Historical Fiction

The Village Healer’s Book of Cures

The Village Healer’s Book of Cures

  • Downloads：1314
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-10-23 04:22:07
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Jennifer Sherman Roberts
  • ISBN：B0BSNY1GC4
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

In seventeenth-century England， a female healer enflames the fury of a witchfinder in this propulsive novel about murder， revenge， and the dangerous power of knowledge。

Mary Fawcett refines the healing recipes she’s inherited from generations of Fawcett women before her—an uncanny and moral calling to empathize with the sick。 When witchfinder Matthew Hopkins arrives in her small village， stoking the fires of hate， he sees not healing but the devil at work。 Mary’s benevolent skills have now cast her and her young brother under suspicion of witchery。

Soon， the husband of one of Mary’s patients is found murdered， his body carved with strange symbols。 For Hopkins， it’s further evidence of dark arts。 When the whispering village turns against her， Mary dares to trust a stranger: an enigmatic alchemist， scarred body and soul， who knows the dead man’s secrets。

As Hopkins’s fervor escalates， Mary must outsmart the devil himself to save her life and the lives of those she loves。 Unfolding the true potential of her gifts could make Mary a more empowered adversary than a witchfinder ever feared。

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Reviews

Mikie ，

Ok book。 Surely wasn’t a “couldn’t put down” but was an easy read。 Nothing exciting。 A little predictable

Alyson Nicklos ，

Nothing but good things。 From the real aspects of recipes and a reiteration of a true story through verity this story had me hooked。 As someone who loves witchcraft and herbology this book was an amazing October read。 Please if you haven’t read this book！ Found family， a murder mystery， a touch of romance， plot twists I didn’t see coming and a strong FMC。 A 6 ⭐️ read for me。

Andrea ，

Fir those with an interest in history Got this book as one of the Kindle first reads and so glad I did。 The story really engaged me and I loved the obviously historical research that had been done into witches， 17 century cures and life in England during that period。 Would love to hear what Mary gets up to in London - hint hint

Kathleen Itterly ，

A great read about witch hunts in small villages in England。 Definitely worth checking out。

Deanna Martin ，

Kinda eerie， kinda predictable。

Rosanna 📚 ，

3。8⭐️ This was very intriguing- it was a little mystical， a little historical in time period and had a lot of surprises throughout。 I liked the characters and the strife they all endured with the drama。 Some parts felt a teeny bit lengthy in description and in-between “events” but clever writing and loved the recipes for cures！

Don ，

Unpleasant and predictableThe book is well edited and the author has a good grasp of English。 Still it's a depressing， unpleasant， and boringly predictable book。 Unpleasant and predictableThe book is well edited and the author has a good grasp of English。 Still it's a depressing， unpleasant， and boringly predictable book。 。。。more

Jennifer ，

This book had a slow start; I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish。 Usually when I like a book I don’t put it down。 However， I’m glad I stuck with it as the story got better with time。

Ike Standifird ，

Boring。

Jayne ，

Read it fast

Bee* ，

On the whole， I enjoyed this one。 There's a touch of magic realism about it as it blends historical fact- and a historical figure- with fictional characters and touches of the "unexplained。" It felt like it had the potential of a 4 * book for me， as I liked the history and the theme of women finding power in the face of oppression。 However， it never quite reached that point。 At times the plot points seemed a little too convenient， in particular Mary's attending to or leaving Tom somewhere， felt On the whole， I enjoyed this one。 There's a touch of magic realism about it as it blends historical fact- and a historical figure- with fictional characters and touches of the "unexplained。" It felt like it had the potential of a 4 * book for me， as I liked the history and the theme of women finding power in the face of oppression。 However， it never quite reached that point。 At times the plot points seemed a little too convenient， in particular Mary's attending to or leaving Tom somewhere， felt a little forced。I didn't guess all the twists and turns the story took， but I did want to know what happened next。 Mary and Agnes， and Mrs Chamberlen were all pretty well drawn and I thought the treatment of characters with a disability was fairly sensitive to the likely prejudice of the time， while not condoning it。 I have read a couple of historical books where it feels like the author agrees with the stereotyped view of disabled people from the time period and writes them as though the way they're seen was accurate （looking at you Susannah Gregory。。。） so it was nice that it was mostly resisted here。The historical notes at the end were excellent and I would like to know more about the time period 。。。more

