It is 17th century Scotland and 16 year old Maggie is being raised in poverty by her crotchety old grandmother.  One day her grandmother is summoned to attend a birth as midwife but the baby looks weak and she predicts that he won’t live long.  She suggests that the parents have a christening soon.

Once the baby dies she is accused of being a witch.  Poor Maggie is accused as well.  They are given an unfair trail and found guilty. 

“The Devil himself was there! I saw the two of them as they left their wicked Sabbath. Elspeth and the Evil One. Conjoined. His eyes red like fire. There was a — a wailing, like the souls of the damned screaming from Hell.”

The one friend in the town they have is Tam and he is able to help Maggie escape.  He is unable to help her grandmother.

Eventually Maggie makes her way across the river to her Uncle Blair, whom she had never met before.  His family takes her in event though her Aunt isn’t too sure about her.  The family is very wealth compared to how Maggie lived with her grandmother.  There are always chores to be done and Maggie was glad to do them.

The family are devout Covenanters and pray several times daily.  This is deemed against the King’s law.  Everyone in Scotland is to attend the churches set  up by him and pray for him.  One day Uncle Blair sets up a big prayer meeting in a hidden place near his home where fellow Covenanters flock to.  They are listening to a Reverend who is on the run from the King’s Knights.  They think their safe but someone tips them off. 
“I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. I felt calmer now, and the horror of the battle on the hilltops came back to me. I was suddenly terribly afraid again. At any moment I might be shot at or captured and taken away.”
Maggie’s Uncle and others are arrested.  The families food supply is ransacked by the nights and they have little to exist on.  Maggie makes the decision to go see what she can do for her Uncle.  She goes through much adversity and does some growing up along the way.

Elizabeth Laird’s book bursts with flavourful landscape and a place and time where most of us are thankful we don’t live.  The characters are fleshed out with precision.  The story is both horrifying and captivating.  This is a Yong Adult novel but has much appeal to adults as well. I loved it!

4.5/5

I received the e-book galley for this novel at Net Galley.  This book was previously released under the title of The Witching Hour.

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