The Village Healer's Book of Cures
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- Create Date：2023-11-09 07:21:50
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jennifer Sherman Roberts
- ISBN：B0BT4XCX3R
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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 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 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。
Reviews
Amy M。 Miller
，
wonderful read！I enjoyed the characters and plot of this book so much that I could hardly put it down once I started。 There’s great detail and emotion tied to the fickleness of people and how easily they can turn on one another。 If you like witchy tales and old English settings， definitely give this book a read。
Lauren
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DNF at 20%。 Not bad but not really pulling my interest。 Too many names too fast without characterization。
Farah G
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This novel delivers a sense of historical accuracy which is very appealing。 The story explores how an intelligent woman could be an object of suspicion for that very reason to certain kinds of men， and how much quick thinking was required to avoid being successfully targeted。Mary Fawcett is a healer in 17th century England， and spends her time refining her family formulas and ministering to the needs of community members with various ailments。 While the people around her appreciate her for this， This novel delivers a sense of historical accuracy which is very appealing。 The story explores how an intelligent woman could be an object of suspicion for that very reason to certain kinds of men， and how much quick thinking was required to avoid being successfully targeted。Mary Fawcett is a healer in 17th century England， and spends her time refining her family formulas and ministering to the needs of community members with various ailments。 While the people around her appreciate her for this， that is not the case when notorious witch finder Matthew Hopkins shows up in their locality。On the look out for witchcraft， Hopkins is immediately hostile to Mary。 So， when the dead body of one of her patients shows up with strange markings on it， Hopkins points the finger at Mary。 Very soon Mary has few allies left， and turns to the one person offering the dubious possibility of helping her discover the truth behind the other man's death。 The pacing in the story is a little uneven， and the two halves of the book do not quite work in the same way。 But Mary is a very engaging character， and this is an interesting read。 I give it 3。5 stars。I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review 。。。more
Kevin Black
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Interesting look at how allegations of witchcraft may have affected people in the 17th C。， with a soupçon of magic thrown in for fictional fun。 The protagonist is interesting， and a few other characters are drawn with enough detail to care about them。 Could be 3⭐⭐⭐。
Norma A。 Patterson
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This was an interesting tale and I was fascinated to learn about the cures and potions that were created to heal the sick and wounded 。 I found it somewhat confusing to keep track of the characters involved。
Allen Eastman
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A jumble of science and natural healingMany mysteries in one。 Strong stand alone characters who fiercely defend their life values as the unknown drives perplexing actions。 And the question arises， what is the greater good？ A truly good read！
MaryAlice
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Free from Amazon Prime First Read Kindle novel， title intrigued me。 It was okay， but not as intriguing as I had hoped。 I stopped reading the cures， at the start of each chapter。 Description of killing a pig to use body parts for a cure disturbed me。 Cures using nature's own herbs， flowers are more to my liking。 The plot was rather typical "boy meets girl，" romance or Hallmark love story。 An actual witch hunt， but the "witch tests，" were not described。 An accused in jail， would describe how she l Free from Amazon Prime First Read Kindle novel， title intrigued me。 It was okay， but not as intriguing as I had hoped。 I stopped reading the cures， at the start of each chapter。 Description of killing a pig to use body parts for a cure disturbed me。 Cures using nature's own herbs， flowers are more to my liking。 The plot was rather typical "boy meets girl，" romance or Hallmark love story。 An actual witch hunt， but the "witch tests，" were not described。 An accused in jail， would describe how she looked， but not what had been done to her。 Some things were alluded to during the course of the book， but not fully developed。 。。。more
Destinee Ghorashi
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A shorter read that had such good depth。 The details put into the spells at the start of each chapter or supposedly real as well and a great insight into the seventeenth century。 Mary is a very likable character and wants to do right by her people but also protect herself and her younger sibling， Tom。 This novel has a touch of feminism mixed with macabre and was right up my alley for the Fall season。 FYI， this book can get a little gorey and very descriptive with the occult。
