The Familiars: A Novel

Imagine yourself a young girl of seventeen, pregnant for the fourth time in four years, losing the three previous pregnancies ending in stillbirths, but this is not your first marriage. At four you were married off to a beastly man of thirty who took his ‘conjugal rights’ soon after you first met. Believing your mother would send you off to this monster, and your only worth the size of your dowry and a once well-thought of name, and being alive in a time when women were little more than bargaining chips and property, without vote, voice, freedom or options. Such was Fleetwood’s life and at just seventeen she is scared, alone and worried that she has nothing but death to look forward to. A bit spoilt, a combination of position as mistress of a large house and her husband’s disregard of her need for company and companions, she’s often out and about riding or walking, mostly to escape the cage that her home has become. But all is not well in the Lancashire area – her husband Richard’s good friend is determined to make a name for himself with the King, and the best way to effect his position and rise to fame is to rout out the current obsession held by James – witches. With several trials taking place in the Scottish highlands where fears and rumors run hand in hand, he’s jumping at any and every opportunity to make a statement with a large trial to sentence several women charged with witchcraft. The odd collection of midwives and healers have fallen prey to rumor, innuendo and bad feeling, and Fleetwood’s need for a midwife, and a friend, bring her into contact with Alice. A woman not many years older than herself, learned in the use of herbs and healing, with experience in midwifery. Halls has managed to make this a story that while the ‘tension’ that drives Fleetwood’s growth is integrally tied to the accused women, the story is more clips of ‘rumor and superstition’ and tales suited more to fairy tales meant to scare children than actual witchcraft. The use of familiars, the ever-vigilant Roger never seeing one as he claims that familiars are only shown to those in league with the devil, and the frequent references to them is placed carefully, with frequent appearances of foxes (or one fox) to Fleetwood as to have special meaning. Oh this story was full of the contradictions and growth one would expect from a lonely and often friendless teenager, and her steady determination to save Alice from the noose and hopefully save herself in childbirth isn’t wholly selfless, but plausible and cleverly written. Halls has made a story of the people around the trials, as they show the false claims, superstitions and the danger of rumors when only one voice is allowed to be heard. Daring for her forthright actions, speech and determination to be heard, Fleetwood is a solidly unconventional heroine in a time when even contradicting one’s husband or the men in his circle could result in dire consequences. A lovely introduction to this author that promises good things in the future. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.