Set in a small village in the 1620s, Cunning Women focuses on the relationship between Sarah - daughter of a 'cunning woman', or witch, depending on the mood of the community, who has herself been 'marked' - and Daniel, son of the local farmer. There is a delightful ambiguity about whether or not Sarah and her mother really are 'witches' - there is no denying they have a power, and the ability to prepare healing draughts from plants, but how much of it is belief, how much of it is genuine witchcraft? To that matter, what exactly is 'witchcraft'? A devil-given power, or an innate understanding of humanity and nature? Ultimately, however, this book is about so much more than witchcraft; it is about the closeness of community, love and family, and the awful ease with which groupthink can take over.
Set against this fraught social environment, a romance between Sarah and Daniel develops, and as the book progressed I found myself clinging to hope as dread began to seep through the pages - the characters are well-crafted and believable, constrained by their circumstances, but reaching for a hope which shimmers on the horizon. Quietly powerful, this book will linger in my memory for quite some time.

Although I enjoy historical fiction, this novel was set in the 1600’s, a period I don’t tend to read much about. The meagre lifestyle and tension of a family desperately trying to survive compelled me to stay up late to turn the pages and find out what fate had in store for Sarah Haworth and her family.

A new magistrate arriving in the village and Sarah’s budding relationship with a local farmer’s son, Daniel, led to ever increasing danger for Sarah.

The author’s depiction of the villagers’ fear and marginalisation of a family deemed to be witches was haunting and stayed with me long after finishing the novel.

This book has all the ingredients for an enchanting and thrilling tale, revolving around a poor Lancashire family, banished to the hills after being suspected of witchcraft and sorcery.

But when the cunning woman's daughter, Sarah, falls for the local farmer's son, hope begins to surface - if Sarah can disguise herself as a dairy maid, Daniel's father may allow them to wed, providing Sarah with the means to care for her family. That is until a murder occurs and all fingers point to the family on the hill; with a new magistrate in town determined to seek out witches, time is running out for Sarah and her family, who will soon find themselves hunted by the entire village.

As far as paranormal historical fiction goes, Cunning Women is probably middle-to-top of the pack in my opinion. There is healing and sorcery, villains and heroes, and romance and revenge. While I enjoyed the themes and the plot, it all just felt a little two-dimensional. The characters, while varied, felt underdeveloped, as did the setting and the romance between Sarah and Daniel. I didn't have particularly strong feelings for anyone and thought the pacing was a bit too slow to really grab me and keep me invested.

I love books about witches but I really wish this one had been spookier and more sinister - it felt just a bit too tame compared to others I've read.

While I didn't dislike the book, it just wasn't a standout for me. I'd still recommend it to those that enjoy British-based witch-themed historical fiction novels, perhaps of a slightly younger audience who are just getting into this genre.

This was a great historical fiction, I read a lot this genre and I found cunning women to be a truly great story with an exciting plot. I will definitely be recommending this to my friends and family

I enjoyed this book. Anything that is witchy and has some strong female characters I'm all over. This was great, can't wait to read more by this author.

Spring of 1620 in Lancashire, which is still fresh from the Pendle witch trials, Sarah lives with her family and the mark of a witch.

Her mother is a cunning woman - one who can make potions to heal and to harm.

She falls in love with Daniel a farmer, who tries all he can to keep her safe.

This was a really disjointed narrative for me and I wanted to love it so much.

The story was good but I did find myself easily distracted and wanted it to get going.

There were some nasty characters and some that I liked, but I didn’t feel like anyone in particular connected with me.

I was kinda curious how this would be handled. I thought it might be all about 'feminine power' and that they'd have talents to indicate that as a kind of...I dunno, vague metaphorical allegory. And while I found some elements of the book compelling, it was an easy read, it still didn't sit easily with me. As a magic realism book it's ok. Not terrible, not excellent, ok.

A gripping but easy read set in the early 1600s. Elizabeth Lee creates a medieval feel with incredible imagery, I almost feel like I can picture the settlement in a similar way to an old memory. A historical drama tale of a shunned family of witches who must beg and sell balms and remedies to make ends meet in their dilapidated plague-village home. Daughter Sarah is born with the witch's birth mark, and the tale follows her as she struggles with whether to embrace her destiny or to follow her heart to the farm boy and a chance at a normal life that could support her family. An empowering, coming-of-age story entwined with a forbidden love triangle that doesn’t take over the main themes in the book. A refreshing recipe for a fantastic read. I found Cunning Women incredibly hard to put down, I will definitely be reading this again. A powerful debut for Elizabeth Lee, I am very excited to see what she comes out with next, definitely an author to follow!

