The Turning

The Witches of Storm Island, Book I

By: Linda Watkins

Narrated by: Danni Deguire

Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

From USA Today bestselling author, Linda Watkins!
The prequel to the award-winning STORM ISLAND.

It is the Year of Our Lord 1685 and fourteen-year-old Maude Prichard finds herself at a crossroads in life. A chance meeting with a strange woman, who never ages, sets the young Puritan maid on a path littered with fear, superstition, and witchcraft. A boy whose love is forbidden and an old man, drenched in darkness and depravity, will catapult Maude out of her well-ordered world into a life fraught with danger.

Travel with her as she journeys from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the wilds of Maine where she will finally take her place among The Witches of Storm Island!
The Witches of Storm Island is the first installment in a prequel series to the modern-day Kate Pomeroy Mysteries.
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©2019 Linda Watkins (P)2024 Wordwooze Publishing

Another fantastic novel

I absolutely adore Linda's writing. I read Mateguas Island before this book, which was equally excellent. This book is set in the year 1685. The author does a great job of painting a picture of what life was like during that time. She delves lightly into the history of Salem and the time when women and herbalists were persecuted for practicing witchcraft. I liked that this book didn't read like a historical novel. While the characters are set in a period long ago, the novel takes a fresh approach to a Romeo and Juliet esque love story and adds depth and intrigue with witchcraft. Linda's subtle yet elegant world-building puts the reader right into the heart of the narrative as if they are standing beside her cleverly crafted characters. This novel is a well-paced, page-turner that you will want to ingest in one sitting. At just under 4 hours, it was a perfect companion for my long road trip back and forth to Virginia last weekend.

One final note for readers, this book ends on a cliffhanger that will have you immediately checking to see if the second book is out yet. I do not believe it is out. So patience is a virtue if you can't want to see what happens next.

Now, the narrator. I've been known to review narrators harshly and I'm happy to say I enjoyed this performance. There's depth to the quality of the narration rather than others I've listened to that border on robotic. Vocal inflections and pacing were well executed. I didn't need to speed up or slow down the narration speed to suit the needs of the narrative. I enjoyed the bit of Irish accent the narrator either has naturally or played with during the performance of the book. My only constructive criticism is that there were a few spots toward the end that felt forced and overdone with foreboding tones that didn't need quite as dramatic a depiction. Other than that, beautiful job here.

A Story set in Colonial Massachusetts

This story displayed how the various religious groups back in the 1800s were so very intolerant of each other, though they came to America for religious freedom. The main characters are a Christian Girland a Hebrew young man and the difficulties they face, as midwife, herbalist, healers are prosecuted for witchcraft. Narrator does a good job with the various characters and the Entire Storyline.