Back from a brief hiatus; and this one was a page-turner. It's just a good, creative horror tale - the story of a young woman, essentially sold by her family and shipped across the sea to a harsh, unforgiving land, with people who are its perfect match in temperament. Abitha's mother is described as a "cunning woman," a healer, perhaps a practitioner of the old religion and traditions, who taught her daughter well before her own untimely death, as the plague rages in the Old World. In the New, in mid-seventeenth-century colonial America, the inhabitants are contending with a plague all their own.
An outsider, Abitha and her husband, for whom she has at least some affection, scratch out a living on the land of his elder brother to whom he has been making payments - but when the brother incurs an enormous debt in the wake of a bad investment, he attempts to sell their farm out from under them, which would make Abitha and her husband little more than slaves on their own land. This leads to an inevitable clash, leading Abitha and her husband to take some drastic measures. When her husband meets with a mysterious death, Abitha incurs even more suspicion from the townspeople, fanatical puritans whose lives revolve around fear and judgment.
Elsewhere, the ancient spirits of the forest are plotting, to regain their former realm by unleashing an ancient magic to purge the human invaders from their land. They call upon Slewfoot, a hybrid, resurrected guardian of the forest, who is both savior and punisher, one battling his own demons in an effort to regain his former self and to uncover his true identity. Pagan and Puritan worlds collide when he encounters Abitha, who becomes an unexpected ally upon being charged by the superstitious villagers with witchcraft.
This was just a good tale well told, which is increasingly rare for this type of novel. It seems to have been inspired by a number of traditions and belief systems, lending a sense of true realism to an otherwise fantastic fairy tale. Really liked this one; hope to read more by this author. I don't want to rehash the plot and all the minute details, but it was an engaging novel with a fair degree of sophistication and complexity, juxtaposing the experiences of Abitha, a spirited, unconquerable soul with that of an actual spirit, who is likewise attempting to uncover who he is and what his purpose is. Thoroughly enjoyable and worth the read.
An outsider, Abitha and her husband, for whom she has at least some affection, scratch out a living on the land of his elder brother to whom he has been making payments - but when the brother incurs an enormous debt in the wake of a bad investment, he attempts to sell their farm out from under them, which would make Abitha and her husband little more than slaves on their own land. This leads to an inevitable clash, leading Abitha and her husband to take some drastic measures. When her husband meets with a mysterious death, Abitha incurs even more suspicion from the townspeople, fanatical puritans whose lives revolve around fear and judgment.
Elsewhere, the ancient spirits of the forest are plotting, to regain their former realm by unleashing an ancient magic to purge the human invaders from their land. They call upon Slewfoot, a hybrid, resurrected guardian of the forest, who is both savior and punisher, one battling his own demons in an effort to regain his former self and to uncover his true identity. Pagan and Puritan worlds collide when he encounters Abitha, who becomes an unexpected ally upon being charged by the superstitious villagers with witchcraft.
This was just a good tale well told, which is increasingly rare for this type of novel. It seems to have been inspired by a number of traditions and belief systems, lending a sense of true realism to an otherwise fantastic fairy tale. Really liked this one; hope to read more by this author. I don't want to rehash the plot and all the minute details, but it was an engaging novel with a fair degree of sophistication and complexity, juxtaposing the experiences of Abitha, a spirited, unconquerable soul with that of an actual spirit, who is likewise attempting to uncover who he is and what his purpose is. Thoroughly enjoyable and worth the read.