Barbara Lennox
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3。5 stars。 Struggled to finish this。
Emily
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DNF at 65%。
Arlene Leonard
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The Village HealerI really enjoyed this book。 The characters were easy to feel familiar from the start。 In very short order it became a page turner that I couldn't put down！ The Village HealerI really enjoyed this book。 The characters were easy to feel familiar from the start。 In very short order it became a page turner that I couldn't put down！ 。。。more
William Bennett
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Roberts’s debut is not quite sure what it wants to be。 Is this a serious historical novel， set against the exploits of Matthew Hopkins， self-styled “Witchfinder Generall”， during the English Civil War， or is it a supernatural-inflected story of alchemy and real witchcraft？ Ultimately it just doesn’t quite settle out on either， and the book is the poorer for that。I’ve read a couple of other， similar， novels， where cunning women of the seventeenth century are ferreted out by Hopkins （a pretty spec Roberts’s debut is not quite sure what it wants to be。 Is this a serious historical novel， set against the exploits of Matthew Hopkins， self-styled “Witchfinder Generall”， during the English Civil War， or is it a supernatural-inflected story of alchemy and real witchcraft？ Ultimately it just doesn’t quite settle out on either， and the book is the poorer for that。I’ve read a couple of other， similar， novels， where cunning women of the seventeenth century are ferreted out by Hopkins （a pretty specific subgenre， I’m realizing）， and most of these paint the women as skilled medical practitioners relying on herbal remedies and longstanding traditions， but without any connection to supernatural affairs。 Roberts muddies the line between history and fantasy by endowing her protagonist with a quasi-mystical ability to feel the pain of her patients that develops into a sort of mind control power … it’s odd， used only as a plot device a couple of times， and adds nothing to the story in the end。I also took issue （as I am wont to） with the changing of important historical facts for the sake of a plot。 In this case， changing the death of Matthew Hopkins for an extremely unimportant story beat of the narrative。 It was absolutely unnecessary to do， and the only effect for me was to annoy me with its ahistorical nature。This was an easy read and mostly enjoyable， though I think I would have been just as happy to skip most of the alchemical pieces and just focus on the developing relationship between Mary Fawcett and Robert Sudbury。 。。。more
Sarah
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Good story。 I felt like there were some pacing issues。 Nice twist。
Amanda Sursely
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3。5 stars
Monica
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Fairly quick read！ I really enjoyed the main characters， especially Mary and the first 60% or so of her story。 Then it became a little disjointed and went down a strange path… 3 ⭐️overall！
Tris
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4。5 stars！I went into this book with my own ideas and quickly realized I had no idea what I was in for！ This book is expertly researched， to the point I started to believe the characters were real。 （Some are based on real people so that’s interesting！）
alex snow
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Witch or healer？I liked the main characters and the premise of the story and felt the twist was sufficiently hidden to be a bit of a surprise。。。
Angie
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Meh。It started nice mysteriously filled with magical flavor and curious little notes of otherness。 Then， it became a silly romance between two strangers。 How dissappointing。
Lauren
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3。5 if we are honest。
Katelyn
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I loved every second reading this book！ The story was exciting and I loved seeing the full recipes at the end :） I am excited to read more from the author
AMY
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This is the best historical fiction involving witch hunts that I've read。 It's not easy to read about the gross and gory experiments done by the accusers， and the severe mistreatment and torture of women in the 17th century。 But Mary's story is compelling， and I couldn't put the book down。 The accused witches are actually healers， but they fall victim to those who stir up unrest and suspicion。 I did actually begin to suspect that Mary was in fact a witch with magical powers。 Was she？ This is the best historical fiction involving witch hunts that I've read。 It's not easy to read about the gross and gory experiments done by the accusers， and the severe mistreatment and torture of women in the 17th century。 But Mary's story is compelling， and I couldn't put the book down。 The accused witches are actually healers， but they fall victim to those who stir up unrest and suspicion。 I did actually begin to suspect that Mary was in fact a witch with magical powers。 Was she？ 。。。more
