Rate this book

The Vanishing Witch (2014)

by Karen Maitland(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

147221501X (ISBN13: 9781472215017)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Headline Review

review 1: This book was ok but no where near up to the form of Maitland's earlier books. Set in the reign of Richard II, it tells the tale of a widow who bewitches a wealthy married merchant, it soon turns out that this widow has a bit of a past and the merchant and his family may be in danger. There is also a separate subplot about a boatman and his family, struggling to find work. The two plots are only very loosely tied together. The problem I found with this book was that I had so little sympathy for the merchant, I struggled to find any reason to care about what the widow did to him.
review 2: I really enjoyed this book! It is quite involved and has a variety of characters, some telling their tale in the first person while others are written within the story in the... more traditional way; while this could have become very muddled it actually works very well. The plot has many inter-related aspects with viewpoints from wealthy merchants to poor boatmen and servants, and even the ghosts have a tale to tell! The novel is based around real events in history, which include the peasants revolt in 1380, and the notes at the end of the book explain how the facts relate to the characters in the story - well worth a read when you have finished the book. Another thing I liked was the snippet of folk lore that accompanied each chapter, this didn't always relate to the following text but was always interesting. I think this novel would be enjoyed by readers who are already lovers of historical fiction as well as those who may be making their first foray into this genre. I heartily recommend it! less

Download links for: The Vanishing Witch

Advertising