This one started out with a first chapter in present tense which had be worried, then it continued in past tense in chapter two and I soon caught on that it was alternating tense with alternating characters. I'd prefer it to be all in past tense but there you go. The story itself soon began taking shape.

In the seventeenth century, Sarah Haworth comes from a family of witches. They live apart from the villagers and sometimes have to steal to eat, yet the villagers come to them when they need healing or other magic. Sarah tries to accept that they are different and must stay separate from the villagers, but an attraction to a local boy with a special magic of his own complicates that division.

I liked Sarah and her sister. I also liked Daniel and kept hoping things would work out for them. There were a couple of characters I didn't like at all as well, but the villains are what made the tension build. That young girls were too often victimised in that era is just a matter of history. That healer women could be accused of witchcraft is also a matter of record.

This story had me gripped. Close to the end when possibilities of how it would resolve narrowed, I really didn't know which way it would go. This was one of those late night but I have to see what happens reads. Hard to imagine it as a debut novel! I will be following this author to see what else she writes.

Cunning Women is unlike any other book that I have read. The story tells of a family of four that live away from the main village. as the mother is a 'cunning woman' - a woman who makes remedies to heal or curse and the people of the village are wary of her
Sarah (the daughter of the cunning woman) meets Daniel (the son of a farmer) whilst he is trying to tame a horse and they fall in love.
The story is interwoven with mystery, each character that is introduced is a piece of the jigsaw that eventually gives us the whole picture of the family towards the end of the story.

The characters are believable and there are some surprises threaded throughout the tale. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystical book.

My thanks to Elizabeth Lee, Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of CUNNING WOMEN.
Set in the time of the early 17th century witch trials CUNNING WOMEN tells the story of the Haworth family, Sarah, Annie, John and their mother who are ostracised by the inhabitants of the village where they once lived. Sarah believes she has the mark of the devil on her and does all she can to protect her little sister, Annie from receiving a similar mark. Their mother is a herbalist and maker of potions and tinctures, her skills frequently sliding over into curses which brings them a reputation of witchcraft and demonism. After a chance meeting, Sarah finds herself wishing she could live an ordinary life like those in the village, but realises she is so ingrained with her mother's beliefs she cannot free herself because of her distrust of other people, including Daniel, a young man she sees taming a horse with kindness and patience, who falls for her and offers her a way out.
I started to read CUNNING WOMEN a couple of times before I could become immersed in the story. It has a rather slow start but I'm glad I persevered because I began to champion Sarah and her family. What an awful way to live and how frightened must they have been when anything one said and did could be misconstrued and used against a person. Elizbeth has a unique voice and once I'd found the rhythm I found it to be a very enjoyable read.

I am sorry but this was just not my cup of tea. I thought it was really slow and I found it really hard to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

I love a good Historical fiction book and am always on the look out for my new favourite read, this unfortunatly was not it.
Having said that, it was not the worst either and did actually engage with the story and the charecters.
I have read a lot of books about families living on the edge of society because of the fear of superstition and witchcraft.

This is a book that, if you enjoyed other novels like Essex Serpent or indeed the Familiars then, please do partake in this tome, but for someone who was not a fan of either of those books , i did struggle to keep attentive to this book.

I recently watched a film called ‘The Reckoning’, about a young girl who is a witch in a village at the time of the witch trials. This book really reminded me of the film, in a good way!
Sarah and her family are outcasts and have been accused by villagers of being witches. It’s not an empty accusation - Sarah’s mother is a herbal healer but isn’t adverse to the occasions cursing either. Sarah has the ‘mark’ and knows that if anyone sees it she could be hanged as a witch, another reason for her to keep her distance from the villagers. Then she meets Daniel, a local lad, and things get very complicated!
The story had quite a slow start and at first I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. I can imagine it being quite a good film too!
Recommend for fans of movies like The Witch and The Reckoning and books/plays like The Crucible and Age of Witches.

