Book Review: ‘The Familiars’ by Stacey Halls

My first encounter with Stacey Halls’ work was her 2021 novel Mrs England. Despite historical fiction not being my typical go-to genre, I really liked her characters and the story she created. Wanted to read more, I picked up a copy of Halls’ debut novel from 2019 – The Familiars.

Set primarily in the year 1612, The Familiars follows the 17 year old Fleetwood Shuttleworth who is the mistress of Gawthorpe Hall since her arranged marriage three years earlier. After three miscarriages, Fleetwood is now pregnant for a fourth time and is determined to do everything possible to keep her baby. However when she discovers a doctor’s letter which states she will not survive another pregnancy Fleetwood’s fear drives her towards Alice Grey – a young woman of poor origins but with an in-depth knowledge of medicinal herbs and midwifery. With pressure to produce a living heir, Fleetwood and Alice’s lives are complicated by the witch trails where one misstep could see one or both of them executed for witchcraft.

Both The Familiars and Mrs England are strong books in their own right and while I enjoyed them both I would have to place Mrs England slightly ahead simply because it took me a little longer to get into the story of The Familiars and become invested in its characters. The revelation, that comes around the halfway mark of The Familiars, definitely helped to elevate the plot and raise the stakes as we realise Fleetwood’s fears and paranoia may well be justified after all.

After reading the author’s note included at the end of the novel I was surprised to learn that many of the characters and events featured in the book were real. While I knew a little bit about Britain’s witch trials, I wasn’t familiar with the details of the Pendle Witch Trials that the story focuses on. Alice, Fleetwood and her husband Richard were all real people although there is no evidence the two women knew each other. Learning how much research Halls undertook to write The Familiars only makes me appreciate her work even more. The new elements she created (such as the friendship between Fleetwood and Alice) all feel completely natural and fit perfectly with the known historical elements of the plot.

Even though today we know the majority of the accusations brought against those charged with witchcraft were false claims (often fabricated by disgruntled neighbours) Halls makes sure to leave a few mysteries left unanswered to allow for the possibility of magic in the world. The prime example of this the familiars the book is named after. Witches can be identified by their animal familiars but Halls leaves it to the reader to decide whether some of the animals mentioned in the story are truly familiars or simply regular animals.

The Familiars is an excellent debut novel with two strong heroines and I’m so pleased that Stacey Halls is continuing to find well-deserved success in her writing.

---

Related Posts:

If you enjoyed this review you may also like these reviews: