Another ARC read from work.
In the early part of the 1600's women were being accused of being witches and there was little they could do to defend themselves.
But what was it about these women that the men who were trying, convicting, and executing them were so afraid of?
Was what they were doing, using herbs to heal the sick, helping other women survive pregnancy and childbirth, respecting the earth and nature, helping each other survive crippling poverty, was this just women being strong and doing what needed doing or was it some dark evil force, the hand of the devil himself as their accusers swore?
To the men it didn't seem to be a high priority, it seemed to be about securing their own places and keeping women in theirs.
That is the world that Fleetwood and Alice live in. And when she is so sick she believes she has a death sentence Fleetwood finds Alice and Alice is knowledgeable in midwifery and the use of herbs and plants to help Fleetwood. And somehow they grow a friendship. Not a conventional friendship but one none the less.
And then Alice is charged as a witch and Fleetwood must save her. And believes in doing so she will save herself.
Nothing is what it seems, or are things exactly what they appear? You will have to read this when it comes out to see. What I can tell you is that, to paraphrase what it says on the back of the book, sometimes the most risk and danger lies in just being a woman.
(Finished January 20, 2019)
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