The Familiars

By: Stacey Halls

Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown

From the Author of the Sunday Times Bestseller, Mrs. England!

In 1612 Lancaster, England, the hunt for witches has reached a fever pitch…

But in a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman may be the greatest risk of all.

Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the mistress of Pendle Hill’s Gawthorpe Hall, is with child. Anxious to produce an heir, she is distraught to find a letter from her physician that warns her husband she will not survive this pregnancy.

Devastated, Fleetwood wanders the estate grounds, where she catches a young woman poaching. Alice Gray claims she is a local midwife and promises to help Fleetwood deliver a healthy baby. But a witch-obsessed frenzy sweeps the countryside. Even woodland creatures or “familiars” are thought to be dark companions of the unholy. And Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft.

Time is running out. The witch trials are about to begin. With both their lives at stake, Fleetwood must prove Alice’s innocence. Only they know the truth.

Set against the real Pendle witch trials, this compelling novel draws its characters from historical figures as it explores the lives of seventeenth-century women. Ultimately it raises the question: Was witch hunting really just women hunting?

Overall, a pretty good story

I really liked the story. I didn’t find it slow or plodding. I like the fact that the characters were based on real historical people that were involved in the Pindall, which trials. I found the fictional parts of the story themselves, very entertaining, and thought the liberties that the author took with the lives of these characters that truly existed in history, was tastefully done, and who knows, could be true. I thought her historical portrayal of how women were treated in that day and age to be fairly accurate and enlightening, such as only being important in that they birth errors to their husbands, particularly sons and run the home, but not have The right to have an opinion, on their husbands, taking mistresses or spending money, as well as the power men had at the time.

Too much buildup for nothing

Is this a book about real witches, witch trials, pregnancy and giving birth, or something else? Ultimately, it just annoyed me.

Enjoyable

I really enjoyed listening to The Familiars. The descriptions of how people lived in the 1600’s, e.g., brushing their teeth and scrubbing their bodies with linen, was insightful.

I love historical fiction!

I love historical fiction. I really love historical fiction that is about strong women and navigating that time period

Good book

This really was a good book. Very enjoyable to listen to. The Narrator did a great job.