A captivating historical thriller of a book.

Brilliantly written and well plotted

A Great cast of characters

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

You’ve heard of Salem, but have you heard of Manningtree? This book follows the fictional sister of the real Matthew Hopkins, England’s self-proclaimed Witchfinder General, who prowled the towns of East Anglia in the mid 1600s, hunting witches. When Alice Hopkins returns home following her husband’s death, she is horrified to find that he has become influential thanks to his ruthlessness in tracking witches. When Alice tries to intervene, suspicious eyes turn to her, and when she tries to understand the root of her brother’s rage, she discovers family secrets that had been hidden for decades.
My favourite part of this book was Beth Underdown’s writing, which was full of tension and suspense. The tone and first person narration, in the form of Alice’s journal, really made the characters and story feel real, and the atmosphere of fear and suspicion was palpable. To top it all off, this book had the only final sentence which made me literally GASP IN SHOCK. I don’t believe in spoilers in reviews, so please read this book and come back to SCREAM WITH ME.
Alice was a fascinating protagonist who you can get behind. I liked that she and the other characters all had a detailed backstory without their pasts taking over the plot. The author was brilliant at making characters’ pasts relevant to the story rather than just background information, and was also great at bringing characters together in interesting and believable relationships. I particularly liked the friendship that formed between Alice and one of the women suspected of witchcraft.
I love reading about little known parts of history and this book was fantastic at bringing the Manningtree witch hunts to life. I loved the excerpts of real historical texts, and also the author’s note at the end of the book which set out which parts were true and which were fiction. It made me want to learn more about Manningtree and Matthew Hopkins, as well as want to dive back into a 17th century historical novel. Generally, I loved its insight into how women were accused of witchcraft for all sorts of reasons, such as mental illness, birthmarks, promiscuity, or just having pissed off the wrong person.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and how it was both a gripping story and informative. I loved the atmosphere and how it chilled me to the bone, Alice’s brains and the other smart women that made up its cast.

Hauntingly good!
This is a fictional account of the Manningtree witch trials in Essex, England, in the 17th century, and of the witchfinder himself, named Matthew Hopkins (a historical figure). What would happen, if Matthew had a sister, a witness of his doings?

Widow Alice Hopkins returns home, penniless and expecting a child from her late husband. She hopes for a living at her family's house (now only her step-brother Matthew living there, as their parents are both dead). Yet, her beloved brother has changed. There was always certain pain in him, certain strangeness, yet Alice had always tried to understood, protect - and the siblings had simply loved each other. But now, there is darkness in Matthew. Together with his strictness, methodicality and certain hate for women - and with fear old and new in the peaceless times; with rich men with no humble attitude towards losses and certain superstitions well living - the situation is ready to be used for some hunt. Witch hunt.

Hundred and six women had died because of Matthew Hopkins. The authoress takes the historical frame and smartly interwoves her take on the story around it. The story is exquisitely written - well-researched, deep and real. I especially like how Alice was written, as she feels real - not some warrior princess of certain tales, but simply a normal woman put into abnormal situation, who goes from shock into horror and then into fight. But her fight is taken realistically (I would probably do the same as her (or maybe even less, who knows?) - while feeling terror, fear and one person's smallness against the crowd. And the darkness of times is also well expressed in the "smaller", domestic matters - as Matthew's doings have their beginnings and the fuel in their home situation.
And the darkness does not stop there - there are hints here and there about something lurking, charms and the reality of the darker powers...

I quite dislike the ending scene, but it is written within the settings and the tone of the story.

I like that the authoress tries quite new approach - not the simple black-and-whiteness, but deeper questions, the way down into the souls to remember and to understand better - what was hidden for a child, might be known to a grown-up. And one needs to grown up with this all this knowledge. Human's smallnesses are seen through civil, even kind lens here (but these lens are not rosy and naive!).
And maybe we can ask ourselves - which kind of witchhunt could be done today? Who might be the victims (even the improbable victims)? Because in every time there are the weak and the silent ones. And the crowds. Wisdom and real (if sometimes tough) love is always needed.

