I joined Good Reads a while back and I love it, it's a great resource as well as functioning as a social network for readers and for authors. Things have been so busy here that I never finished building my page and I'm trying to get to grips with that at the mo. I decided to cross reference my reading recs here as well, so here's my latest good read recommendation, THE CUREWIFE by Claire-Marie Watson.
The Curewife is a 1st person narrative literary novel that is written as a diary. A fascinating tale, especially if you have an interest in Scottish history and life in Dundee and Tayside in the 17th Century. This book won the Dundee book prize in 2002.
The story tells the life of a curewife, a Scottish woman who was ultimately condemned for witchcraft. The author has woven her story around what little is known of Grissel Jaffray, a real woman who was actually condemned, but whose life is a mystery. The book is meticulously researched and rich in historic detail. Highly recommended for lovers of great historical fiction.Trivia: I noticed on the Amazon blurb the book is described as having a parallel narrative, the story of a modern day New England character, a descendent. This is on both the UK and USA Amazon sites, but my version of the book only had the historical tale. I don’t know if there are different versions (it doesn't look that way…) or if this is something the publisher had hoped for. I believe the book I read was the version that won the Dundee Book Prize, not sure if the other one will appear or is perhaps a related follow up, or just didn’t happen. (Add it to the list of great mysteries of the publishing world!) Either way, I’m longing for more from this author. Claire-Marie Watson, please write more!
More trivia: I noticed you can purchase a dedicated copy direct from the author. http://www.ancrum.force9.co.uk/
