This book is beautifully written. The characters are well developed and realistic. The setting was very interesting. It was a slow paced read. I did find it enjoyable

This was a good and engaging historical novel set during the Great Plague of the 1660s – it had lots of lovely sentences and was a good page-turner too so I would recommend! Probably wasn't anything more than a good train/holiday read tbh but I enjoyed it

An intriguing story which has many twists and turns that keeps the reader entranced to the very end. narrated by the dead sister of the lead character, The Hemlock Cure tells the story of Mae, a young girl living in Eyam at the time of the Black Death in 1066. Not only must Mae navigate the terror that comes to the village, which cuts itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the spread of the terrifying disease, but she must also confront her family's own dark secrets.
The Hemlock Cure is a clever, well written story which has many threads that all come together in a chilling, compelling climax.
Totally absorbing

The Hemlock Cure was a fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary people during the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) epidemic of 1665-1666. The plague is very much in the background of this story for most of it, though.

The real evil isn’t a disease, it’s being shut in with people who clearly do not have good intentions.

The village of Eyam is well known for the decision to shut itself off from the outside world when its inhabitants started to become ill and die. They understood that the only way to halt the spread of the disease was to isolate themselves - a selfless act.

This novel looks at some of the families and their relationships inside and outside of their family units. The local apothecary and his daughter Mae, are one such family. Mae is desperate to be her fathers apprentice, but this isn’t a time in history where it’s safe for a woman to be working with herbs. So Mae studies with the midwife and a local wise woman (who are both also skating on thin ice, truth be told).

The plague wasn’t a constant in London it appears, and we travel there with one of the main characters. The contrast between the country village and London was quite something to read. I could almost smell the difference off the page!!

I enjoyed the pacing of this book: in Eyam the time crawls, whilst in London everything is all hustle and bustle.

The slow reveal of the terrible secrets in Mae’s family are not so much shocking as terrifying. Wulfric, Mae’s father, is not a well man. It seems to be a race against time for Mae.

I would most definitely recommend this book to historical fiction fans - and if you like a mystery, you may well like this as well.

4 stars

I started to read this in the pandemic and then realised I prefered a more joyful book during that time. I had been to Eyam several years ago and found the visitors centre really enthralling. The village is also fascinating.
The book is written in a lot of present tense which I founf a bit off putting at the beginning and I wasn't sure who was narrating. Knowing that Socrates died of hemlock poisoning and what he had to endure I was wondering how that would play out in the story.
It's worth noting that there is physical abuse in the narrative. An interesting read. Glad I finished it at last!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A captivating read. Not my usual genre being based in the 17th Century but I really enjoyed this. Well worth reading.

Sadly, this was a DNF for me. I tried several times to pick it up and read, but it just wasn’t it for me. I know other people will love it, and I feel like I should too, I might give it another try at a later time.

A dark and atmospheric story, mixing fact and fiction, I was sure 'The Hemlock Cure' would be another 'woman accused of witchcraft' type novel. Oh, I was wrong! Whilst this was certainly an element of the story, there was so much more. With a plot that slowly unwinds - the local apothecary Wulfric, a deeply religious man. Isabel, the village midwife with whom Wulfric has had a quarrel for some time. And stuck between them is Mae, Wulfric's daughter, who desires to follow in his footsteps and become an apothecary too, but who is also secretly meeting with Isabel, who is teaching her the ways of midwifery.

Add to this the threat of plague, and the fuse has been lit.

I tried so hard to enjoy this book, I think I picked it up multiple times in as many months but no matter how much I wanted it to, it just didn't grab my attention. I found it a bit of a slog to read, it just never really seemed to get going. I saw one review call it 'a bit all over the place' and that seemed to me to be the best way to describe it. I know there are lots of people who'll love this, but for me, it feel a little short of the mark..

Based on the true story of how the village of Eyam suffered during the plague of 1665/66, this is narrated by Leah, the dead sister of Mae, the apothecary's daughter.

I enjoyed this very much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction especially during this period.

In 1665 in the village of Eyam women don't discuss their use of herbs and remedies as the murmur of witchcraft is rampant; however, an even deadlier opponent is on its way that threatens them all.

The fact that this book is based on a real English village during the plague made it even more enthralling. I was gripped from the beginning to end

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

This is a story that is based on true events which happened in 1666 England, during the plague, a whole village, Elam, has quarantined itself in order of trying to stop the plague from killing more.

