The Familiars

Despite the recent heatwave I was lucky enough to read this over a couple of overcast days and it just added to the undoubted atmosphere. I loved it, from start to finish. A fine book.

Although this is a fictionalised account of the stories behind the Pendle Witch Trial of 1612, Stacey Halls has used some of the real people and places to weave a wonderful tale of the lives of seventeenth-century women against the backdrop of the real witch hunt. I listened to this as a library audiobook and it was brilliant and absolutely gripping. Definitely worth searching out - either in print or as an audiobook.
Feebs

Loved the main characters and found myself really rooting for them. A good dose of feminism woven through the whole story.

Everyone enjoyed reading The Familiars, a fictional tale based at the time of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. The book is well researched and makes reference to many of the tragic events of the time leading up to the trials and the families involved. Many of us had heard of the trials, visited the area or had researched the Trials as part of a dissertation but were not aware of the full extent of the treatment of women in Lancashire at the time.

The book features two strong female characters from very different backgrounds – the newly married 17 year old Fleetwood and the mysterious Alice who becomes Fleetwood’s midwife. We loved Fleetwood’s resilience and determination – described perfectly by Jo as a northern Demelza of 1612 – galloping through Lancashire on her beloved horse. Whilst on different paths of society Fleetwood and Alice develop a deep bond, connected by their difficult pasts.

Fleetwood has a difficult relationship with her cold and controlling mother. However as more was revealed about Fleetwood’s childhood there was still some sympathy for her mother. As with other historical books we’ve read as a group – you can’t judge things from a modern day perspective and have to put yourself back in the time and consider how powerless women were. Choices were limited irrespective of your social standing.

The male characters fare less well in the book. We enjoyed how close family friend Roger was transformed from kindly father figure to villain in his obsessive pursuit of the women healers of Lancashire and quest for the King’s favour. Our feelings towards Fleetwood’s husband Richard changed throughout the book as the story developed and we were relieved he redeemed himself towards the end.

We decided the devious child Jennet and her actions added a layer of suspense to the story – but again felt her actions were based on basic needs for food and shelter. Like other women in the story Jennet was another commodity who could be cast aside when no longer of use.

Via Twitter Stacey Halls kindly sent us a deleted scene from the book but those of us who read it decided it didn’t really add anything to the story.

There was so much to talk about we could easily have doubled our 30 minute lunchtime chat but you can read more about the women of Pendle here. It’s also possible to visit Gawthorpe Hall, the home of Fleetwood. We were pleased to discover that Richard and Fleetwood Shuttleworth were the first occupants of Gawthorpe, although their story in The Familiars is entirely fictional.