Name: The Burnings
Rating: 4.5 (3 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008534776

Naomi Kelsey

‘I was mesmerised’ LAURA SHEPPERSON, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Heroines

The Burnings

Jemima Scott

‘Powerful men don't keep poor women safe. They use you to keep themselves safe.'

Inspired by an incredible true story, by a multi-awardwinning new star of historical fiction 1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries "witch", no woman is safe. Yet when the marriage of King James VI and Princess Anna of Denmark brings Geillis and Margareta together, everything they supposed about good, evil, men, and women, is cast in a strange and brilliant new light. For the first time in history, could black magic - or rumours of it - be a very real tool for women's political gain? As the North Berwick witch trials whip Scotland - and her king - into a frenzy of paranoia, the clock is ticking. Can Margareta and Geillis keep each other safe? And once the burnings are over, in whose hands will power truly lie? The Burnings is 2023's most bewitching debut novel, by the winner of two Northern Writers Awards and the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Competition 2021.

Abbi Brown 

Kelci

Nothing scares men like witchcraft.

1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries "witch", no woman is safe.

Yet when the marriage of King James VI and Princess Anna of Denmark brings Geillis and Margareta together, everything they supposed about good, evil, men, and women, is cast in a strange and brilliant new light.

For the first time in history, could black magic - or rumours of it - be a very real tool for women's political gain?

As the North Berwick witch trials whip Scotland - and her king - into a frenzy of paranoia, the clock is ticking. Can Margareta and Geillis keep each other safe? And once the burnings are over, in whose hands will power truly lie?

Absolutely LOVED this book. It ticked the historical fiction, the witchy, and the great female leads boxes. Beautifully written and well paced, I couldn’t put it down. 

The Burnings

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