Stephanie ，

First chapter or so didn't hook me， but powering through was worth it。 A fairly interesting read， but perhaps I've gotten used to 600+ page books with far more character development。 I would have liked to learn more about Robert Sudbury - his backstory， his trauma linked to his scar， etc。 etc。 Still an enjoyable and short read - especially for a witchy October。 First chapter or so didn't hook me， but powering through was worth it。 A fairly interesting read， but perhaps I've gotten used to 600+ page books with far more character development。 I would have liked to learn more about Robert Sudbury - his backstory， his trauma linked to his scar， etc。 etc。 Still an enjoyable and short read - especially for a witchy October。 。。。more

Danni ，

3。5 stars

Jenae Spencer ，

Character development was limited， found myself skimming at times just to get to the end。

Ella ，

Struggled to finish。。。

Wendy Mark ，

Great readI loved this story！ From the " introduction" to healers and alchemists， to the life stories of the characters， and the exciting way the story went forward！ Great readI loved this story！ From the " introduction" to healers and alchemists， to the life stories of the characters， and the exciting way the story went forward！ 。。。more

Holly Sanderson ，

Read this through Amazon First reads。 Definitely not a book I would normally read， but ended up loving it。

Cynthia ，

good page-turnerEnjoyable book with some plot twists。 I found the old recipes which began each chapter an interesting treat。 Also， I was pleased with the Author's Notes and inspired to more research。 Thank you！ good page-turnerEnjoyable book with some plot twists。 I found the old recipes which began each chapter an interesting treat。 Also， I was pleased with the Author's Notes and inspired to more research。 Thank you！ 。。。more

Hillary ，

3。5 starsIf you're American， when you hear about witch trials， you immediately think of Salem， Massachusetts。 But similar events were happening in England （and maybe elsewhere？）。 Witchcraft was just an excuse， a means to be cruel or evil to someone or to get back at them for a perceived slight。 （Some things never change。）This book was pretty good。 It was one of my two Kindle First Reads for October 2023。I like historical novels。 What I especially enjoyed were all the little comments about daily 3。5 starsIf you're American， when you hear about witch trials， you immediately think of Salem， Massachusetts。 But similar events were happening in England （and maybe elsewhere？）。 Witchcraft was just an excuse， a means to be cruel or evil to someone or to get back at them for a perceived slight。 （Some things never change。）This book was pretty good。 It was one of my two Kindle First Reads for October 2023。I like historical novels。 What I especially enjoyed were all the little comments about daily life。 What was a toy for Tom？ Or a children's game？ How did Mary make her possets and medicines？ What kind of aches and pains were common for working people in 17th century England？ Where did one hide something？ What was a prison like？ It all felt very real and true。 I also enjoyed reading the excerpts， at the beginning of each chapter， from real recipes for various medications and dishes at that time。 There are some interesting notes at the end about the recipes， people's literacy at that time， etc。 Don't miss it。This book is primarily a mystery/thriller。 There is not much character development， nor did I expect any。 Mary， the main character， tends to flip-flop back and forth， change her mind a lot。 She's fairly young （no age given）， meaning that for all her sensitivities towards her patients， sometimes other reasons for other people's actions just don't occur to her。 She is raising Tom， her very young brother， as their parents both died when he was a baby。 A sweet boy， he has a clubfoot， and other children shun him。 While he's lovely， he comes across as quite babyish， although I seem to remember that he's eight years old。 Once or twice， he's described as "tiny，" which an eight-year-old is not。 I'm not sure what the intention was for this character， but I liked him。There are some really bad characters， and some really traumatized characters， as you would expect。 But again， their stories were minimal， because the point here was to tell an interesting， mysterious story。 In that， the author succeeded。 One more thing to note: The author chose to have all the characters speak in a generic modern-day English。 They don't sound 17th-century， nor do they sound particularly British。 At one point， Tom mentions that someone was "okay，" a word that wasn't even invented till the 19th century。 I often get bogged down in language in a novel， when it's anachronistic。 I decided for this book to ignore it， mostly， because it was consistent。 So， I enjoyed the book， and it was entertaining to read， but not a great literary classic。 。。。more

Katherine Scott ，

Great story， great pacing， happy（ish） ending。 The level of human depravity depicted here is a little harsh at times， but the story will keep you turning the pages and cheering Mary on as she battles witch hunters， evil alchemists， and village gossips。 Well done。