Before the famous Salem Witch Hunts happened in the US, the UK had the Essex Witch Trials, spearheaded by the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. When his sister, Alice, is forced to return to the small Essex home in Manningtree after the tragic death of his husband, she hopes for safety, love and support. But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed from their last meeting and whispers follow him now. Whispers of witchcraft and whispers of a book he owns, a book where he is gathering women names… As Matthew’s obsession grows, so does the creeping dread Alice feels… How far is Matthew’s obsession going to go? And what choice will Alice make to save herself?

As someone who isn’t the biggest historical fiction reader, I did like this. I’m a little surprise that I did like it as much as I did. But I am going to admit it here, this book is flawed. It isn’t perfect, but once it hits its stride, it does make gripping listening.

Ok, let’s start with the negative - I know, this is an odd place to start, but I want to point one or two things out that I didn’t warm to. The first is the start is a little slow to find its footing. I get why - we need to understand why Alice returns to Manningtree and why she stays with Matthew, even though she knows that something is terribly wrong - but it does feel like it takes a while before the story finds its footing. And when it does, the writing sometimes tends to wander. Again, I get why - as we discover within the very first chapter, Alice is locked in a room and she only has writing the account of her stay in Manningtree to keep her going - but I wish, at times, the writing was a little tighter in its storytelling.

But, saying that, I do things this book has a ton of positives. Once this story does find its footing and its stride, this story becomes a slow burn of a thriller between Alice and Matthew. Alice can see that the villages and towns in Essex believe that witches live among them and the fear and speculation slowly growing and while this is happening, you sense the fear of Alice of Matthew, who seems to be enjoying the fear and the power he has, not of finding the witches, but the power he has over Alice herself, and you are rooting for Alice to get out or to somehow get control over the situation, though we know that in 1645, this is highly unlikely, and you empathise with Alice because of the limits of her choices.

Plus, as this is a fictional account of the Witchfinder General, it’s interesting to see where fact and fiction blur. Though, this is very accessible and, as the author notes, she did have to take some liberties with some of the characters did and some of the events that happen.

I know the TV rights to this book have been sold and I do think this will be a really interesting TV series, but I do hope that when it does get made, it keeps the slow burning fear and tension. I want to watch this with fear, not because of the witch hunts, but of Alice and Matthew. I want to be scared that every times Alice looks into their mother’s death or the mystery around Matthew’s birth or even her trying to talk Matthew down (and failing) from his witch hunts. I want to terrified and root for her for all the choices - good and bad - that she makes!

I am very intrigued to see what Beth Underdown writes next.

The Witch Finder's Sister is a tale based on the life of a witch hunter,  Matthew Hopkins. Who is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 100's of women in the mid-1600's. The story is told by his sister, Alice. The pacing was very slow, sadly didn't work for me.

Essex, England, 1645

Alice Hopkins is a pregnant widow who must return to her hometown of Manningtree, Essex, to reside with her brother, Matthew Hopkins. She has not seen him in five years and finds that he has changed. He is no longer the young man who loves scripture. Matthew is now a man with power and influence. He has become a powerful man who is feared as he is a hunter of witches. He has a list of names and carefully takes notes as he interviews those who have been accused of witch craft. Alice tries to change his mind, but soon finds his mind cannot be changed. He is on a mission and soon makes her take part in his witch hunts.

Witch hunts that occurred in England. Matthew Hopkins was a real witch hunter who in fact "is believed to have been responsible for the executions of 300 alleged witches between the years 1644 and 1646" (information from Wikipedia) In his short reign more people (mainly women) were hanged than in the previous one hundred years. Can you even imagine what it was like to live during those times? One need only blink the wrong way and be accused. If people did not like you, if you were the least bit different, if you did not comply with societal norms, or someone had a grudge against you - you could be accused.

