Widdershins
(Widdershins, Book 1)
By Helen Steadman
Narrated by Christine Mackie
Publication Date: 25 June 2021. Publisher: Impress Books. Audiobook Length: 8.5 hours. Genre: Historical Fiction
The new audio book of Widdershins is narrated brilliantly by talented actor, Christine Mackie, from Downton Abbey, Coronation Street, Wire in the Blood, and so on.
The first part of a two-part series, Widdershins is inspired by the Newcastle witch trials, where 16 people were hanged. Despite being the largest mass execution of witches on a single day in England, these trials are not widely known about. In August 1650, 15 women and one man were hanged as witches after a Scottish witchfinder found them guilty of consorting with the devil. This notorious man was hired by the Puritan authorities in response to a petition from the Newcastle townsfolk who wanted to be rid of their witches.
Widdershins is told through the eyes of Jane Chandler, a young woman accused of witchcraft, and John Sharpe, the witchfinder who condemns her to death. Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane soon learns that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world. From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witchfinder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft.
John Sharpe’s life didn’t start well. His mother died in childbirth, and his father blamed him, an infant, for causing his mother’s heart to give out. After putting up with the abuse of his father, John finally finds himself under his uncle’s care, and learning about God and the Church. As John grows up, he finds himself engulfed in the need to do as “God” wishes.
Jane Chandler is dedicated to learning the same craft as her mother from a very young age – the art of the healer, learning the uses of herbs and how they can help to heal. As Jane grows into a young woman, she finds her eye drawn towards a young man in her village, and he is drawn towards her.
Widdershins is another word for anticlockwise, a direction seen as unlucky. A direction that witches may walk in, as they carry out their enchantments. It may seem strange, ridiculous even, to think that such a thing as walking in a specific direction would lead to your death, but in a time of superstition, where if a tale could be spun, someone could hang, such a thing would not be overlooked.
This book perfectly depicts the horrors faced by people in the 1600s, especially so those accused of witchcraft, or who are seen as being on the opposite side of the law. There are dark themes in this novel, and you need to be prepared, going into it, for the abuse that was so easily doled out to these so-called witches. I absolutely hated John, who becomes a witchfinder, and my hatred for him was increased by the first-person perspective – we see through his eyes the hatred and the pure evil, which just goes to show that sometimes those doing the accusing have more evil in them than those being accused.
I do wish that I had read the print version of this novel, rather than listening to the audiobook. While the narrator has done a fabulous job, I have never been one who likes being read to, and I know I could’ve read the book much quicker than it took to listen to the audiobook. Eventually, I sped up the playback, so I could get through it at what I deemed a reasonable pace, although I do not want to let this affect my rating – the story and the descriptions were utterly sublime, and no detail has been spared from the page.
This is a book that will draw you in and keep you entranced and desperate to find out what happens next.
You can pick up your copy of this book on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Audible, Blackwells, Waterstones, Kobo, iBooks, iTunes, Foyles, Book Depository
Dr Helen Steadman is a historical novelist. Her first novel, Widdershins and its sequel, Sunwise were inspired by the Newcastle witch trials. Her third novel, The Running Wolf was inspired by a group of Lutheran swordmakers who defected from Germany to England in 1687.
Despite the Newcastle witch trials being the largest mass execution of witches on a single day in England, they are not widely known about. Helen is particularly interested in revealing hid-den histories and she is a thorough researcher who goes to great lengths in pursuit of historical accuracy. To get under the skin of the cunning women in Widdershins and Sunwise, Helen trained in herbalism and learned how to identify, grow and harvest plants and then made herbal medicines from bark, seeds, flowers and berries.
The Running Wolf is the story of a group of master swordmakers who left Solingen, Germany and moved to Shotley Bridge, England in 1687. As well as carrying out in-depth archive re-search and visiting forges in Solingen to bring her story to life, Helen also undertook black-smith training, which culminated in making her own sword. During her archive research, Helen uncovered a lot of new material and she published her findings in the Northern History journal.
Helen is now working on her fourth novel.
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Christine Mackie has worked extensively in TV over the last thirty years in well-known TV series such as Downton Abbey, Wire in the Blood, Coronation Street, French & Saunders and The Grand. Theatre work includes numerous productions in new writing as well as classics, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Comedy of Errors, Richard III, An Inspector Calls, and the Railway Children. In a recent all women version of Whisky Galore, Christine played three men, three women and a Red Setter dog!
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A final word from Christine Mackie
Thanks very much for joining the Widdershins audiobook blog tour, and thanks so much for this fantastic review. Best wishes, Helen 🧙♀️🧡🧙♀️
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting today's blog tour stop!
ReplyDeleteI was immediately fascinated by the title, and was glad when you explained its meaning. Thanks for introducing the book and for the review. I love that it's on audio.
ReplyDelete