Lee Rush ，

Great premise but sooooooo slowI admire the gumption it takes to put your heart and soul into a project and let it go， fearful of the commentary of others。 I respect the incredible amount of work that must have gone into creating this work: the lore， history， folk recipes， alchemy research。 But I just didn’t like this book。 With a good editor， and the removal of at least 50% of the content， this might have been enjoyable。 But the pacing was deathly slow， and the language just rolled around， lang Great premise but sooooooo slowI admire the gumption it takes to put your heart and soul into a project and let it go， fearful of the commentary of others。 I respect the incredible amount of work that must have gone into creating this work: the lore， history， folk recipes， alchemy research。 But I just didn’t like this book。 With a good editor， and the removal of at least 50% of the content， this might have been enjoyable。 But the pacing was deathly slow， and the language just rolled around， languishing on itself and running in circles。Halfway through I skimmed more than I read。 The slowness just lost me。 。。。more

Susan Kendrick ，

It was fine， not the best。

Marilena ，

I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did。 The opening scene threw me off and then the story unfolded。 It's a whodunit during a sad period in world history - accusing mostly women of witchcraft and putting them to death。 I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did。 The opening scene threw me off and then the story unfolded。 It's a whodunit during a sad period in world history - accusing mostly women of witchcraft and putting them to death。 。。。more

Sydney Zoch ，

4。5 stars！！ Definitely a warm and comforting read。 I really liked the characters and the last 2 hours of the book were gripping and so interesting！ Loved the plot twist and overall the book was great 😊

Mary J。 Dondanville ，

A bit too wordyA better editor would have made this a better book。 Good characters， great descriptions of life in Stuart England and the fears of healing women during the witch hunts。

Mary ，

Meh。 Great start， but then got weird and rushed in places。

Lia ，

Read via Kindle First ReadsWitchcraft and the witch hunts have been covered in many stories with varying levels of success so going into this I was prepared for another standard re-telling。 I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging I found this。 The opening hooked me right in and I stayed engaged until about the last quarter where it petered out a bit。 I find the psychology of the witch hunts absolutely fascinating and I liked how that was woven into the narrative without it feeling forced。 I w Read via Kindle First ReadsWitchcraft and the witch hunts have been covered in many stories with varying levels of success so going into this I was prepared for another standard re-telling。 I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging I found this。 The opening hooked me right in and I stayed engaged until about the last quarter where it petered out a bit。 I find the psychology of the witch hunts absolutely fascinating and I liked how that was woven into the narrative without it feeling forced。 I would have liked a bit more of that element at the end and in the aftermath of the mystery - everything was wrapped up a little too neatly for me。 The characters could have done with fleshing out a bit more， they were a bit two-dimensional。All in all a good debut。 。。。more

Susan ，

This was a great story。 It drew you in immediately。 Characters are either lovable or hateful。 The recipes are interesting。 Sure glad I live now。 The ending was a surprise。

Gail Marie ，

Really wanted to love this， but this tried to be too many things。

Reid Burroughs ，

I thought to not read this book when I read the synopsis because the part of symbols being carved onto corpses sounded like something inaccurate， non historical and trying too hard。 This qualifies as a historical novel and you can read about the recipes more fully AT THE END OF THE BOOK。 Which I’m imagining the author did to keep the flow of the story and maybe be more atmospheric。 There are lots of elements of imagination and fantasy used for too many situations。 I think the use of good old bri I thought to not read this book when I read the synopsis because the part of symbols being carved onto corpses sounded like something inaccurate， non historical and trying too hard。 This qualifies as a historical novel and you can read about the recipes more fully AT THE END OF THE BOOK。 Which I’m imagining the author did to keep the flow of the story and maybe be more atmospheric。 There are lots of elements of imagination and fantasy used for too many situations。 I think the use of good old bribery would have helped the story remain an accurate telling。 If you are into stories about alchemy and alchemists you might enjoy this。 If you are into witch finders you might like it though how depressed is that subject。 It’s pretty peppery mixing fantasy and historical type happenings。 Though it doesn’t rise to the level of a fairy tale。 。。。more

Tag

    the book of change the book of veles

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Village Healer’s Book of Cures

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Village Healer’s Book of Cures&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Village Healer’s Book of Cures&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0