Donna
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The first half of the book was steeped in history， set during the 17th century witch trials in England。 I loved that aspect of the novel。 The author did a fine job portraying the horror of being a single female/ healer accused of being a witch， and betrayed by friends and neighbors she had helped through difficult times。 Given the dearth of accurate scientific knowledge in these times， cures， crop failures， birth defects， premature deaths， and such things lead even the educated to fabricate expl The first half of the book was steeped in history， set during the 17th century witch trials in England。 I loved that aspect of the novel。 The author did a fine job portraying the horror of being a single female/ healer accused of being a witch， and betrayed by friends and neighbors she had helped through difficult times。 Given the dearth of accurate scientific knowledge in these times， cures， crop failures， birth defects， premature deaths， and such things lead even the educated to fabricate explanations that were costly to innocent individuals。 The addition of some characters with a fascination for alchemy was an added bonus。 By the second half of the novel， I felt that the author was a bit heavy handed with gratuitous gore， and the supernatural powers given to Mary seemed unnecessary and detracted from my outrage at her persecution。 Nonetheless， this was a good atmospheric story to read around Halloween， and had elements of mystery and a little romance to keep me reading。 。。。more
Nick Phillips
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Generally enjoyable book with some interesting elements。 The overall tale tends towards the derivative and is so packed full of ideas that it doesn’t really have space to explore them all。 I don’t often say this but I felt that this novel needed at least another hundred pages to do its subject justice。The Matthew Hopkins parts made me think of both the 1968 film， Witchfinder General and the Blackadder episode Witchsmeller Pursuivent which of course contained one of the greatest puns every commit Generally enjoyable book with some interesting elements。 The overall tale tends towards the derivative and is so packed full of ideas that it doesn’t really have space to explore them all。 I don’t often say this but I felt that this novel needed at least another hundred pages to do its subject justice。The Matthew Hopkins parts made me think of both the 1968 film， Witchfinder General and the Blackadder episode Witchsmeller Pursuivent which of course contained one of the greatest puns every committed to video tape:“Witchsmeller: Now， Satin， just relax。 You’re among friends。 Good。 Now， tellme， in your own words: Did you， Satin， on certain nights last Garethstide， indulge — albeit， I accept， in all innocence — infrenzied， naked， and obscene Satanic orgies with your master， known to you as the Great Grumbledook？Edmund: What？Witchsmeller: Silence， Grumbledook！ Satin， you’re not replying。 （to Harry）He’s not replying， My Lord。 Are we to assume this horse has something to hide？Edmund: Either that or he can’t talk。Witchsmeller: A likely story。 Black Satin， known in the Hierarchy of Evil asBlack Satin the Loquacious， are you or are you not the servant of Satan？（The crowd screams; Black Satin whinnies）Harry: I’m sorry， I didn’t quite catch that。 Was that a yea or a nay？Witchsmeller: It was a neigh， My Lord， but I don’t believe a word of it。”At the same time， as historian Malcolm Gaskill wrote （at least according to Wikipedia） Matthew Hopkins "lives on as an anti-hero and bogeyman – utterly ethereal， endlessly malleable” which is perfect here as he becomes the first， though not primary antagonist。 Is this a tale of Witchery？ Is it a cook book？ Or maybe a detective story？ Or a treatise on 17th century gender equality？ Maybe it’s a tale of alchemy and early science？ Honestly， it’s a bit of all of these and not enough of any。 That said， it is still and engaging and enjoyable read and interestingly enough I find that I’ve made two of the recipes contained within as part of the art of the wise woman in the past month。 The recipes are actually the greatest part of the book and I love that the cure for melancholy is in fact lamb broth showing that indeed little has changed over the past 400 years， and that the one cake included， caraway seed cake， is one of my favourites。Sadly this tale can also be taken as an allergy for modern times with the position of women， particularly in America， having changed little sine the 17th century and I can’t help thinking how certain British politicians of the present day would find kinship with Mr Hopkins。 。。。more
Blair
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Had me in the first halfIt was an excellent first half but got kind of mixed up with so many different characters that it started being hard to follow。 The ending also felt rushed。
Taryn Lynn
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I found the book to be very similar to Alice Hoffman’s books about the Owens family。 It wasn’t quite as engaging for me as I would have liked but still an interesting read。 I would have appreciated an epilogue as I feel like the ending as it is leaves a lot to be desired with many unanswered questions。 I will say the addition of alchemy to a story about witchcraft was a fun twist！