I love books written about real events and/or people. I also happen to love books about witches and accused witches. This book was no exception. In the Author's notes she tells where she took liberties (a lot) and made up characters (i.e. Alice Hopkins) and where she interwove fact. Be sure to read that section as well! I found this book to be well-written and compelling. This book is thought provoking and frightening. What a scary time in history - this book showcases the horrific treatment and persecution of those accused and the ways in which women were proven to be witches.

I love books that not only entertain but educate and evoke feeling. I am quite familiar with the Salem Witch Trials in the U.S. and thorough this book learned about witch hunts that took place in England. A lot of research went into this book and I thought she did a great job writing a story around real events and a real person. It's heartbreaking to think about what women endured and suffered during those times.

Set among the witch trials of 1645, The Witchfinder’s Sister tells the story of a recently widowed woman named Alice. She has returned to the small town in Manningtree, England, to live with her brother. It’s here that the witch trials take place and becomes a time of terror for the women of Manningtree. Such a brilliant story of witch hunt that took place before the trials of Salem.

Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of this book for an impartial review.

The subject area really ticked boxes for me but, unfortunately, the characters failed to engage me. They were a little flaccid and unappealing and not quite believable. The writing and the storyline was imaginative to carry on reading but I stopped reading about halfway through as I just couldn't put up with the characters.

A really interesting piece of historical fiction that felt very atmospheric. Really well written and compelling.

he story is told from the point of view of a young widow who returns home to live with her brother. He is a severe and cold hearted man who has developed a talent for discovering witches. He sadistically torments his sister through intimidation.

This is such a great example of historical fiction. It's informative and engrossing, and I became completely immersed in the story of Alice and Matthew. I've always been fascinated by the witch-trials that swept the nation in the seventeenth century, and this book added another layer to my understanding. The lyrical prose and tense premise combine to create a slow-burn thriller that I would recommend to fans of Joanne Harris and to lovers of historical fiction.

This was a well constructed and beautifully lyrical book. It tells the fictionalised story of Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed Witch Finder General, and his persecutions of women in Essex, England in the 1600s. Told from the point of view of his sister, Alice, this is a wonderfully vivid exploration of the man and his motives, along with the societal superstitions and prejudices that allowed him such a free reign. Beth Underdown paints a portrait of a very troubled man with a family history of mental instability and takes us deep into the psyche of Hopkins, ensuring that we have to see him as a man first, as opposed to a monster. There are some great characters at play here, including Alice herself, who is a witness to many of the trials and we get a real sense of the insignificant things that could condemn a woman to death. There are occasions where the pacing lags just a little, but overall this is a remarkable achievement.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A dark stain on human history. The story of Matthew Hopkins' sister is gripping from start to finish, almost gut-wrenching knowing what's to come. The witch trials in Britain are rarely documented unlike the trials of Salem. Hence reading this historical fiction almost brought the disgrace to life. You have pure empathy for the sister Alice, who attempts throughout to thwart her brother's evil plans. But it raises the question of complicity and innocence and how far gone Alice had crossed the line. Matthew's character is purely psychopathic, and he truly is a villain in every sense. A fantastic, detailed read.

I had trouble getting into the idea of this and stopped after a few chapters.

England in the mid 17th Century is a nation divided like never before by social change, politics and religion. Civil war rages in the background of The Witchfinder's Sister but a more insidious battle is taking place in the fearful and superstitious hearts and minds of men and a secret war is also being waged against women, fuelled by ignorance, jealousy and spite.

This novel is not a comfortable read. To me there are too many parallels to the present day in our so-called 'united kingdom' and the political issues that are currently dividing us. It also reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale in many aspects.

Beth Underdown has created a claustrophobic picture of women's lives in the 17th century. She skilfully draws the reader into the everyday life of the era in a very readable and convincing manner. The cruel and escalating horrors of the witch trials are brilliantly portrayed through the eyes of our heroine, Alice Hopkins, and we are left thinking that this could indeed have happened to oneself or any other ordinary woman in a time when nobody will step forward and speak up to stop what is happening for fear that the eye of the witch hunt will be turned towards themselves. The menace and slow-burning hysteria of the era is brilliantly drawn.

