A Time of Witches by Madeline Martin * * * *
The novel has two timelines. In the present day, we follow Lilith Legare, a young woman living in Savannah, Georgia, whose mother has recently died. While going through her mother's belongings, Lilith discovers research into their family history, which leads her to an old manor house in England called Brackenmere. She has also been experiencing strange dreams and visions, including a warning that she is going to disappear. Somehow, her family's past seems to be connected to whatever is happening to her, so she decides to travel to England to investigate.
When Lilith arrives at Brackenmere, she discovers that the manor looks remarkably similar to the building she has seen in her visions, although it is now in a considerably worse condition. The once magnificent house has fallen into disrepair, and the people living there seem to have their own connection to its mysterious history. She meets a man and his female relative, and together they begin trying to understand what is happening to her. There is also a black cat that Lilith grows close to, which I thought was a lovely addition to a story about witches. As she explores the manor and uncovers more of her family's history, she gradually discovers that her own existence is tied to the fate of a woman who lived there centuries earlier.
The second timeline takes us back to the seventeenth century, where we meet Sybil Brantham, one of Lilith's ancestors. Sybil belongs to a group of women who call themselves Children of the Earth. They have a special connection to nature and can sense and influence the natural world. Some of their abilities are quite extraordinary, including affecting the weather, but much of what they do is considerably more ordinary. They use herbs, prepare remedies, and heal people, drawing on knowledge passed down through generations of women.
After her mother's death, Sybil marries the owner of Brackenmere Manor, an older widower whose first wife died many years earlier. Their marriage is not a love match, but it is built on mutual respect and understanding. He knows that Sybil's abilities and her family's reputation could put her in danger, and he wants to offer her protection. He is also genuinely interested in her knowledge of herbs and healing. Sybil's sister comes to live at the manor as well, and the women maintain friendships with several other Children of the Earth in the area.
Unfortunately, this is seventeenth-century England, and being a woman with unusual knowledge or abilities can be extremely dangerous. When an older woman named Edith is accused of witchcraft, the accusations begin to spread, and eventually several people find themselves imprisoned, including Sybil.
Much of Sybil's timeline takes place inside the prison, where she and the other accused endure appalling conditions, interrogations, and torture. I actually found these sections particularly interesting because they show how witch trials affected the people caught up in them. We see not only the physical suffering but also the relationships that develop between the prisoners as they try to support one another. Some of the accused genuinely possess supernatural abilities, while others have simply become victims of suspicion and fear. Yet once they have been accused, their actual guilt or innocence seems almost irrelevant. The accusations take on a life of their own, and the prisoners have very little power to defend themselves.
I also liked how the novel portrays the Children of the Earth. Their magic is closely connected to nature, healing, and the everyday lives of the women who practise it. They are not simply powerful witches casting spectacular spells. They are women who have inherited knowledge, formed friendships, and built lives around their abilities. This makes the witch hunts particularly tragic because we get to know the people behind the accusations and understand what they stand to lose.
Meanwhile, in the present, Lilith discovers that she can somehow project herself into the past and communicate with Sybil's sister. Together, they try to change the events that led to Sybil's fate. Lilith gradually realizes that unless they can save Sybil, her own existence will be erased. This gives the story a very personal sense of urgency because Lilith is not simply investigating a historical mystery. She is trying to prevent something that has already happened, and the consequences of failure would mean that she herself would cease to exist.
I thought the way the two timelines interacted was one of the strongest aspects of the book. Often, in novels with multiple timelines, I find myself more interested in one than the other, but that wasn't really the case here. I enjoyed following Lilith's investigation at Brackenmere just as much as I enjoyed Sybil's story in the past. The historical sections were particularly compelling because of the prison setting and the relationships between the prisoners, while the present-day sections provided the mystery and the urgency of trying to change history.
I also became quite attached to both main characters. Lilith is dealing with the recent loss of her mother and her ambivalent feelings towards her, while discovering that there is far more to her family history than she ever imagined. I liked her determination to understand what was happening to her rather than simply accepting her fate. Sybil, meanwhile, is a woman who has spent much of her life helping others, only to find herself imprisoned and persecuted for the very abilities that allowed her to do so. Both women felt like people I could care about, which made the danger they faced considerably more engaging.
And I really wanted to know how it was all going to work out. Would Lilith manage to save Sybil? Could something that happened centuries earlier actually be changed? And what would happen to Lilith if they failed? The novel kept me curious about these questions, and I thought the combination of historical events and supernatural elements worked very well. There was enough action and mystery to keep the story moving, but the characters and their relationships were what made me invested in the outcome.
My main criticism concerns the romance, which I thought could have been developed better in both timelines. The relationships were pleasant enough, but I didn't really feel a strong emotional connection between the characters. Interestingly, I was more invested in the romance in the historical timeline, although I'm not going to reveal who Sybil becomes involved with because that would spoil part of her story. I'm not particularly interested in romance for its own sake, but when it's included, I want to understand why these people fall in love with each other. Here, that aspect felt somewhat underdeveloped. Fortunately, it wasn't a major part of the story, and it didn't significantly affect my enjoyment.
Overall, I gave A Time of Witches four stars. It was an engaging and atmospheric story with two interesting protagonists, a compelling historical storyline, and a mystery that kept me wanting to find out what would happen next. I particularly appreciated the way the novel connected the persecution of women in the past with the life of a woman in the present, making the consequences of those historical events feel immediate and personal.
I would definitely recommend this one to readers who enjoy historical fiction with supernatural elements, witch trials, family mysteries, and stories that move between different periods of time. The romance could have been stronger, but the central story more than made up for it. Of the books I've read for my Read-Witch-a-Thon so far, this is certainly one of the more enjoyable ones.
What I liked most was that the past wasn't simply something Lilith needed to uncover. It was something she needed to save, because her own future depended on it.
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