Herbal remedies may seem like old wife’s tales in today’s medical world, but in 17th century England, they were state of the art cures in the small villages around London. Tinctures and cordials were often produced by healers – people who often learned their skills from older family member using the ingredients they sourced from their gardens and forests. But when a little extra magic and alchemy are added to the mix, the villagers’ fears and suspicions are increased. Add in a government-sanctioned “witch hunter”, and chaos ensues. Will the town convict innocent people of witchcraft or will they see the witch hunt for what it is and stop it before damage is done?
The Village Healer’s Book of Cures is the debut release from Jennifer Sherman Roberts. The author weaves traditional 17th century cure recipes into a beautiful story of redemption and the dangers women faced in this era. She shows how easily women are made to be at fault in situations while men are held higher in society, but also the power women have when banded together. This is a book about friendship and learning not to judge by first impressions.
I give The Village Healer’s Book of Cures 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed the plot of this book and was caught completely off guard by the culprit at the end! With that said, the author’s writing style and word choices felt unpolished. I know this will become more polished as her writing progresses, but it did detract from the reading at time. I also found a few of the “recipes” to be a bit dark and disturbing – especially the one for the “puppy water”. I think the same emphasis could be conveyed to the reader without some of these inclusions. I also found myself confused by the motivations for some of the characters, but it didn’t detract from the story as much. With that said, I did enjoy the read and would be interested in read the author’s future releases.
If you enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series, you will enjoy this work! I’ve also heard readers who enjoyed Homberg’s Still the Sun or O’Mahoney’s Sing Wild Bird Sing really liked this one, too. This book would be best directed to mature audiences over 16. Given the witch hunt theme and violence against women, this book should be cautioned to readers who may find these topics triggering. I do think this would make a great Halloween book club selection with plenty of magic, real healer cures, and drama. There are plenty of decisions and characters to make a full discussion around this story!
I chose The Village Healer’s Book of Cures from my TBR stack this week. It was an Amazon First Reads choice a few months back. With our monthly theme of Halloween Magic, this felt like a great choice. This time last year, I was enjoying Hoffman’s Practical Magic series which was a great way to prepare for the Halloween holiday and I wanted a repeat of that this year. This was a great first read for the holiday!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: TBD
- Current audio book: A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Virgin River, Robyn Carr
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