I really wanted to like "The Leviathan" by Rosie Andrews as it is compared to some of my favourite authors (Diane Setterfield, Bridget Collins and Sarah Perry). Sadly it didn't make the mark for me. I found most of the story dull and narrative uninteresting. I couldn't really engage in the characters. However all is not lost, as the parts that show the "other Esther" did draw me. Maybe it deserves another read and I might get something more out of it a second time.

Set in 1643 in the midst of a civil war. Thomas Treadwater comes h9me to Norfolk to find his sister changed, his father dying and a new servant accused of witchcraft. It is the winter and Thomas has so many issues to unravel and discover the truth, especially relating to his sister.
Great characters and storyline. Is a demon responsible for all this and can it be stopped? Enjoy the ride as you read this book to find out.

A sinister, twisting tale, thoroughly gripping and utterly absorbing. Sent in both the 1600s & 1700s it was very eerie!

This is beautifully written, appropriate for the era as it is set in the 17th century. Even though I couldn't understand what was going on at the beginning, it starts as a witch hunt with confusing accusations as there were quite a few characters, I kept going and it really surprised me. It is dark historical fiction with a gothic twist. Apparently, it is compared to The Essex Serpent, I cannot say I agree since I DNF that one a long time ago but you might like this one if you enjoyed the other one. I devoured this one, highly recommended.

Thank you for the opportunity of reading it!

This debut novel by Rosie Andrews is a slow burn for much of its first half—building atmosphere, hinting at shadows, but keeping its cards quite close to its chest—before diving (pardon the pun) into a more authentically horrific vision as it gains considerable, and welcome, momentum in the second half.

In 17th century Norfolk, Thomas Treadwater, injured and humbled by his experiences fighting in the English Civil War, is making a brief visit home, tail between his legs but eager to find comfort with his family. His sister, Esther, has peppered his time away with letters about strife at home and wanton servants, but he puts her distress down to her youth and fragility. On arriving home, however, he finds the fields full of dead livestock, no servants in the house, his sister hysterical, and father insensible and bedridden after a stroke.

All this calamity is ascribed to a new servant, Chrissa Moore, who Esther has denounced as a witch to the local magistrate and his witchfinder. For her part, this ‘witch’ is saying nothing in her own defence, except to say she’s now with child, by Thomas’s stricken father. Thomas, incredulous of any supernatural basis to these claims, yet desparate to clear his father’s name, protect his sister from recrimination, and restore the family’s social credit, seeks to investigate Chrissa Moore’s background. In doing so, he uncovers a darker history to his own family and the coming threat of a true monster.

All of this takes a bit longer to get going than is comfortable, however. Thomas starts out as a a very self-indulgent and dreary narrator, and the ponderous pace with which we find ourselves listening to him can be hard going. But you soon realise you’re getting a contrasting insight into the man he will later become; a man of measured voice and greater self-possession, whose story runs parallel to that of his tiresome younger counterpart.

Different timelines are presented concurrently in the novel, and handled very deftly too: while young Thomas carries out his investigations into Chrissa Moore in one chapter, the greatly aged Thomas deals with their abiding consequences for his family in the next. The two threads weave back and forth, but after a mildly jarring opening, you soon get used to the shifting focus. It’s almost helpful that young Thomas’s story is that bit more slow-moving in the first half, to give your ear time to adjust to the differing points of view and finally appreciate the changes in the man you’re getting to witness, side-by-side.

Setting and atmosphere triumph over character in Leviathan. Characters, especially in the early sections, can be a little predictable and tropish, but the places and hours they occupy are compelling and alive, and genuinely unsettling. Descriptions are rich and sensory throughout. There’s a strong cinematic element to the writing, once the pace begins to lift, and shades of both Robert Eggers’s The Witch and Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England are both evoked by Andrews’s prose.

You need to persist with this book, because the latter parts will really keep you glued to it. What starts as aloof and tightly-laced, becomes torn and bloody by the end and once you finally connect with Thomas, his whole story has a powerful payoff. Worth anyone’s while.

They do say not to judge a book by it’s cover but what a beautiful cover and what a well crafted story.
Very dark and gothic. I loved Thomas and how pragmatic he was.
I’m very much looking forward to more by Rosie Andrews after this her excellent debut.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advance read.

I was drawn to this book, Rosie Andrews’ debut, by the title, the cover and the comparisons to The Essex Serpent, Once Upon a River and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – comparisons which for once turned out to be quite accurate!

It’s 1643 and Thomas Treadwater is on his way home to the family farmhouse in Norfolk. England is currently torn apart by civil war but Thomas has been summoned home from the fighting by his sixteen-year-old sister, Esther, who has accused a new servant of seducing their widowed father. Arriving back at the farm, Thomas finds the sheep dead in their field, with no visible signs of violence – and there are bigger shocks to come. Entering the house, he learns from Esther that their father has suffered a stroke and is dying, and the servant, Chrissa, has been arrested on suspicion of witchcraft.

