Published: 11 January 2011
Format: eKindle
Pages: 305
Finished: 30 January 2014
Description (Goodreads)
My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins…
In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers she didn’t know she had and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.
In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself, tending her garden and selling herbs and oils at the local farmers' market. But her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl called Tegan starts hanging around. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth begins teaching Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories--and demons—long thought forgotten.
Review
I found out about this book through one of my ‘Kindle’ email promotions. Sad, I know, but I read the synopsis and thought, hey, I’ll give it a whirl.
I’m really glad I did. The book starts with Bess Hawksmith on the run. This is a pre-curser to the main story, but sets up the scene with her running through the early morning with the sound of horses and hounds not far behind her, trying to hunt her down. She tells us she can go different ways, but the scene ends with her jumping off a cliff…
A pretty good cliff-hanger, I have to admit. I read on, and the layout of the story changes. Now it is written in the style of a journal, Elizabeth Hawksmith’s journal, and is set in modern-day. She talks of living on her own, in a small cottage, and growing her herbs and plants to use in her spells and ointments (etc.). She also speaks of a girl who appears, Tegan, and how she slowly gets used to her popping up when she’s not entirely wanted. Tegan believes she’s a witch, and after a few weeks it seems, Elizabeth starts to warm to her presence, and even starts to teach her how to grow plants and herbs.
Then Eliabeth tells her the story of Bess. Bess Hawksmith who was born in the 17th Century, who watched her family die, and became Immortal at the hands of Gideon Masters.
I found the story very interesting, and not least because of the way it was written. Because the main character was Immortal, the novel covered different time periods including The Black Death, Jack the Ripper, and World War I, showing what it would have been like to live and work in those eras and during such upheaval in terms of disease, war and death. Throughout, we hear the story in the perspective of Elizabeth - aka Bess - Hawksmith. Her lives, her experiences. During the modern day period, the writing is in the form of a Journal, the times and dates listed in Pagan terms (or what I can determine to be as such) - Imbolc, new moon etc., whereas the past is written in third person, but still in Elizabeth’s perspective.
Then there is Gideon Masters, the Warlock who made Bess Immortal in the first place, is an obvious villain in this story. Psychotic, egotistic, more than a little sadistic (considering his Jack the Ripper days), and just plain crazy bad-guy.
The only thing I was a little murky about was Elizabeth Hawksmith’s modern-day character. I actually preferred Bess to Elizabeth, funny enough. She felt stronger, even though she was obviously young and naive, and she fought back despite the dangers even then. But when she became Immortal, even with all that power she gained, she holed it all up and ran instead.
Despite the murkiness though, I can understand the reasoning behind this. Gideon’s character was also just as powerful, but I still expected more of a fight throughout, rather than just the big fight scene at the end.
