UK Publishing Date: 3 Dec 2015. 352 pages.
It is hard to describe my journey through The Silver Witch. At about a quarter of the way through I was about to give up on it. It isn’t the easiest read. The pacing is very slow with little happening as the pieces are set in play. The language tends to be a touch too florid for my liking and for me it was quite off putting.
Tilda is newly widowed. Her husband Mat was killed in a freak road accident and she finds herself moving alone to the remote cottage by a Welsh lake that they had chosen together. Tilda is very striking looking with the translucent white blonde hair and pink eyes associated with albinism. Because of this she tends to stay quite remote from other people and to avoid situations with people.
As she settles into the cottage strange things start to happen to Tilda. Watches stop, the electric power stops working and her neighbour’s grandfather clock stops working.
Tilda’s story is interwoven with a story from the 10th century. Of a seer and prophet called Seren who also has the same albino characteristics. This half of the story took a long time to build and I found myself speed reading these segments to get back to Tilda in the modern day.
As the story moves on you find yourself getting caught up in the tangled web that is woven around Tilda and her neighbour’s nephew Dylan. The more they discover about the ancient crannog in the middle of the lake and the mysterious grave that is being excavated by archaeologists the more dangerous it gets for all concerned.
Towards the end I found myself really enjoying the story but it felt like a joyless slog at the beginning so although I’ve given it three stars it really is a book of two halves. Persevere and you will be rewarded.
Supplied by Net Galley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
You can find the book here: The Silver Witch (Shadow Chronicles)
Categories: 3 Stars Book Review
angelnet69
Prolific reader, enthusiastic theatre and movie-goer and ex-Olivier Awards judge who spent twenty years working in the music industry in London. Sharing my house with a gorgeous cockapoo called Harry who has taken over completely.
I love sharing my favourite books with friends - nearly always spoiler-free as I hate reading a synopsis of the whole book in other reviews.
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