Winter Reading
The Witch Hunter's Tale, A Midwife Mystery, by Sam Thomas, Minotaur Books 2014.Winter has come to the city of York, and with it the threat of witchcraft! Sam Thomas, an Ohio historian specializing in that dark era of the 1600s and before, takes us to York, England. Thomas has created three mainstay characters - midwife and lady Bridget Hodgson, her maid and one-time thief, now assistant, Martha Hawkins and her courageous but handicapped nephew Will Hodgson. Phew! That's a lot of personality.
Thomas is cranking out the books now, starting with The Midwife's Tale,
a story of intrigue and Reformation politics set in a city besieged by the rebel Puritans opposed by the King's forces;
The Harlot's Tale, in which Lady Bridget, Martha and Will solve a series of ugly murders, with help from the local Madam. And now we have his latest mystery, The Witch's Hunter's Tale, a story that takes our heroine closer and closer to the witch-hunt that ended so often on the gallows. Along the way Thomas, as he does in each of his earlier works, paints the images of a city in turmoil - we experience the fear and panic that fed the witchcraft contagion, as well as the ordinary commerce and passings one would see in this spectacular walled city - the minster (cathedral), whose lovely stained glass windows were somehow preserved from the Puritans' destruction; the shops and carts bumping every day over rough streets, the unsanitary conditions of thousands living on crooked dark streets and alleys, and in the distance, the fields and cart-roads that brought goods (and disease) inside the city walls.
Each of Thomas' novels opens with an ancient map of York highlighting the parishes, the city gates, Bootham Bar, the Ouse River, York Castle and keep (dungeon) that appear in the story. As a midwife, Lady Hodgson shows us the challenge and customs surrounding births and deaths, especially in contrast to what passed for medicine in 1644.
Mill Girl Verdict: A-. Great journey into distant history - colorful, foreign, a wonderful mid-winter departure from snow plows and icy walkways. Watch for upcoming interview with author Sam Thomas!