the story just felt flat for me. A lot of details of pregnancy (which is fine if that is your interest) but not a lot about witches or the trial.