Make no mistake, this is not a cosy historical novel. Matthew Hopkins, the self styled Witchfinder, is a truly cold hearted serial killer of the most psychotic kind and he makes your flesh crawl.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House, Ms Underdown and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity of reading and reviewing this book.

Proper historical fiction, well written, absorbing, based on fact. I really enjoyed this book and found that it conjured up the age with its superstition and casual cruelty very well. We see why people thought there were witches and why they informed on others. Excellent read of fact and story.

The New York Times Book Review says Beth Underdown’s The Witchfinder’s Sister is a “a novel for our times…” and if that is true, I fear for both our times and the quality of literature it produces. I mean no offense to the reviewer or to the author for that matter, but I wholeheartedly disagree with the assessment and am not inclined to pretend otherwise.

The novel centers on the fictitious Alice Hopkins. For those who aren’t aware, publishers don’t like narratives about men, so to tell stories like that of Matthew Hopkins, authors are forced to rely on gimmicks that allow them to approach male characters from female points of view which likely explains how the historic headliner of this particular publication came to occupy a supporting role in his own story. I find the trend annoying as all hell, but that’s a tirade for another day.

I obviously understand why Underdown required a female protagonist, but why she chose to create one is beyond my comprehension. Matthew had at least five siblings according to his father’s will, but only three are ever named: James, Thomas, and John. Could a sister have existed? It’s certainly plausible, but filling to void wasn’t entirely necessary. Matthew’s mother, Marie Hopkins, seems a prime candidate in my eyes, as does Mary Phillips, a midwife who partnered with Matthew in the course of his investigations. Then of course, there’s the hundreds of women he persecuted…

Now I don’t believe it fair to rake a book across the coals for the inclusion of a fictional caricature, so please don’t conclude that Alice’s presence in and of itself factors in the lukewarm rating above. I’ve lots of complaints about the narrative, but
Alice’s lack of a historic counterpart is simply not among them. Her mouse-like demeanor bored me to tears, the fact that she is a witness rather than an active participant in much of the narrative inspired a number of yawns, and her inexplicable episode of courage in the final chapters stuck me as contradictory to her nature, but I do not discriminate because she lacks real life inspiration.

Those familiar with Matthew’s legacy understand that his victims were largely comprised of the old, the poor, the feeble, the disabled, the defenseless, those who fell victim to the suspicion of their neighbors, and those upon whom others held grievances both real and imagined. Underdown chronicles this moderately well. She also offers up some great details about the realities of witch hunting over the course of the novel, but there is almost nothing about the politics or ideology behind the practice. I am not a writer, but I think the novel would have been stronger if she’d emphasized how Matthew’s ideas, which he recorded in The Discovery of Witches (1647), built on those of James I as recorded in Daemonologie (1597). Underdown’s fiction implies that Matthew was a fanatic which is entirely possible, but it fails to relay that much of what he believed was in line with both common thought and the beliefs of a king only two decades in his grave.

In my eyes, The Witchfinder’s Sister boasts tedious pacing, yawn-worthy characters, a gross underuse of historic fact, and an anti-climactic finale, but I’m not above giving credit where due. Underdown’s choice of inspiration had merit, but the execution paled in comparison to the portrayal offered by Vincent Price in Witchfinder General, a 1968 film based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. I firmly Matthew’s is a tale worth telling, but when I’m entirely honest with myself, I don’t feel The Witchfinder’s Sister capitalized on the material and have to concede I’d have difficulty recommending it forward.