Cunning Women is about witches, and I love reading about witches. So it wasn’t a hard decision to pick this book up. I was expecting something like The Familiars by Stacey Halls. In some ways Cunning Women does remind of that historical take on witches, yet in others it’s very different.

Sarah Haworth and her family are witches. They are labelled as such by the villagers and Lee shows in the book that it is true. The family are as accused. And yet Lee humanises them. She shows the reader that, though they have power, they are also people with feelings and the ability to suffer.

Whilst reading Cunning Women, I did have some reservations about the way Lee imagines witches in this historical setting. By giving the women actual witchy powers, I felt that she takes away from the realities of why women were persecuted in the 17th century. I felt uncomfortable with the way she seems to be saying that witches were guilty as accused? I think if Cunning Women hadn’t felt realistic in every other way, I wouldn’t have come away from the book feeling like this.

From a snippet of an interview with Lee that I dropped across, I understand that she meant the Haworth family’s magic to represent female power. After reading this, and looking at it this way, I do feel better about the way witches are represented in this book. Though I still feel uneasy about the insinuation that they are in fact serving the devil.

As I mentioned earlier, Lee does show the Haworths as human beings, as people who are just the same as everyone else in every other way. The family are living in extreme poverty, as outcasts from village life. And the boy in the family unable to get work because of the reputation of the family. This makes the story complex, in a way that gives me mixed feelings about it. And perhaps that’s how Lee intended me to feel.

Lee contrasts Sarah’s perspective, and her family’s extreme poverty, with that of Daniel, the son of a farmer, who is well-fed and seemingly has everything Sarah’s family doesn’t. Lee uses his character to show the difficulties men faced in this period too, with the expectation to ‘be a man’ and live up to the image expected of him in this society. So through this dual perspective, we see two sides of this society. We also see how difficult it is for the pair to bridge the gap between them.

I definitely enjoyed the relationship between Daniel and Sarah, the hope that they have for a better life, and the genuine feelings they have for one another. Though I felt like Daniel’s feelings for Sarah develop a bit too quickly. I’m not sure if this was intentional though because of the ideas around witches ‘bewitching’ men into desiring them.

The relationship is a tender one though. And, for me, some of the best parts of the book are the scenes featuring them together. There are moments when Lee is writing them falling in love when her writing really shines, and she writes some beautiful descriptions of their time together.

The writing in the rest of the book, though, is a bit hit and miss. She writes mostly in quite a straightforward way, with little description and scene-setting. Her dialogue feels authentic to the time, though I’m not an expert on the time period. But there are points where her writing (and dialogue) do feel awkward. I like a simple writing style, but there are times when I would have liked a bit more description, and perhaps to have delved deeper into the characters minds.

Lee tells the two different perspectives in two different points of view. She writes Sarah’s sections in first-person present tense, whilst she writes Daniel’s in third-person past tense. And I found this switch to be a bit jarring at times. I think alternating between first and third person does work when done well, but the tense change was too much for me. I’m not sure what Lee was trying to achieve stylistically, but it didn’t work.

Thematically, as I said, Cunning Women is about women’s power. And the way women are perceived in the world based on that power. There is a strange contrast later in the novel when the villagers perceive Sarah as something other than the poor daughter of the cursed Haworth family. And Lee repeatedly draws the reader to this contrast: this idea that you can be the same person you were yesterday but be dressed differently, present to the world differently, and you are treated differently. Sarah for a while hides who she ‘really is’, as she sees it, and this means that she is treated as a different person. I think that’s a really interesting idea that I wish Lee had delved further into.

Overall, Cunning Women fell just short of the mark for me. I felt like it merely skimmed the surface of the characters’ minds. The characterisation didn’t feel deep and well-rounded, and the description was lacking. I felt like it would have been a much better book if it had been longer. I wish Lee had taken her time building an atmosphere and building the characters into more well-rounded people. Though I didn’t like the way Lee portrayed witchcraft, I understand what she was trying to do. I have mixed feelings about it, though it is a book that has made me think about why I dislike the portrayal of witches in this way. So for that I would recommend it. I would also recommend it to fans of The Familiars. It’s not as good as that book, but it’s along very similar lines.

Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of this book.
Firstly, what a beautiful cover of a book. I would buy it just for that alone.
And second, the plot. It's characterisation is spot on and you find yourself rooting for the main character from the very beginning.
As with books that include witches, there is an air of sadness but this book ends on notes of hope and empowerment.
The plot is not unique but it's characters stay with you long after the book ends.