What follows is a story which at first appears to be a tale of witch hunting in the 17th century, but eventually develops into something even darker and more unusual as Thomas discovers links with a shipwreck that occurred years earlier. The narrative moves back and forth between the 1640s and the year 1703, where Thomas is now living in ‘a place far from the sea’ and is trying to come to terms with what happened in the past and the impact it is still having on his life in the present.

I loved the first half of The Leviathan. The atmosphere is wonderful and the author creates an authentic sense of time and place through attention to detail and careful research. The pace is slow as characters are introduced and the scene is set, but I quickly became drawn into the story, intrigued by the mystery surrounding the ‘witch’ Chrissa Moore and the strange events at the Treadwater farm. There’s a real aura of mystery as Thomas begins to investigate, speaking to the witchfinder, the magistrate and the witch herself in an attempt to find out what is really going on.

In the second half of the book, the magical realism elements of the novel come to the forefront and the story then goes too far in that direction for my taste. The pace speeds up and things become more exciting, but the sinister, slowburning sense of foreboding that I loved in the earlier chapters was gone. I was still invested enough in this part of the book to read on to the end and I was interested to see that John Milton (author of Paradise Lost) makes some appearances as Thomas Treadwater’s former tutor and has some input into the unfolding of the story, taking it into the territory of biblical allegory. This is a novel with lots of layers, and although it wasn’t a complete success for me, I think other readers will love it much more than I did.

In the Leviathan we follow two timelines narrated by the same character, Thomas, in 1643 as he returns home from civil war to his family home to find his father has had a stroke, and his sister Esther has accused their new servant of witchcraft. In the second timeline, it's 50 years later and we follow the aftermath and conclusion of an event from the past involving family secrets and an ancient shipwreck from years ago.

Going into this book I thought it was going to be a story of witch trials and the hysteria surrounding those events in the 17th century. And whilst it certainly starts out this way, I wasn't prepared for the twists this story took and I was blown away by the way in which the author created such an incredible world and atmosphere, the writing style was so easy to read that I devoured the book in less than a day. I'm so glad I had the chance to read this!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the chance to read The Leviathan.

Mostly set in 1643, this book follows the story of Thomas Treadwater, who is called back after the English Civil War, to his family home by his younger sister, Esther. On arrival, he discovers his father's fields full of dead sheep, and on entering the house finds everything so very quiet. Esther tells him that his father is gravely ill, after being well just a few days earlier. She then proceeds to tell him a tale of Chrissa, one of their father's servants, who hadn't been with them for long. Esther accuses her of witchcraft, and that it was Chrissa's doing that had caused the death of all the sheep, and casued her father's mystery illness. Thomas, being a modern thinking man, takes this with a pinch of salt. He doesn't believe in witchcraft. The next day their father dies.
So begins a story of witchcraft, betrayal and love, and ends with the Leviathan, a massive sea creature that brings death in it's wake.
A well written book, and great charactors that draw you into the story. I think this would make a great film.
Highly recommended.

I was quickly drawn into the dark, zealous world of the Middle Ages. Absolutely spell binding writing from a debut novelist.

The Leviathan was all I could ask for: a dark and philosophical tale of superstition, beliefs, family, loyalty, guilt and sacrifice that gripped my attention from the very first sentence and left me awestruck with the last.

I'm not a great judge of writing styles, I sometimes miss the nuances. What I do know, however, is what I felt reading. The descriptions were detailed enough, without being overwhelming; evocative, without being suffocating. I smelled the crisp air of the seaside, felt the salt sticking on my skin and wondered in a moldy darkness in the gaol.  As a reader, that's synonymous of a success.

The constant stream of the narrator's conscience can be exhausting, but it also has the power to make you eagerly turning the pages to know what happens next. And although you can't ask for a more honest and transparent narrator than Thomas Treadwater, you can't really predict all his moves and choices, which is what ultimately keeps you glued to the pages.

Highly recommend and definitely one to watch!

What a magnificent read. This is a brilliant historical novel with such glorious language and evocative descriptions. The writing really brought the time period to life with such a great atmosphere. The dark thread of a ‘being’ not quite known was very compelling and helped bring the characters and beliefs of the time alive. Definitely a recommended read.

This debut novel from Rosie Andrews is compelling and enthralling. A historical fiction set in 17th century during a dangerous period; the English Civil War and the Witchfinder General. The characters are well crafted and as a consequence I found myself emotionally invested in them; Thomas Treadwater is a fabulous protagonist. With beautifully written prose to expertly describe the sights, sounds and smells of the day so that I felt well and truly connected. A well written debut. I tend to judge a book by its cover and this is a beautiful design. I am so pleased I picked this book to read because of the cover. Not a huge fan of gothic stories but this book kept me gripped for more than one reason.

