AuthorBeth Underdown
NarratorRory Mcmillan
Duration11h
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Historical Novels
PublisherPenguin Books Ltd
VersionUnabridged
The number of women my brother Matthew killed, so far as I can reckon it, is one hundred and six... 1645. When Alice Hopkins' husband dies in a tragic accident, she returns to the small Essex town of Manningtree, where her brother Matthew still lives. But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed, and there are rumours spreading through the town: whispers of witchcraft, and of a great book, in which he is gathering women's names. To what lengths will Matthew's obsession drive him? And what choice will Alice make, when she finds herself at the very heart of his plan?
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Jacqui 1 Oct 2024
Who was Matthew Hopkins of Manningtree Essex
It is 1645 Alice Hopkins husband has just died so Alice is returning home to Manningtree in Essex to where her brother Matthew lives.
There are few people that don’t associate Manningtree and the name Hopkins with the infamous witch trials that happened in the area. Over 100 women found guilty of witchcraft and then killed.
Not much is known of Matthew’s early life, so this is a fictional story told from the point of view of an older sister. Alice finds herself being drawn into Matthew's world and fears for the women she knows that they might end up in the rumoured great book that Matthew has of all the women’s names who are suspected of being witches.
Overall, an interesting story some of the things really did happen in today’s world it is difficult to imagine how this could happen, especially things like ‘swimming’ a person to see if they sink or float. If they sink, they are innocent and float they are a witch, I really can’t work out if I would have preferred to drown or live and face certain death. This is a very bleak period of history that happened not just here in Great Britain, but all over Europe and then to the New World of America. I am still hoping that those responsible are in a very special place where they too got to be tortured.