The horror which man can visit on his fellow man, or woman, on anyone slightly different or strange, is explored in this richly-written debut novel. ‘The Witchfinder’s Siste’r by Beth Underdown is a fictional telling of a real seventeenth century witchfinder, Matthew Hopkins, and his invented sister Alice. It is a novel steeped in historical fact, with excerpts of documents including real people and trials.
It is 1645 and the Civil War in England is into its fourth year. There is a sense of brooding danger from the very beginning, and not just because of war. It is a time of religious fervour. A short prologue contains a list of women named as witches, their descriptions and accused crimes. Then in chapter one we meet Alice who is confined to one room. This novel is the account of her life.
When Alice’s husband dies in London in a work accident, she returns home, newly pregnant, to the Essex village where she grew up. Upon entering the home of her younger half-brother Matthew, she discovers he has become obsessed with punishing women for witchery. As her worry about his activities turns into fear, she is unable to escape his influence and is pulled into complicity with his acts. Despite attempts to break free, she too is under his power.
It is a fascinating historical read, the sort of book where you feel assured the author’s research is authentic. Told completely from Alice’s point of view, the other female characters are deeply drawn. The servants in her brother’s house, the creepy Mary Phillips and young Grace; Bridget, her step-mother’s former servant; and Rebecca West, accused of witchery. Some of it is difficult reading, particularly the Watching and Searching of suspects, who are subjected to difficult and demeaning conditions. The power of a few men over so many is frightening. With relevance to today’s society are the big issues of man’s inhumanity to man, intolerance and that ability to inflict cruelty which seems always to lurk just beneath the surface of civilised society.
A book that will stay with me for a long time, and which will be re-read.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

I would like to thank Penguin Books for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book.

The Witch Finder's Sister is a fictional tale based on the life of Matthew Hopkins - a witch hunter believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women between the years 1644 and 1646. The story is told through the eyes of his sister Alice who experiences his obsession first hand and recounts the tale to the reader.

Initially, when I first started reading the book I thought I was going to love it. The writing style appealed to me, it felt like Alice was talking directly to me and I was excited to read more. But, unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. It concentrated too much on Alice's emotions, inner thoughts, and memories. She was a bystander lost within her own past and present, looking in rather than looking out at the horror of what was actually taking place. There were so many missed opportunities to escalate the storyline and to ramp up the tension, but they were missed because of the way the storyline advanced in regards to Alice's character.

As a reader, I only got little peeks into the true horrors of what Matthew was doing. Right before the witch hunts approached their worst, just when things were starting to get interesting and were really about to kick off, the author decided to lock Alice in the attic, which of course resulted in the reader being locked in that attic alongside Alice.

What happened in that dark attic? Not much at all - meanwhile, Matthew and his witch trials are causing chaos. The trials are approaching their worst, hundreds of women are being killed, months of mayhem and murder are taking place, and the reader is sat in the dark with Alice. There was so much going on outside that attic that the reader was excluded from, all the chaos and horrors that would have made this a book to remember, and instead we're given a just few pages of Alice in the dark. What a let down that was.

The book is categorised by the publisher as being adult general fiction, mystery, and thriller, but to be honest there wasn't much mystery or thrills to be found. The pacing was very slow, there wasn't enough action, and characters were hard to connect with. The ending, in particular, had me rolling my eyes.

Not one I would recommend. The blurb and the cover quotes promised much and delivered little.

Loosely based on real events, The Witchfinder’s Sister is an atmospherical drama following Alice on her return to the home of her childhood after her husband is accidentally killed. She arrives to find things have changed dramatically, and quickly learns of her brother’s work finding and questioning witches. Alice does her best to thwart Matthew, and to help his powerless victims, but he won’t be stopped. All Alice can do is watch and wonder just how far he will go.

This story is heavy and harrowing. The plot develops slowly which, instead of being boring, adds to the tense atmosphere and realism. The most disturbing thing is that Matthew Hopkins did exist and, though this story is fictional, it is based around truth, with real victims and well documented trials.

I enjoyed the writing style. The language used is old-fashioned but very readable, and Beth Underdown sets the cold and harsh atmosphere magnificently. My only area of criticism is in Alice’s character, because I found her weak and repetitive. Some allowance can be made for her weakness, because in that day and age there would have been very little she could really do. She had little-to-no influence over the men, so the other women’s expectation that she could stop her brother was unfair. However, she was also so naïve and refused to believe anything anyone said against her family, even when it was staring her in the face. This was annoying.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The atmosphere and tension were near perfection in this story and the general content is fascinating, but other elements could have been better.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.