Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.
But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.
As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?
Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
An eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
My thoughts: inspired by a true case in 17th century Scotland, Red Runs the Witch’s Thread follows Christian Shaw as she attempts to set up a business in Paisley, her father and brothers are dead and as the eldest, she is trying to revive her family’s fortunes and provide for her mother and sisters.
Her family is looked on with suspicion because as a child Christian claimed to be cursed by witches and accused 35 people of witchcraft, leading some to be burnt at the stake (which only happened in Scotland, in England they were hung).
Christian is having flashbacks to that time and the events that led to so many deaths by her hands, albeit indirectly. It’s causing her to hallucinate and act very strangely, frightening not only herself but her family and servants. She’s also becoming increasingly obsessive over the bleaching process for the thread her livelihood depends on. As she unravels, her past revisited, she starts to realise the truth of whose influence she has really been under.
Christian isn’t a hugely sympathetic character, her single mindedness and high handed way of talking to everyone – servant and family members isn’t very pleasant and it’s no surprise her sisters aren’t that fond of her. But her clearly troubled mind and conscience, are no surprise either. Eleven year olds tell lies, but the fact that so many adults, including supposedly educated ones, believed the terrible things she said is shocking.
There is an ongoing movement in Scotland to have the victims of the witch trials, Christian really did exist and really did have 35 people condemned to death, pardoned by the state and removed from the lists of convicted and executed criminals. Most of the “witches” were guilty only of poverty and of their circumstances. I would probably be among their number if I was in the 16th and 27th centuries so I have a lot of empathy for these men and women.
Victoria Williamson brings that era of superstition and suspicion vividly to life in Red Runs the Witch’s Thread as Christian attempts to rebuild her family fortune and her reputation.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 