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Black Wood Women

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Black Wood Women

By: Michael Stewart
Narrated by: Laoise Sweeney
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Summary

 We know the truths men have forgotten…

‘Visceral, twisting, propulsive – Black Wood Women begs to be devoured’ Stacey Halls

'Grim and glorious' Daily Mail

'Will leave you breathless’ Sunday Post

'A vivid, inventive narrative' Sunday Times

***

The last wolf in England hunts for prey. Exhausted, hungry and alone, she fears for the litter of pups she carries, and the men who seek to wipe her out.

Yorkshire, 1649.

Since they fled Ireland, Caragh and her family have hidden their true identities to enable them to start a new life in England. But when Caragh finds her parents brutally murdered by a Protestant determined to rid the area of Catholics, she must flee again.

Travelling east, she comes to a forest, where she meets a coven of women who wear their hair loose and refuse to follow men’s rules.

Having found acceptance at last, Caragh is unaware that a different kind of persecution stalks the black wood women, and their days in the forest are numbered.

©2024 Michael Stewart (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Renaissance Small Town & Rural England
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Critic reviews

'Grim and glorious' Daily Mail

'A vivid, inventive narrative' Sunday Times

'A really beautiful blend of history and fantasy – delivered in gorgeously lyrical language' Best

‘A devilishly impassioned danse macabre of a novel that grips the reader by the hand and refuses to let go from the first to the last page’ Essie Fox

'Complex and heartbreaking, a liminal thing that burns with the heat haze of history and fiction meeting… Stewart’s Black Wood Women is an utterly compelling read' A.G. Slatter

'Black Wood Women has the lived-in realism of a great and well-researched historical fiction, and distinguishes itself with its playful, inventive, and occasionally gut-wrenching storytelling. Michael Stewart has written something altogether his own with this one.' Nick Cutter

Praise for the author

‘An astonishing novel’ The Independent

'Easily outdoes the original Heathcliff’ The Times Literary Supplement

'Beautifully written and thrilling’ Yorkshire Post

'Visceral and unswerving’ Historia Magazine

All stars
Most relevant
Blackwood Women by Michael Stewart definitely leans into elements of magical realism. It blends the gritty realism of the civil war era with folklore, myth, and the supernatural, especially through the presence of witches and wolves. All the different elements are captivating.

Myth, magic, folklore and history

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This extends far beyond tales of superstition and witchcraft by delving far deeper into British ecology, human impact (still sadly relevant today) and nature’s unrelenting forces seeking revenge, in ways, on those who dare to interfere.

It’s difficult to stop listening, I was entirely gripped by the wolf’s story in particular. I highly recommend, particularly for any reader interested in ecocritical literature.

Ecological Masterpiece

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The historical elements were a nice layer to a tale with some good folklore within it. The brutal injustice of women branded as witches truly expressed throughout. Gnostic elements were a great addition as well.

Enjoyable indeed

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