HOUR OF THE WITCH
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Date released: May 4th, 2021
Category: Historical
Synopsis: Boston, 1662. Mary Deerfield is twenty-four years old. Her skin is porcelain, her eyes delft blue, and in England she might have had many suitors. But here in the New World, amid this community of saints, Mary is the second wife of Thomas Deerfield, a man as cruel as he is powerful. When Thomas, prone to drunken rage, drives a three-tined fork into the back of Mary's hand, she resolves that she must divorce him to save her life. But in a world where every neighbor is watching for signs of the devil, a woman like Mary--a woman who harbors secret desires and finds it difficult to tolerate the brazen hypocrisy of so many men in the colony--soon finds herself the object of suspicion and rumor. When tainted objects are discovered buried in Mary's garden, when a boy she has treated with herbs and simples dies, and when their servant girl runs screaming in fright from her home, Mary must fight to not only escape her marriage, but also the gallows. A twisting, tightly plotted thriller from one of our greatest storytellers, Hour of the Witch is a timely and terrifying novel of socially sanctioned brutality and the original American witch hunt.
The UnReel Take:
Story: 4.0
Writing: 5
Characters: 3.0
Setting: 4.0
UnReel AR: 4.0
Bottom Line: DNF a little over 50%. I really wanted to enjoy this, but it was not to be.
Despite the title and the description, this book is neither a fantasy nor a thriller. Rather, it is largely a legal drama set in 17th century Boston. If that sounds interesting to you, awesome - proceed! Unfortunately, the way this book is marketed is a bit misleading and I think it pulls the wrong readers towards the text.
This book is at least 50% too long. It's very psychological and atmospheric, so I understand the need for slow development. It was straight up overkill though; there was not nearly enough of a plot for the page length.
For all that this book is meant to have "feminist themes," I found basically every female character to be insufferable. I'm not gonna say anything more on this but let me know in the comments if you disagree.
So is anything done well? Yes, I'd say so. The writing was technically strong and I found Thomas' character interesting in a straight-up-sociopath kind of way. Those two wins weren't enough to balance out the losses for me though.
Ideal Reading Location: As long as it’s an evening in autumn, you’re good.
Drink Pairing: Pour a glass of whiskey and then only drink half of it.
Maybe your experience will be different!