About the Book:
The stage is set and the witch-hunt is about to begin…
England, 1645.
After his half-brother dies, aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival, an infamous former witch-hunter who is under pressure to resume his old profession.
In a country torn apart by civil war, with escalating tensions between Catholics and Protestants, Royalists and Roundheads, and rumours of witchcraft, Nicholas hides a secret: the dead sing. He hears their secrets, but will he find the courage to speak up to save innocent lives, even if it means putting himself in great danger?
A spellbinding debut novel perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Laura Purcell and Bridget Collins.
Published by HQ Fiction GB
Released 30th August 2023
My Thoughts:
Moody, atmospheric, gothic historical fiction is my favourite. Add in witches, or more specifically, historical witch trials, and I'm hooked from the outset. The Revels was sublime from the start. Such a smooth and lyrical writing style, a wholly unique narrator, and a storyline with roots deep in historical fact.
'Witch-hunts are no more than a revel. The price of admission your complacent disregard for the innocents you push into their paths.'
Our narrator, Nicholas, is a young man who believes himself to be a witch, or at least, in possession of a supernatural instinct that others would label as witchcraft. He can hear the dead sing, specifically, the songs of their deaths. He carries the burden of being alive when his half-brother, the true heir of the family, is recently dead, killed in the war that is raging in the background. Clothed in his brother's finery, his father, apprentices him to a judge, William Percival, who is also a former witch-hunter, and who turns out to be an entirely different man to what Nicholas expects.
"What made you leave the profession?"
"I had the foresight to realise it was becoming a relic of the past. King Charles saw us as no more than a reminder of his father, a bored monarch whose obsession with the supernatural soon turned to deer hunting. I saw the writing on the wall then, just as I see myself clearly today. Kin James set me to hunt witches and his son put me on the Star Chamber to root out dissenters. I am not a witch-hunter. I am a persecutor of men, and I am well-bred for the work."
As well as a tale of witch-hunting, this is a story of how easily desperate people can be swayed to turn on each other. The story is filled with doubt at every turn, who can be trusted, who should be avoided, and who has been bewitched. The Revels is also a coming-of-age story for Nicholas, who must learn to stop fearing who he is, embrace his mother's legacy and step out of the shadow of his brother and the guilt that binds them, release himself from his father's manipulations, and judge for himself who is evil and who is not.
'I would have drowned had my mother not crowned me in her songs. Her melody kept the dead muffled until I was strong enough to silence them in turn. She threaded her history in my blood and waited all these years for me to unravel it. A part of her will wait still.'
The above-mentioned reference to Stacey Halls, Laura Purcell and Bridget Collins is bang on. I have read each of those authors and they are queens within this genre. The comparison is a worthy one. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
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