Barbara Selden
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Great debutA book of healing secrets。 Secret motivations even the healer cannot unravel。Misplaced trust。 the unending pain of the death of a child。 In a sleepy English village jealousy， infidelity， and petty neighbors looking for someone to blame for their misfortunes， are juste what a traveling witch finder needs to turn people against each other so he can exercise his power to abuse and terrify women and children。 This story of healing women caught in a web of men's quests for knowledge， wealt Great debutA book of healing secrets。 Secret motivations even the healer cannot unravel。Misplaced trust。 the unending pain of the death of a child。 In a sleepy English village jealousy， infidelity， and petty neighbors looking for someone to blame for their misfortunes， are juste what a traveling witch finder needs to turn people against each other so he can exercise his power to abuse and terrify women and children。 This story of healing women caught in a web of men's quests for knowledge， wealth， and power Is a page turner。 Well worth the time。 Looking forward to a sequel。 。。。more
Sydney Young
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This book had me from the beginning。 An entertaining read （and listen， narration well done！！）， it also is a reflection on life as it is now， as we witch hunt our neighbors， friends， and loved ones。 Mary and her brother Tom are quite sympathetic and interesting characters， with a touch of other-worldliness to them。 Also loved how animals played such a part in the natural and supernatural world around them， just as it was back in those days。 It seems like this is set up for a follow up and I’d rea This book had me from the beginning。 An entertaining read （and listen， narration well done！！）， it also is a reflection on life as it is now， as we witch hunt our neighbors， friends， and loved ones。 Mary and her brother Tom are quite sympathetic and interesting characters， with a touch of other-worldliness to them。 Also loved how animals played such a part in the natural and supernatural world around them， just as it was back in those days。 It seems like this is set up for a follow up and I’d read it。 I think what’s so lovely about Mary is how true to the healer calling she is， while she will look facts head-on。 。。。more
Darlah
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I would almost give this book 4 stars but the last pages are a let down。
Erin Remen
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This is the story of Mary Fawcett， a woman gifted with the power of healing， who lives in a small English village in the 17th century。 If you're like me， you know what the means。 It was a fearful， dreadful time to be a woman alone， set apart， different。 All it took was one angry neighbor to point a finger， and the dominoes would fall， and you could be tried for witchcraft。 This is the time Mary lives in， a widow， raising her little brother。 Life is good， or as satisfying as it could be， until a This is the story of Mary Fawcett， a woman gifted with the power of healing， who lives in a small English village in the 17th century。 If you're like me， you know what the means。 It was a fearful， dreadful time to be a woman alone， set apart， different。 All it took was one angry neighbor to point a finger， and the dominoes would fall， and you could be tried for witchcraft。 This is the time Mary lives in， a widow， raising her little brother。 Life is good， or as satisfying as it could be， until a terrible man shows up with evil in his eyes。 A murdered rich man is dead。 She seems to be a suspect， as well as her dearest friend Agnes， another wise woman。 Robert Sudbury seems to be looking out for her。 He is a strange man who practices alchemy， something that seemed like witchcraft at the time。 He is a scarred man， full of secrets。Their is something strange happening in their town that seems way more sinister and evil than even the witchfinder and Mary and Robert must work together to solve the mystery that surrounds the dead body， strange symbols， dead animals and a slew of other oddities。It's interesting， well written， and kept me engaged and invested obsessively in the outcome。 So much so， I read it in a few hours。 I would recommend it thoroughly！ 。。。more
Angela
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I'm personally not into books that long ago， but overall it was a good book。 It started very slow and it took like 40% to hook me but from that point on I was HOOKED。 Has a good twist。 I love the research the author did into the "cures"。 Wish it was faster paced in the beginning and maybe had a Lil spice or played into a love interest a little more。 I'm personally not into books that long ago， but overall it was a good book。 It started very slow and it took like 40% to hook me but from that point on I was HOOKED。 Has a good twist。 I love the research the author did into the "cures"。 Wish it was faster paced in the beginning and maybe had a Lil spice or played into a love interest a little more。 。。。more
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