Red Runs the Witch's Thread - Victoria Williamson - ★★★★
RATING: 4 stars.
In a Nutshell: A psychological horror inspired by the last witch burning in Scotland in 1697. A disturbing yet compelling read. I wanted more closure at the end for my own peace of mind, but other than that, this was a satisfying book. Recommended!
Plot Preview:
1722. Paisley, Scotland. Thirty-seven-year-old widow Christian Shaw is obsessed with perfecting her thread bleaching process. She wants to make the thread the purest white, so it can sell better and restore their family fortunes. In the absence of any male family members, it is up to her as the eldest daughter to ensure the security of their house, her mother and two younger sisters, and her late father’s social position as the laird (landowner.)
However, Christian’s mind is troubled. With the 25th anniversary of the witch burnings of 1697 approaching, Christian’s thoughts go frequently to the past, and to the role she played in the burning of several villagers by declaring them witches. Her delusions soon begin to affect her work as well as her sanity.
The story comes to us in two alternating timelines, with a third person perspective for Christian’s present time in 1722 and her first-person point of view for the events of twenty-five years prior.
Bookish Yays:
🔥 Christian is the lynchpin of this plot, and much of her personality leaves the reader unnerved. I don’t know whether to feel sorry for her or infuriated at her (probably more of the latter), but no matter what, it is tough to feel unaffected by her. If you need your main characters to be likeable, this is definitely not the book for you.
🔥 The writing depicts the historical era well, weaving the beliefs, customs, gender bias, and superstitions into the core plot.
🔥 Christian’s obsessions with “white” extends far beyond the colour of the thread she makes, as does her repulsion for “red”. Love how intelligently both these elements are woven into the storyline!
🔥 The 1696 timeline tells us the events directly leading to the witch burning. As these are written in Christian’s first-person perspective, they help us get into her mind and see its distortions first-hand. Quite disconcerting!
🔥 On that note, I never knew that even men were burnt as witches during these ignominious witch trials. Always good to learn something new, even if it is something as gruesome as this.
🔥 The plot uses mental health issues without traversing through the typical path. This creates a very disturbing effect.
🔥 Though appearing in minimal roles, Christian’s mother and two sisters have distinctly sketched personalities that helps us understand their thinking.
🔥 I can’t help but admire the irony of the name “Christian”; it fits the character for all the wrong reasons. (No credit to the author for naming her character aptly – this is based on a true event and an actual person, after all! – but full credit to the author for highlighting this chilling historical event and this unchristian Christian.)
🔥 There are many haunting scenes that aggravated my discomfort. The ravens add to the atmospheric impact.
🔥 The author’s parting note at the end, though brief, offers enough details about the actual witch trials that loosely inspired this story. Don’t skip this!
Bookish Nays:
🕯️ I am not completely satisfied with the ending. Not that I wanted a happy ending, but it goes into an unexpected direction and also leaves many points dangling. It will work well for many readers, I am sure, but the supernatural twist was disquieting for me.
🕯️ There are a few things that are touched upon but only superficially, probably because this is just a novella. I’d especially have loved more insight into Meg’s zealotic loyalty towards her mistress.
🕯️ There is a slight repetition in the writing, especially in those scenes that remind the reader of Arya Stark’s list. (If you read the book, you’ll know what I am referring to. No spoilers.)
Bookish Confession & Tip:
📌 I had a super-duper “Duhhh!” moment towards the end, because it was only then I realised that the author’s use of “Weft” and “Warp” as chapter headings was a creative way of indicating “Now” and “Then” for the timelines. 🙈 If you happen to be in the same “questionable genius” category as I, make sure you note the YYYY part of the date at the start of each chapter, as the DD-MMM are often the same in both timelines.
All in all, though some moments of the book were a tad too intense for me, thanks to my reading preferences, I was still gripped by the storyline and couldn’t stop turning the pages.
Author Victoria Williamson is the main reason I opted for this book, though I am not too comfortable with horror stories. In every novel, she combines imaginativeness as well as social themes to make a point. This works quite well in this story.
While the author writes for varied age groups (middle-graders, teens, and adults), this is her second adult horror novella. I just reread my review for the first one, ‘The Haunting Scent of Poppies’, and realised that my feedback is almost exactly the same: great atmosphere, compelling story, slight repetition, no closure. But as the second novella offers a reinterpretation of actual historical events, I feel a greater sense of satisfaction with it.
Definitely recommended to readers who would love to explore a dark story about actions and repercussions, with a dash of the psychological and the historical and the supernatural.
My thanks to TheWriteReads, Silver Thistle Press, and author Victoria Williamson for a complimentary copy of 'Red Runs the Witch's Thread'. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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Blurb:
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen? Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
An eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
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Author Victoria Williamson:
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website.
Connect with her on:
Website: www.strangelymagical.com
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This has been a stop on the #RedRunsTheWitchsThread blog tour conducted by TheWriteReads (@The_WriteReads). Thanks for stopping by!
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