Title: The Ravenswood Witch
Author: Jenni Keer
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Pages: 354
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book begins with an unnamed woman, fleeing from some danger, who collides with a stranger and ends up spraining her foot. The stranger, Marcus Greybourne, is the owner of the massive and ill-reputed house, Ravenswood. He convinces the constable that the unnamed woman is his wife, Luna Greybourne, not the criminal wanted for murder that the constable is seeking.
Marcus offers the woman protection while her badly sprained foot heals. In return, he requests her to pretend to be his wife for a brief period. She accepts the offer.
While she pretends to be Luna Greybourne, there is no sign of the real Mrs Greybourne. Soon the new Mrs Greybourne discovers that there is a very real sense of danger in and around Ravenswood. There are scratches on the walls and marks of devil worship have been gouged into the wood of the bedpost. Then she hears talk of the old witch that is supposed to live in the woods behind the house, who supposedly curses people and dances naked, performing acts of devil worship. Until the housekeeper, Mrs Webber, informs her that Luna Greybourne is the witch.
Her only friend is Bran, a raven she nurses to life, and Mr Findlay, a medicine man who uses herbs and potions, along with medicines, a man who was once friends with the real Luna Greybourne, and promises to help the imposter, whenever she might need his aid.
As she eases into her new life, getting closer to Marcus, she wonders if she could stay with him forever. But she knows that can't be. The danger is getting closer, and time is running out.
The book is written in the 3rd person omniscient past tense PoV and in the 3rd person past tense limited PoV of Eloise Haughton, a rich and, true to her name, haughty girl whose slightly obsessive love for Daniel Thornbury, a working-class man, ends up setting the plot of this story in motion. The story of Eloise was written in an affectionate, teasing tone, that reminded me of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
The author builds up an aura of intrigue and mystique with her writing. The Ravenswood scenes, in particular, were written with a deliciously creepy air. Thankfully, the love story, with a markedly different tone, doesn’t appear intrusive at all.
Slowly, Bran, Mrs Webber and the two Lunas grew on me. Luna, the Ravenswood witch, though physically absent, except in flashbacks and recollections, was nevertheless drawn well and felt alive.
Eloise is a little selfish and overindulged and I didn’t like her at all. I liked her even less at the end of the book. Mr Findlay is referred to by everyone, including the 3rd person narrator, as ‘cunning’, which I found odd, until I discovered its archaic meaning, possessing some occult knowledge, a meaning that has now fallen into disuse.
The writing was good and held my interest. Sample this quote:
When your whole world had been destroyed, you clung to any small fragment of
solid ground.
What I liked about this book was the deftness with which the author sneaked the twist in.
There were some errors though. Daniel is first described as 19 years old, and then as 25, without us getting any sense of the years having passed from the time Eloise first meets him to the end of that strand of the story.
A crucial plot point in the past, relating to the murder investigation, doesn’t get resolved; I thought we needed closure on that.
I also found the pace too slow for a greater part of the book. Things took much longer to heat up than they should have. For a long time, it was business as usual.
Also, I couldn’t understand why Marcus and the second Mrs Greybourne continued with their charade when they were alone.
The book ended on a note of hope and renewal that felt good for everyone, though Mrs Webber might have different thoughts on the issue.
(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)