1643. Thomas Treadwater returns home to Norfolk from the civil war after he receives some alarming news from his sister who writes that a new addition to the house has bewitched their father. But when Thomas arrives his father has succumbed to a stroke and the so-called witch has been imprisoned. Thomas prides himself on being a rational man and doesn't believe in witchcraft, but things are not what they seem and the truth is an incredible story that began sixteen years earlier, in the sea off the coast of Norway.

This is a deliciously dark and atmospheric tale that blends historical fiction with fantasy and, I'd agree, perfect for fans of 'The Binding', 'The Essex Serpent' and 'Once Upon a River' (one of my favourite books). The author wonderfully evokes a changing society, on the cusp of the Enlightenment but still mired in superstition and uncertainty. There's also a great cameo appearance by a historical character - though it took me a while to realise it was meant to be them and not just a person of the same name. I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping and atmospheric novel.

The Leviathan is a devastatingly impressive debut. From the outset, the reader is plunged into the setting of Civil War England, which is at once familiar and wildly distant (even down to details like the protagonist, Thomas, sleeping in a ditch on the way back from the battlefield to visit his elderly father and pious sister). This is a world in which people believe in witchcraft, the devil, and religious tensions run through every part of society. Thomas is at once touching, unassuming, and shamelessly opportunistic; he knows that his family's fortunes will soon be tied to those of the magistrate and his witchfinder, and attempts to do what he thinks is right even as he goes along with the increasing corruption and hysteria surrounding his family's mysterious new servant. But there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I was overjoyed to see the narrative take a sharp twist into full-on, pedal-to-the-metal folk horror and demonic possession, and it's testament to Andrews' skill as a writer that her literary prose is up to both the novel's early meditations on obligation and guilt, and the latter shipwrecks and sea serpents. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and have already pre-ordered the hardback, as I know for sure it's one I'll read again, and press into the hands of historical horror fans. An absolute must-read.

An utterly gripping deep dive into witchcraft, myth and legend that grabs you from the very first chapter and doesn’t let go until you come spluttering, and enthralled, out the other side. I read this in two sittings. The Leviathan is beautifully – no … flawlessly – written and each character leaps from the page. The twists and turns (which are masterfully constructed) step neatly from the narrative, and as soon as you realise that the typical witchfinder story is to be turned on its head you know you’re in a for a stunning ride! Just WOW.

Buy it. Settle down. Read it!

This wasn't quite what I was expecting. From the blurb I thought it was going to be something a little more allegorical but it felt quite real, the monster and the haunting felt real. It also seemed to me a book of two halves. I really enjoyed the first half. The narrator established a strong voice immediately and I was invested in the mystery that was unfolding and the historical detail of the place and time, particularly the visit to Norwich, the details of the civil war and witch trials. After the half way point it seemed to slip into something a little more plot driven, more of an adventure and, I found myself less invested as I became less interested in the outcome for the characters, but found I was reading to try and resolve the mystery.
I think that it will have a broad appeal, but for me it is more squarely in the fantasy genre than it is literary allegory, historical fiction or magical realism which it seems to be pitched as.

The Leviathan is a novel that takes us to a time of uncertainty and upheaval in England where war is raging and a fear of difference and witchcraft is the norm. Largely focusing on 1643 and one family is thrust into this tumultuous environment, when the story's narrator, Thomas, returns for fighting and is confronted with allegations that a servant of the family is allegedly a witch who has harmed his father.
Atmospheric and emotional with elements of the supernatural, The Leviathan is engaging and chilling in equal measure. It was unsettling and yet grounded by some excellent and believable characters. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel, as it was accomplished and skillfully written, with evidence of impeccable research.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to read and review this novel and believe it will be successful with individual readers but also discerning book clubs. I will certainly be recommending it.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and I find it hard to believe that this is a debut novel.

It is a tale of myth, legend and witchcraft. Richard Treadwell return’s to the family farm after fighting in the English Civil war. He finds the farm in disarray, the sheep are dead or dying, his father is mortally ill and the family servant’s accused of witchcraft. There are many twists and turns in this story.

The only part of the book that didn’t quite sit right with me was the inclusion of the poet John Milton as one of the characters, I’m not quite sure why this was necessary to the story and is the reason why I gave this book 4 stars.

I look forward to more work from Rosie Andrews.

Snaking and twining through a lifetime, this book tells a story through the eyes of Thomas Treadwater, home from the Civil War and devastated to find how things have changed while he was away. His father accused of base impropriety with a servant, his pious sister unable to coherently explain what has been going on, neighbours imprisoned for witchcraft.
The monster at the core of the book and how it comes into the life of Treadwater’s village seemed a little farfetched, but the writing was glorious, the dialogue very well pitched and the story carried me along with it nicely over a few winter evenings.