The story follows Mae who is the daughter of a village apothecary, she is trying to further her education wanting to become a midwife along with Isabel who is the local midwife as well as a healer. Mae hopes to one day become her fathers apprentice in order to help more with her medical training. Unfortunately her father doesn’t believe that women have any place in the medicinal field. It was certainly different times to now.

Mae’s father is an abusive religious man, Isabel is worried for Mae, because he has secrets and Mae is about to uncover them.

This us a brilliantly plotted read, the pace was perfect, it is clear lots of research was done in order to tell the story. We have to remember that in those days if a woman showed any sign of healing abilities she would have been branded a witch. This had me engrossed from start to finish I look forward to what the author writes next.

Thank you to #netgalley and #LittleBrownBook for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review. How could anyone also not purchase a copy of this with the gorgeous cover.

Historical fiction based on real historical events.

It was an interesting book set in 17th century England at the time of the plague. I thought the story was more about Mae and her father's relationship, as well as Mae standing up for herself than about the female friendship between Mae and Isabel.

A bit of a slow read for me, I kept putting the book away for more interesting-to-me fare. Still, I found the poisonous plants fascinating and that's basically why I requested the ARC.

The Hemlock Cure is a good, solid read - what it lacks in pace, it makes up for in description, especially in the current climate of living in a plague-ridden society!

This is the first novel I've read by Joanne Burn, and a lot of it is very interesting and well described. The plot centres around the character of Mae as she attempts to further her medical education under the cruel eye of her devoutly religious father. Most of the other characters are realistic and well-rounded (some more likeable than others). I found the setting and history of Eyam particularly interesting.

Overall, I thought it was a little slow-paced, and I didn’t really connect with any of the characters but still found it an enjoyable, entertaining read.

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an early release copy, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This book overall was a good read and I’d rate it a 3.5 ⭐️. The book is based on the plague outbreak of Eyam in 1665-1666 and the main focus is on a young girl called Mae. At first I struggled to follow the story as it wasn’t clear at first that the narrator is mae’s older sister Leah.

The religious and political struggles of the time were well portrayed in this book, and the mae’s father’s character is reflective on the attitudes of the individuals that lived during that time. Despite the depicted sexism common of this time I particularly enjoyed the two strong female characters Isabel and Mae in this book.

The characters are often portrayed battling the sexism and oppression that they are faced with. Isabel and Mae have a delightful relationship that was a joy to read about. Isabel is likened to a mother figure for Mae and throughout assists her with enduring life with Mae’s father.

Sometime I found the book wandered off the main plot. I liked Johan’s and Jaques story line, I just didn’t find it massively relevant to the plot of the book.

Thank you net galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

The narrative uses historical fact to weave an historical fiction around the lives of some of the villagers of Eyam Derbyshire in the time of the 17th Century plague. The main Character is Mae, a girl of 15 or 16 who lives with her father, a religious bigot and frightening man with a history of crime only to be imagined, who believes her a witch and is attempting to manage her death.

The narrative is pacy and full of, at first, unidentified threat. That threat tremors under the narrative line and kept me immersed in the story line. I did however feel that it took longer to build than I expected and that the end came and went almost too quickly. ely a good read for me and i would be drawn to other books by this author

This was not the book I was expecting, I thought it would focus more on Isabel and Mae relationship and how they could have been seen as witches. Basically I was expecting a Mercies kind of book. I found this book too focus on Mae's dad and her family secret, with Isabel being more of a secondary character. I was a bit disapointed, but still enjoyed the storr, characters and writing style.

I loved the premise of this book, however, I could not get into it.

The main character, Mae, wants to learn about apothecary , but is stopped by her father who believes that women should do women’s work.

There were other characters who I got the impression would be key to the story however, I didn’t relate to any of them. I don’t know if I just read this at the wrong time, or whether it just wasn’t for me as many others igiv it a shining review. However, I could not finish this, giving up before 25% mark, hence 1 star.

An intriguing story that builds slowly to a dramatic ending. Full of believable characters and impossible predicaments, the story is set in the time of the plague and although that is the backdrop for the story, the heart of the matter is the terrible plight of women in a society dominated by men who can justify their actions through religion. It kept me enthralled, rooting for Mae, my only criticism being it was a little slow in places. A fascinating read, and I learned a bit more about life in those times.

Some books wear their historical research lightly, others less so, and The Hemlock Cure falls into that latter category. Mae's ambition to be an apothecary is thwarted by her father, whilst the plague and suspicions of witchcraft ravage the countryside. This feels very much like a 2020, covid, lockdown novel to me, making fairly obvious parallels between our recent experiences and those of Eyam. It wasn't a bad read in any way, it just failed to grab me.