As we reach the end of the year I realise there are several books which I started during 2021 (sometimes I started them for the second time) but never finished. They remain on my Netgalley shelf and I'd rather feedback my thoughts than ignore them and pretend they are not there.

So in an attempt to sping clean (in December) I am sharing my thoughts on the titles I didn't finish and which I will not be reviewing on my blog.

I am afraid The Plague Charmer was a book where I found it dificult to get lost in the story in the way I hope for. I have started this book more than once since I was first granted permission to read it, however, each time I started reading I was subsequently distracted away from continuing by other titles and I didn't return to The Plague Charmer for several weeks/months (thus losing the plot threads).

While I had thought this book would be one I would enjoy (and is why I requested it) I am afraid it just didn't click. Apologies but this one wasn't for me.

This was great historical fiction and due to the pandemic today, very realistic. There are several storylines, each of which is very interesting. I appreciate all of the research that went into the writing and which brought us to this period of time. It was very well written.
Many thanks to Headline and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review published on Goodreads

This book was not really what I thought it was going to be - I thought it would stay much more in the realms of historical fiction, but it strayed too far into the mystical for me.

The historical parts in the first half of the book were great, with a real sense of how a devastating plague affected the village and Will's whole story was tragic and very well-written, but there were too many storylines going on, some of which I didn't feel were properly resolved.

Overall, at over 500 pages, I felt that the book was too long and with a few of the story threads cut, it could have been a really gripping historical fiction.

I've read a few of Karen Maitland's titles before, so was looking forward to this very mcuh. I enjoy Medieval settings, and Maitland uses the myths/folklore/superstition of the time as a basis for her stories, which I am interested in.

There are always twists and turns in Maitland's novels, which you don't often see coming. The characters in The Plague Charmer were believable, and I especially liked Will, the Dwarf and Sara, a strong female protagonist.

In this book, Maitland took me back to 1361 – thirteen years after the Great Pestilence ravaged England – to Porlock Weir, a small fishing village on the bleak Exmoor coast. After drought, an ill-omened black sun and afeared rumblings of the pestilence’s return, this beleaguered community is hit by a terrible storm, that smashes weirs, floods homes and blows in a half-dead woman. This mysterious stranger offers to help the villagers, but for a price no one is willing to pay. Shortly after the deadly sickness arrives and as fear turns to hysteria, the stranger’s cost no longer seems so unthinkable…

Maitland shows the following trials and tribulations of the villagers through the narrations of a varied assortment of characters: Will, the dwarf; Sara, a packhorse man’s wife; Matilda, a militantly devout woman; Janiveer, the woman from the sea; and some of the inhabitants of the nearby manor; who blockade the road, trapping the villagers, to protect themselves. Plus there are many more diverse characters for our narrators to interact with. Such a large cast did make it harder for me to make personal connections, but I did still become fond of Will and Sara, and it was interesting to have a large range of people from the Medieval social spectrum featured.

I also can’t fault Maitland’s eye for detail. She really has thought of every little detail and aspect, so that this tale of suffering, loss and fortitude with touches of the supernatural is brought vividly to life. After finishing the book, I was fascinated to discover in Maitland’s research notes that she took inspiration from many real Medieval places, events and people. So while this was still darker than I would prefer, I found myself absolutely gripped! The characters helped too, as they are well drawn and realistic: there are good, bad and murky in between characters. Plus Will was a great character to lighten the mood.

Overall, I thought The Plague Charmer was a compelling and completely believable dark historical fiction, with clever supernatural twists. I would definitely be up for reading more by this author.

If you like reading well researched, incredibly atmospheric, not sugar-coated historical novels about the middle ages, The Plague Charmer is just for you. My review of this wonderful book has been long overdue, so let's start.

Life is pretty tough in the middle ages – work is hard, food is scarce, but to make it all the tougher, hearsay of persilence is roaming the land. It's been quite a while since the last outbreak, but the safety never lasts long. One day a ship is washed up on the shore, and with it – two dead children, and a living witch. Or at least, she seems one. God only knows what she's looking for really, but she promises deliverance from the plague, if she gets it back. But not only that. What she asks for everyone else's lives is one life. And nobody's willing to give it...

So the pestilence takes its course, the witch searches for her bounty, and the villagers try to survive. The story follows the witch, a cunning dwarf and a strong female character. In the end we will find out what their lives amount to...

5 Reasons To Read The Plague Charmer
Reason #1.
The Atmosphere
Although it's hard to place yourself into the world of the story at first, simply because it's so dark, but still it pulls you in and overwhelms you. At times, it seemed I breathed the smell of the wet seaweed, felt the spray of the waves, sensed the cold gusts of wind. It's so incredibly atmospheric! I believe I have yet to read a novel about the middle ages that has pulled me in so much and really put me in a living painting of the place. Needless to say, it's not quite how I imagined the middle ages before, and it makes me very glad – because now they seem anything but boring!

Reason #2.

All The Riddles!
The story makes heavy use of riddles – some of which you won't be able to place or figure out at all because they've hopelessly aged. Tied to the way of living of back in the day, they make absolutely no sense today, but they're so interesting to find out more about! As you read, some of them will be answered, some won't, but at the end of the book you will find a glossary with all the riddles and their explanations. That was purely magical for me. I feel like I learned so much!

Reason #3.

The Language
If there's a glossary for the riddles, of course there's a dictionary as well. The book really does use old sayings and language much to its benefit. I believe, that's what contributes to the atmosphere so much, and I truly loved it. Even though I managed to guess at half the words as I was reading, I still read the glossary with pleasure and felt like I learned a lot.

Reason #4.

