This historical novel combines the Jacobite uprisings of the 1690s with the terrible witch-hunts of Britain which were only repealed in 1735, the last three hundred years before that in which hundreds of thousands of woman were persecuted-for ridiculous things, for being independent,, eccentric, for knowing herb lore, for living alone. It had the thick, earthy smell of plants at night, and water, and water sounds… A valley of such narrowness, and with such steep sides that it is like walking into a hand, half-closed… It was an open hand that I could lie inside, and it would keep me safe. This was, for the most part, a well-written and enjoyable piece of historical fiction, but it was overlong in parts and repetitive in others and contained an unnecessary love story that would have been better left on the cutting-room floor. Ultimately, Corrag is arrested and accused of witchcraft and murder for her supposed involvement in the Glencoe Massacre.

The novel is based on a real character and real events: the Glencoe massacre in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1600s. Although some of it strains credulity, I can live with that when my attention is captured as thoroughly as Susan Fletcher did. When I first started this book, i was worried as so many of my GR friends had raved about it, and I didn’t connect with it right away.

Corrag;s plight fist inspires contempt in Charles and later compassion as he begins to understand far from being a wanton and loathsome witch, she is a loving and joyful soul, as the book is divided into sections where she talks about her life, and the letters by Charles to his wife in Ireland. Corrag lays her heart out on the table as she slowly and purposely tells him everything about her lonesome life. Although they had indeed signed an oath of allegiance to King William, it was done six days too late, six days after the deadline.

The following day, the 1st July 1916, was the first day of the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest and most brutal of the First World War. I loved the way the author accomplished the telling of this story in these different layers of communication to the reader. Jaline, your review also enticed me to read this book, which deserves far more acclaim that it appears to have gotten.She found acceptance as a natural healer, a special relationship, and relative peace in her new surroundings.

What he finds is Corrag - a young woman who has been condemned as a witch and is awaiting death by burning as soon as winter thaws. Charles describing how Corrag’s words are affecting him:” I walk where she walks, and see what she sees.Despite her life so far and her hardships, she has such a capacity for love and kindness for eveyone she meets.