Tense, well executed 16th C tale of poverty and forbidden passion. Is the farmer’s son really in love with the cunning woman’s daughter? Or has he been bewitched? Pitch perfect sense of time and place.

I tried very hard to like this and must have read the same 1/4 of the book about 4 times but it was one that just didn’t gel with me.
I found the characters didn’t connect with me at all and I wasn’t interested in the plot even though I was from the synopsis.
I think it was just poor choosing on my behalf though because it was not a bad book by far in terms of writing but not one I liked so much.

Cunning Women was a great read! I was looking forward to this historical fiction novel set in the 1620s during the witch trials. I liked the way in which Lee writes and even though I think the romance in the story was a little bit weak, I was rooting for Sarah and Daniel from the very beginning!

I quite enjoyed ‘Cunning Women’ by Elizabeth Lee. I like reading about the history of these women who were feared and often hunted during the 17th century. Unfortunately I didn’t feel I learnt anything new

I found this book a bit slow to get in to and lacking in areas. I’m not one for giving up on a book however so did power through, where it definitely got better as the story went on. But I am very thankful for NetGalley and Elizabeth Lee for letting me read this book 😁

Evoking the rural mindset of superstition and hardship, this story speaks of the fear and prejudice of a community reliant on charms and natural healing which tip over into accusations of witchcraft and papist allegiance. It is a time when a widow and her children fall into near destitution, and get by on their wits and the kindness of some of their neighbours. The language is powerful and evocative, love and hate abound, and a seemingly impossible love is born.
The story is gripping and convincingly told from different perspectives.

This is a cut above the usual ‘Witch Lit ’ genre. It benefits from not trying to focus on a real family that existed in the 17th C, but adapts the common experiences of being out of step with religious purity, scrabbling to survive on what you can beg or steal and of being a lone woman in an unforgiving world.
The setting is described with great atmosphere and all the characters finely drawn. Even the ‘bad’ ones have the odd redeeming feature and the ‘good’ ones their weaknesses and flaws.
Sarah lives in a tumbledown cottage with her brother, little sister and Mam. I particularly liked the ambiguity of the familiars. Is Mam’s hare truly visible to her, guiding her and advising on which family to help or harm? Is Sarah’s dog a gift from the Devil upon her coming of age or a natural growing anger at the way they are treated? It can be read both ways.
At the heart of the book is a love story and I must admit I didn’t expect the ending. Both Daniel, the empathic farmhand, and Sarah grow in so many ways throughout the book and I was rooting for them.
Interesting exploration of the role of women in that society, as well as the role of the Church in village life (Parson Marsh trying his best to smooth the way for his flock despite needing considerable pharmaceutical assistance himself).
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend to fans of Karen Maitland and other historical authors, as well as those who enjoy a touch of folk horror with their social history.

In Lancashire, 1620 the talk of the cunning and of witchcraft is rife amongst the folk of the town.

Sarah and her family have suffered since the death of her father and have had to resort to begging and making cures with plants, flowers and herbs to sell to the locals to heal them of their ailments. Sarah believes she will never find love as she bears the mark, a mark that the other towns folk knows is the mark of evil.

When she sees Daniel, the farmers son training a horse she is in awe of his abilities to gain its trust and make it do as he wills it. When they speak there is an instant connection and all she never thought she’d have suddenly seems a possibility, a love that even through differences could actually work, or could it?

I really enjoyed the story. I could really hear the Lancashire accent in my head when reading it and see the characters vividly in the clothing described. It was quite a poignant story and I feel it could well have happened back in the era the book is set. Would love to see if there is a book to follow on Sarah’s story after this one.

This is a proper story - told from beginning to end, no flashbacks or dual timelines. The characters are perfectly drawn; the good, bad, cowardly and superstitious. The menace grows from the beginning and you know that there is going to be a reckoning sooner or later. I have read a lot of fantasy (e.g. Jack Vance, Tolkien), and this has the plot elements of the best of them. Superb, gripping, terrifying and emotional.

