on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
- Get link
- Other Apps
Rating: 4/5
Started: 3 February 2022
Finished: 6 February 2022
Summary:
Elizabeth has been chased throughout the centuries by the powerful but dangerous warlock Gideon, who gave her magic. In a small English village in 2007, Elizabeth tells Tegan, a new friend, the story of a girl who has survived by running: After most of her family died from the Bubonic Plague, and her mother was executed for witchcraft, Elizabeth turned to Gideon for protection. But while Gideon made Elizabeth feel more than she ever had before, and gifted her with incredible magic, he also felt wrong and terrifying, so Elizabeth ran. And Gideon chased her. Throughout the centuries, from the London of Jack the Ripper to the battlefields of World War I, Elizabeth ran and hid, healing as much as she could along the way.
Gideon is coming. And Elizabeth and Tegan must stop him.
Thoughts:
I got this book on recommendation from a bookstore owner in Jacksonville, Oregon. I usually wouldn't read a book of this genre, since I stick mostly to Young Adult, but it looked super interesting so I bought it, and just (finally) got around to reading it.
Aside from the ending, this book was lovely. I adore witchy things, and so all of the believable and historical witchy magic was cool to read. I am also a sucker for mentor-mentee relationships, so from that side this book was also super fun. The dual timelines of Elizabeth telling Tegan the story of the centuries she had lived through was interesting, since the 2007 perspective acted as in "in" so that being shoved into other times wasn't nearly as confusing or difficult to get into, which is always something that I appreciate.
The themes of magic and the war between male and female power were fascinating from a more analytic perspective. Elizabeth, her mother, and Tegan all had decidedly good power, which was constantly used either to heal or to combat men, from the witch trail jailers to Gideon himself. If the book wasn't so decidedly feminist, I would have found it frustrating that. healing was the women's job, but the fact that it was a sacred task, passed down through generations, made it a little less overtly sexist.
And speaking of generations, I loved the generational magic and power within the women in the book. When Elizabeth drew power from her mother in order to capture Gideon, it was a very full-circle moment, a repeat of the theme of mother-daughter strength that tends to be so strong in feminist pagan cultures.
I won't lie: I'm a little jealous of the characters in the novel. Immortality, power, sacred womanhood without sacrificing feminism, plus the mentor-mentee situation. It seems so freaking cool. I am definitely going to read the next book in the series, because I not only really want to figure out what happens, but I also just want to be able to spend a little more time in that world.
Words:
Tump (n) a small, rounded hill or mound
Effigies (n) a roughly made model of a particular person, made in order to be damaged or destroyed as a protest or expression of anger.
Unctions (n) a medicinal oil or ointment
Ablutions (n) the act of washing oneself
Garrulous (adj) excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters
Scintilla (n) a tiny trace or spark of a specific quality or feeling
Pottage (n) soup or stew
Emporia (plural n) business establishments that specialize in products or services on a large scale
Sundry (adj) of various kinds, several
Wattle (n) a material for making fences, walls, etc., consisting of rods or stakes interlaced with twigs or branches
Daub (n) plaster, clay, or another substance used for coating a surface, especially when mixed with straw and applied to laths r wattles to form a wall.
Popery (n) the doctrines, practices, and ceremonies associated with the Pope or the papal system
Portentously (adv) of or like a portent (sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen)
Bereaved (adj) deprived of a close relation or friend through their death.
Coppiced (adj) (of a tree) having been cut back to ground level periodically to stimulate growth
Viridian (n) a blueish-greening pigment consisting of hydrated chromium hydroxide
Fescue (n) any number of narrow-leaved grasses
Cordite (n) a smokeless explosive made from nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, and petroleum jelly,, used in ammunition
Howitzer (n) a short gun for firing shells on high trajectories at low velocities
Accoutrements (n) additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity
Dyspeptic (adj) of or having indigestion or consequent irritability or depression
Peccadilloes (n) small, relatively unimportant offenses or sins
Pillion (n) a seat for a passenger behind a motorcyclist
Ingénue (n) an innocent or unsophisticated young woman, especially in a play or film
Harridans (n) strict, bossy, or belligerent old women