The Witches of Vardø - Anya Bergman - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Anya Bergman

NARRATOR: Sofia Engstrand

GENRE: Historical Fiction

RATING: 2.5 Stars.

In a Nutshell: This was a mixed bag for me. The concept was great but the execution didn’t do the story much favour. Might work for those looking for an interesting plot without much bothering about character development or writing.

Story Synopsis:

1662. Anna Rhodius, ex-mistress of the King of Denmark, has been banished to Vardø for some unknown reason. She is convinced that the only way out of the godforsaken island is to provide information to the local Governor about suspected witches, whom he is determined to remove.

Ingeborg’s mother Zigri has been arrested for being a witch. Along with her younger sister and the strange Maren (herself the daughter of a “witch”), Ingeborg sets out to rescue her mother from a deadly end.

How the tracks of the two women intersect and what happens to them forms the rest of the plot.

The book is written in the third person perspective of Ingeborg, and the first person perspective of Anna (addressed in second person to the King of Denmark.)

Where the book worked for me:

💐 There are some amazing folklore tales interspersed in between sections. I loved all of these.

💐 Through the Sami characters, the story reveals not just the Sami culture and beliefs, but also the issues faced by indigenous tribes due to the external rulers. This was the best part of the book.

💐 Some of the revelations about witch-hunts are impactful. (These would have worked even better for me had I not already read so many books about witch-hunts. Time for a break from this genre, methinks!)

💐 The story highlights the systemic misogyny and patriarchal mindset of that era. The blind belief in religion and royalty also comes out clearly.

💐 There is a section at the end called ‘Of Fact and Fiction’, which details out some of the persecution against women on accusations of witchcraft, and also contains a glossary.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

🌵 Many of the dialogues and scenes felt like they would work far better on screen than on page. The spoken lines and the character responses were overly dramatic. They felt fake rather than emotional.

🌵 Except for the Sami boy Zare, none of the characters felt likeable or acted sensibly. Some of the characters change their minds randomly just to change the direction of the plot.

🌵 I didn’t like Anna’s second person narration. Her arc was interesting, but as her whole track was addressed to the King, there were many revelations that didn’t make sense. Like, why would she tell the King how many children he had?! It was so silly! Her first person should have been kept as an indirect narration to the readers, thus providing a valid reason for the extensive flashbacks.

🌵 There is hardly anything happening for a great part of the story. A whole lot of energy goes in setting the scenes but there is hardly any action. It was too slow even on audio.

🌵 Maran’s track seems to have some “witchy” elements but these are neither explained nor explored well. They felt like a forced attempt to imbue magical realism into the plot.

The audiobook experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 16.5 hrs, is narrated by Sofia Engstrand. She does a nice job voicing the characters distinctly. Her accent also works wonderfully in pronouncing the local names, thus adding a touch of authenticity to the recording.

I thought I would like this novel far more than I actually did. The topic is close to my heart, as is the genre. But the languid flow, the OTT writing, and the capricious characters ended up making this an average read for me. That said, it’s a debut work, and most of the problems above can be bettered with time and experience. So I wont dismiss this author just yet.

Most readers have loved this, so it is quite possible that you might too. Do check out other reviews and take a more informed decision.

My thanks to Bonnier UK Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Witches of Vardø”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.