Whilst the story itself was enjoyable enough,I never found myself reaching for this book.
There were some darker bits,with talk of witchcraft,and potions.
The star of the book for me ,was Daniel,and how he grew with each page that turned.
A good slice of historical fiction.

Thankyou to NetGalley for another brilliant book. With beautifully drawn characters - Sarah in rags, with wild hair and eyes, her brother, John, the Devil-boy, little Annie with her tangled locks and clenched fists, and their mother, beaten but unbeaten by a life of hardship and pain - this glorious novel draws the reader in immediately and does not release them until the final word.

There's also Daniel, the farmer's boy, entranced by Sarah, soft at heart but proving himself steely where it matters. There's Bett, the maid, kind, brusque and down-to-earth and the dreadful Gabriel, farm labourer and tormentor of creatures, great and small.

This is a love story but with so much more to it. In 1620, women living without men, in poverty, but with herb knowledge, are undoubtedly witches. They must be avoided, except when their potions are needed to help and heal. With a lax magistrate, the Haworth family go largely unaccosted but when the new Magistrate Wright appears on the scene, times of trouble are only a step away.

I was gripped by this tale of love across a divide, possibly doomed but hopeful of good resolution. Full of passion and sadness, heartbreak and joy, this is one to relish.

Cunning women is a short novel based on Sarah, the cunning woman's daughter and her life where she meets a timid farmer boy and struggles with her new master whilst living on the outskirts of a God-fearing community.
This was a very slow book with a short and cute romance for which I honestly demand justice. I shed a few tears on what could have been of Sarah's life. I don't understand why Daniel could not go away with Sarah even if he promised himself to Molly? They hadn't married yet and if he loved Sarah, it simply does not make sense. This is why I demand justice. Other than the confusing ending to the lovestory, the plot line was weak which corresponded badly with the slow pace.
This book is ideal if you enjoy star-crossed romance and witches.

Opening in seventeenth century, Cunning Woman is a story that blends early modern suspicion and religious beliefs and witchcraft. We come face to face with a cunning family, both rejected and (hypocritically) courted under cover for their charms and knowledge. Sarah, the eldest daughter and future cunning woman, finds herself drawn to Daniel — but a world of suspicion and fear, can they find happiness?

Although not a heavy tome, I did find this story slow and difficult at the start. Parts of the early chapters were messy and anachronistic. I had to reread certain passages twice or more,

However, as the story develops, one finds the character of Sarah interesting but I cannot say I was ever invested. It is far from a bad debut — and I’m grateful to NetGalley and the Publisher — but it did not grab me. .

As a fan of historical fiction, I find it refreshing to read a book from this period that is from the point of view of the peasant rather than a royal courtier. It reminded me of Philippa Gregory’s Tidelands, dealing in issues faced by women in those times; suspicion of midwives and herbalists, and the vulnerability of unmarried/widowed women. I enjoyed Lee’s allusions to depression, bipolar and birthmarks (sounds random, but apparently a ‘reliable’ sign of a witch) and it was fascinating to draw parallels with how these are understood and viewed in our time. The language used was vernacular enough to gently suggest rural Lancashire without distracting or making a laborious read.
I found it easy to identify with the main characters and yearn for their love story to have a happy ending. I enjoyed the developing collision of the side-characters’ actions upon the lives of the couple, proving that nothing in society happens in a vacuum. I loved the fact that the main character appeared to battle internally with what she learns from a superstitious culture, and what she interpreted logically from observing the world around her, I did however, find this logical, questioning aspect of the character at odds with her “possessed by a familiar” side, and somehow wished the character had resisted the ‘inheritance’ of occult powers. I happily raced through the book and look forward to a possible sequel, or any future work by Elizabeth Lee.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Windmill for the preview copy.