I think this review may be a little all over the place, as there was a LOT in this book, some of it I liked and some of it not so much.
It was a little slow to start off with, but once it got going it was really gripping.
There were some really cliche parts, but also some well written and at times heart wrenching parts
Essentially it was a beautiful story, with a lot to offer, I feel I could have got more from it though.

I have to admit that although I enjoyed this book, I was left with the feeling of "oh!" once I had finished it.

The blurb really intrigued me and I loved the characters but although the ending was good, I think that the middle part really let it down. To the point that I had got to the point of no longer being invested.

I've lost count of how many times I've tried to get into this one. I thought I might manage it after reading the magnificent 'The Leviathan' by Rosie Andrews being in the 'zone' of witchcraft but I've failed miserably. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me try & read this book!

Following from Francesca May's Wild And Wicked Things, we have another story about witchcraft, but of a rather different sort. Wild and Wicked Things is set in an alternative early twentieth century, and its witchcraft is of its time - very glamorous and full of temptation. Cunning Women is set three centuries earlier, when witchcraft was very much believed in, something to be feared and persecuted, and it's far more down to earth in setting and story.

Sarah Haworth and her family have had to leave their home after the death of her father. They now live in an abandoned house outside the village, and scrape together a living selling potions and cures, which has earned them a reputation as 'cunning women' or witches. Sarah's mother is inclined to encourage this label as she feels it gives them protection as the villagers live in fear of the illness and pain witches might cause; Sarah would just rather live a normal life, and is delighted when Daniel, the local farmer's son, becomes attracted to her, and gives her a job at the farm.
Then, following a series of strange deaths, a new magistrate arrives, and his eye turns towards the 'cunning women'. Public opinion has turned against the Haworth family, with people seeking to settle old wrongs and grudges. Can Sarah manage to protect her family, and save her relationship with Daniel? In a world set against anyone practising witchcraft, where too many innocent women have already died for the offence, it seems unlikely.
In many ways, this is a familiar story - a historical tale of witchcraft, of seventeenth century persecution of anyone suspected of it, of the personal grudges leading to false accusations and deaths - and, although good enough, didn't enthrall me.

I really like the pretty front cover of this book. It was one of the things that drew me in and if like me this is what drew you to the book. I just want to confirm that this book is also a well written book, with interesting characters and an engaging storyline too.

Thank you to Random House UK for the ARC to review! This was an interesting, moving, enraging (in a good way) read. I read it very quickly, as it was very engaging and easy to follow. I feel very connected to these women, and the characters themselves feel very real and realised. The cover is also beautiful!

I found this book to be really enjoyable to read. It was well written with a compelling storyling and engaging characters that I took to my heart. The pacing was on the slower side but I didn't mind that too much as it worked for this book. I rewally enjoy historical fiction and especially historical fiction that is set during the witch trials - or that incorporate witches in anyway, I really liked this book and will definitely be looking for more from the author.

I finally got around to readng this little gem and I am glad it didn't fall off my radar.
I enjoy books about witches, I enjoy a good historical fiction and this book is both - and much like The Mercies - leaves me saddened, enraged, and hopeful for the little slivers of good that shine through in people.

Sarah is the daughter of the local cunning women, the loss of her father sees them outcast, begging for coing or food, often just a snippet of kindness every day. They are shunned, looked down upon and chased away mroe often than not, but just about everyone has need of their knowlegde under coer of night.

That events such as this really happened is a lot to wrap your head around, and Lee brings it to life across the pages, with characters you can see little bits of yourself, and people you know, in along with a few (both the old and new magistrates) that you hope never to meet! The writing seems a little disjointed in the beginning, but once Sarah meets Daniel, heir to the only farm in the village, the pace is solid and you are carried away with the hope of a different life for them, and for Sarah's family, especially little Annie.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in witchy, historical fiction, who is looking for a very sweet love story - but perhaps not to anyone who needs a happy ending.

I enjoyed this book so much and adored the front cover I sent and bought a copy in hardback. What a book! I felt connected to the characters, especially the women! Set in the 1620s, I don't know much about England in the 1620s, but I feel it did show some history but maybe could have showed some more?it's definitely a slower built up book so definitely stay with it. Thank you for giving me this opportunity

I really enjoyed this book. From the minute I picked it up I didn't want to put it down. I liked everything about it, the time period, the story, the characters which were a well rounded mix of ones to love and ones to despise.

Sarah and her family are outcasts from the village feared to be witches and living in the ruins of a hamlet left deserted due to the plague. An unlikely romance begins between Sarah and Daniel the farmers son can they make it against all odds.

It's a story about family about love and loss, hope, fear and prejudice.

I liked the style of writing, can't pinpoint why exactly, I just did .... witchcraft maybe?!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC