The Lady of Secrets

I enjoyed Meg Wolfe immensely as a character. Here is a woman wh

I enjoyed Meg Wolfe immensely as a character. Here is a woman who lives under the cloud of her mother’s insanity and still she perseveres. Meg‘s mother was the kind of woman that witch hunters search for. She was skilled in the dark arts, duped young women into joining her cause and killed male babies, because she had no use for men. Even with her haunted past, Meg steps up and becomes the Lady of Faire Isle. She is a “cunning” woman; a healer, a spiritual woman and feared for what the locals consider to be witchcraft and ungodly.

The story is well written and I absolutely loved the opening, but this book was just not my cup of tea. I always seem to forget that I do not enjoy reading books about life before Regency England. I love films about all times in history, but there is just something about reading it that does not entertain me. Still the story has enough romance, magic and danger to keep the reader interested. Doctor Blackwood is a drunk who cares for nothing, but has enough under the surface to attract Meg, but I can’t say that I was blown away or intrigued. I’m a romantic at heart, so I wished they would have spiked up the tension, but I guess a steamy love story wouldn’t have fit well into the story.

It is very political and deals a lot with the society at large. There’s a sense of history in the book. Carroll has written fictional characters with a fictional religion, but does not ignore the superstition that ran rampant in 1600s England. The idea that a woman could so easily lose her life because she was duped or falsely accused is probably the most intriguing aspect of this story for me. A woman who was too smart, too peculiar or too independent was immediately under suspicion. Someone got sick and all of a sudden everyone is yelling ‘kill the witch down the street and all will be well.’

I find myself wanting to research King James and discover weather or not he was superstitious and constantly worried about the threat of witchcraft. In the story, I’d say he definitely had reason to be worried. Especially after being publically cursed by a woman burning on the stake. Imagine someone’s last words are to curse you that would strike fear into my heart as well.

Also, it never seems to amaze me the way that people would gather for public executions. Wow, we have changed a lot as humans, because I can never imagine cheering while someone burned alive before my eyes.

This is book six in the Dark Queen Saga, which I did not realize, but I never felt lost or confused about what was happening.

I recommend this book for anyone who reads historical fiction or has an interest in witch trials and superstition in historical England.


Originally posted at Bookgeekconfessions.tumblr(.com)

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