The book I’m reviewing in this post came as a dark and magical surprise!
This post is about the novel “The Curewife” by Claire-Marie Watson!
This is a very historic novel that deals with everything that I love about the dark and unsettling 17th. Old conception of magic, surviving turbulent times, and becoming a witch!
The novel is written as the diary of Grissel Jaffray, who is based on a real historical case, and according to some reviews I read online was the last person sentenced and killed as a witch in Scotland in the 17th century. Can anyone of my readers confirm that? My knowledge of the history of Scotland is not that detailed. The novel does reveal actual archival material from the witch trial this was based on, so we know for sure that this is a historical case.
At the beginning of the novel, Grissel comes to Dundee to marry, and brings with herself a few rare abilities. Not only does she know a lot about healing, fortune-telling, and related issues – she is also a woman that knows how to read and write. No matter where in Europe you were at the time, that was rare. Grissel however, writes her diary throughout her life. She writes about being happily married, as well as about wars threatening her town. We get a detailed account of the plague reaching her city while her first son is an infant, and we also notice in fleeting daily interactions how the world slowly turns against her.
All of these things are told moment by moment and in a most authentic manner. There is rarely any place for many descriptions, but a first-person and first-hand experience. It was written as fiction, but it is written with the aim of reproducing a possible historical source. Or, a piece of literature that is as honest, touching, and challenging to read as such a historical source would be. Sudden moments follow each other, and it sometimes is a challenge to catch up. People refer to the movements of armies, local anecdotes, and other things that are tough to decode a few centuries later. This is what made the novel so enjoyable for me! It was written as the kind of diary that could have been.
It is a very unique attempt to give insight into the life of an ordinary 17th century person that was unlucky enough to end up in a historical archive. It is told sudden, chaotic, and pure, and I admire everything about this book! I deeply recommend reading it, even though it is tough to understand without detailed knowledge of the local history of that period. It is a haunting challenge!
I found this book in an equal surprising place!
Earlier this year, I was in Edinburgh, and found this book in a wonderful second-hand-bookstore. That small and colourful place made me fall in love with the existence of books once more, and eventually, I found this piece of historical magic on its seemingly endless shelf.
Since this book had once belonged to someone else, someone unknown left notes for me to read. Sometimes, it helped me with Scottish vocabulary (which I don’t have, but was in need for while reading this), but it also left behind some detailed notes about the connection of historical events within the novel!
This post is a recommendation, if you have the patience, and the love for haunted historical tales!
Mistress witch writes 