Cunning Women, Elizabeth Lee
Cunning Women, Elizabeth Lee
List: $14.62 | Sale: $10.23
Club: $7.31

Cunning Women
A feminist tale of forbidden love after the witch trials

Author: Elizabeth Lee

Narrator: Taj Atwal

Unabridged: 10 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/22/2021


Synopsis

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ONE OF GRAZIA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2021

'[A] powerful story of forbidden love ... a tense and atmospheric ride' Daily Mail

'With a painfully unexpected ending, this is a story about loneliness, connection and female rage that fans of intensely atmospheric historical fiction will love.' Stylist

'Witches and the dread they inspired are captured here with chilling deftness.' Woman and Home

'Timely in its depiction of hysteria and persecution, and beautifully evokes a historical period poised between dark ignorance and long-overdue enlightenment.' Observer

'A thrilling read. But, beyond the thrill, is the beauty of the language . . . A pleasure to read - with an undercurrent of genuine fear' Annie Garthwaite, author of Cecily
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When it is no longer safe to be a witch, they call themselves cunning.

Seventeenth-century Lancashire is a dark and mistrustful place. Ten years after the notorious Pendle witch trials saw ten accused witches hanged, young Sarah Haworth and her family live as outcasts in a ruined hamlet. The inhabitants of the nearby village despise 'cunning folk' like them, but their services - healing balms, herbal remedies - will always be in demand, and they have a way of coming to know all the village's secrets.

A chance meeting sees Sarah become acquainted with Daniel, a young man from the village. In him, she sees a clever, caring man; in her, he sees not the strange, dirty outcast he knows he should, but rather the strong young woman coming into her own.

As they are drawn closer together, a new magistrate arrives in the area to investigate a spate of strange deaths befalling the villagers. Inevitably, his eye falls on Sarah's family, and his hand carries a burning torch. In the face of persecution, something as fragile as love seems impossible...
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'Wonderfully original . . . devastating . . . and fabulously atmospheric' Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den

'A haunting tale with a brutal twist' Emily Brand, author of The Fall of the House of Byron

'An impressive debut . . . beautifully relevant' Kate Mascarenhas

'Beautiful, tense (at points breathless!)' Kate Sawyer, author of The Stranding

'I'm delighted that there's already been a lot of buzz about this debut' Marian Keyes

About Elizabeth Lee

Contemporary romance author Elizabeth Lee writes about country love, city love, and everything in between. Her books include Escaping Me, Where There's Smoke, Shattered, and the Wild Riders series.


Reviews

Goodreads review by 8stitches 9lives on April 21, 2021

Cunning Women is a richly described historical epic from a mesmerising and magnetic new voice in the genre. Spring of 1620 in a Lancashire fishing community and the memory of the slaughter at Pendle is tight around the neck of Sarah Haworth. A birthmark reveals that Sarah, like her mother, is a witc......more

Goodreads review by Mara on August 15, 2021

3.5 stars - Lovely writing and some interesting themes to ponder on. This is a slow burning tale of women without a lot of choices in early 1600s rural England, as well as the weight of toxic patriarchy on a man with a gentle nature. I really liked Daniel in this one, but I also appreciated Sarah's......more

Goodreads review by Emma on April 26, 2021

This was a great read. You have the sense from the very start that there isn’t going to be any happy ending and it’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. Sarah’s family and their situation was so tragic and the villagers, the magistrate and the general superstitious attitude of society were wel......more

Goodreads review by Miriam on April 25, 2021

#CunningWomen is the powerful debut by Elizabeth Lee, set in a plague-rotten hamlet in Lancashire, 1620. Sarah Haworth lives with her mother, brother and dearly loved little sister Annie. They are desperately poor and their existence is meagre, relying on the precarious relationship with the neighbo......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on October 14, 2024

I found this book an enjoyable read. Easy to read and I felt I got into the story and even though there was never a sense of there ever being a happy ending to this story I still enjoyed it to the end and more so because of this. I am glad it didn’t have the usual happy ever after because of the witc......more


Quotes

I loved it. Atmospheric and so good.

Elizabeth Lee's debut novel is timely in its depiction of hysteria and persecution, and beautifully evokes a historical period poised between dark ignorance and long-overdue enlightenment. Observer

A dark, bewitching and captivating read that had my heart in my mouth by the ending. A Romeo & Juliet love story framed by witchcraft, magic, fear and intolerance. I loved it Jennifer Saint

With a painfully unexpected ending, this is a story about loneliness, connection and female rage that fans of intensely atmospheric historical fiction will love. Stylist

A haunting tale with a brutal twist.

Witches and the dread they inspired are captured here with chilling deftness Woman and Home

An impressive debut . . . anyone who roots for the underdog will fall for Sarah . . . beautifully relevant.

Elizabeth Lee builds up a powerful atmosphere of menace, with danger lurking around every corner, until the mounting tension builds to boiling point. Daily Express

This powerful story of forbidden love takes place during a time of persecution after the Pendle witch trials of 1612. At its heart is a wild young woman searching for what life can offer ... A tense and atmospheric ride. Daily Mail

Beautiful, tense (at points breathless!) historical fiction with meticulously researched description. I loved it.