Historical And Well Researched
Of course, I am by no means a specialist, seeing as how I seem to know nothing of the middle ages – but The Plague Charmer seemed well researched. Especially due to all of those explanations, legends and glossaries at the end of the book! I bow my head to the author, for teaching me this much about the time and doing such a great job.

Reason #5.

Good Pace, Good Amount Of Suspense
It's not too slow, but not too suspenseful either! I am a gullible reader, so you might be able to catch up on what's going on faster than I did, but I know that I was constantly in a pleasant state of suspense. The story reveals itself at just the right pace – in time for you to form feelings about certain characters, hunches about others, and just to enjoy the atmosphere and the general feel, however dark it might feel at times.

Overall...

The Plague Charmer is no walk in the woods of a book – it can be dark and gory, raw and hurtful, but it's not sugar-coated, it's real and honest. It's also incredibly colorful, and submerges you into sort of a film reel about the times. This book was an experience for me, and I can say I was truly invested. Absolutely recommended!

I thank Headline Review for giving me a copy of The Plague Charmer in exchange to my honest opinion.

I found "The Plague Charmer" by Karen Maitland a bit hard to get into but once I did then I found it to be a fascinating look at the Middle Ages, Black Death, and the superstitions small villages possibly had at that time.
It was an amazing historical read with quite a few separate story lines that eventually match up for a fantastic ending. The medieval era is brought to life so well and the characters are very well developed so much so that I could vividly imagine them.
Highly recommended for fans of suspenseful historical fiction.
I received a copy of this book for free from the publishers (via Netgalley) in exchange for an honest review.

maitland brings the dark death to live in this novel with people's beliefs shrouded in myth as the black death didn't care for class or wealth. this novel is based in somerset and like how the characters are inter linked in their misery and finding a way out but over shadowed by church and beliefs.

Very well written, Karen Maitland is a fantastic author. Well deserved 5 stars!

**This book was reviewed via Netgalley**

Maitland's The Plague Charmer is a historical fiction set in 1361 England, during the second wave of the Black Death. Porlock Weir, and its governing seat of Porlock Manor sit along the Exmoor coast. After a fierce storm lashes the coast, a woman is pulled from the sea. At first she is believed dead, but she lives, or lives again.

She's not the only thing pulled out, either. A young man named Luke drags in an old box found in the tide flats, after the tide goes out quite far. And soon after the storm, a ragged bundle is dredged out that proves to be a pair of children, bound together. It is clear that, while one was likely dead, the other was alive when first tossed in. It is soon clear why. The children bear the buboes than are harbinger to the Great Pestilence.

The woman pulled from the sea, named Janiveer, claims she can divert the plague, if the villages pay her price. It's a price none are willing to pay. She departs, and the plague kicks in full gear. Soon, people are desperate to find Janiveer. Families have been shattered, and still the epidemic rages on. Contact between Porlock Weir and Manor has been cut off, and there are things out there almost as bad as the plague. One of these is Brother Praeco and his crazy ass apocalypse cult. As all of these elements begin to converge, will anyone be left alive after collision?

This was the first historical novel I've read set during this time frame. Aside from the crazy cult people, which I could have done without, I really enjoyed this story. Janiveer and Caederyn’s thread was fascinating. It was a touch of the old world, of Celtic paganism.

There were several threads in this story. Besides Janiveer, Sara, and Will the dwarf were my favourite threads to read about. Matilda, not so much. She was as crazy as Praeco and his groupies. Maybe more so, given some of her predilections. I was glad when she got her comeuppance. Praeco too.

This story was well-written and quite engaging. Maitland weaves the stories of several different people around one another. Often chapters are devoted to a single character. In a rather daring move, she chose to switch perspective between characters, so some are first person, others third person. It takes a rare talent to handle that and end up with something good, let alone great. This was also my first Maitland book, and now I want to read more. Just got a short on my Kindle, actually :)

🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻 Highly recommended

I have read all of Karen Maitland's previous books and found this one to live up to it's predecessors. I love her mix of historical fiction with the supernatural and I always learn something interesting from her novels (for example that dwarfs used to be seen as bringing good luck!)

http://rle.meleaglestone.co.uk/2017/01/11/december-in-reading/

The Plague Charmer may be a ‘dark’ read however Karen Maitland has created colourful and interesting characters.

There are several narrations – from Weir folk Sara and Matilda we have life from the perspective of fisherfolk who need the land to provide for them to live. I loved the contradiction of how a village can pull itself apart but also work in collaboration; in Porlock Manor I was drawn in by the astute Lady Pavia, intriguing Christina, underhanded Sir Harry Gilmore and the stillroom maid; life with the charismatic Prophet in an underground cave was surreal and gave me all sorts of nightmares … ; Will, the fake dwarf who is a newcomer to the Weir but with connections to Porlock Manor; and of course Janiveer, the woman saved from drowning.

There are hard hitting scenes – Sara and her family sealed into their cottage is so vivid. It’s not just emotions that get pulled in but your senses too! It was almost a relief for me when they get out, despite the changes and harshness that meet them. Scenes underground with the Prophet made me feel like my skin was raw – exposed and vulnerable! I have to say there was something compelling in Aldith leading the St Vitas Dance while Father Cuthbert was trying to perform Mass in the church – I could ‘feel’ that energy. Abandoned village Kitnor was creepy and surreal … oh so much I could share! It was so easy to be drawn into this world. I didn’t see the threads that tie it all together, I was too busy enjoying being totally caught up living through this with these people (yes, it did feel real!).

Myth, legend, magic … I loved the fantasy as much as the historical. The pace and switching to different narratives with different settings means the story didn’t feel like 576 pages – I was engaged throughout. Definitely one to add if you like dystopian, historical or fantasy.