Artful Readers Club March

Welcome back to a new month of the Artful Readers Club.

This month I listened to a book rather than read it.

My book choice was The Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland.

I honestly can't praise this book enough !!

I loved it from the first sentence to the last. 

This is the 3rd book that I have listened to by Karen Maitland, the books are read by David Thorpe and he really brings all the characters to life. I don't know if I read one of the books if I would enjoy is as much without all the voices of David.

We are transported back to the year 1210 where King John is the ruler of England and having fallen out with the Pope, England is living under an interdict. So people cannot be blessed in life or death and some have turned to witchcraft to help themselves.

Elena, our young heroine, is given a job in the Manor House by Master Rafaelle, to serve the Lady Anne, but unbeknown to her it is to take the sins of Lady Anne's son, Gerard, through witchcraft.

In turn, Elena must turn to witchcraft as well, when she starts having terrible nightmares in which she sees that she is going to murder her newborn baby.

I really loved that each chapter starts with a little passage from the Mandrakes Herbal.

Elena gets her mandrake from Gytha, the local cunning woman, to help her see the end of her dreams. But she needs to feed it bodily fluids to bring it alive.

All of Karen Maitland's book finished with a huge twist in the tale,
and The Gallows Curse is no exception.

So I can't give too much of the plot away without spoiling the end for you.

I would definitely recommend all of Karen's books and I can't wait to listen to the next one.

Alison xx