The Bailiff’s Wife
17th century. Sarah Kidd is on a mission. When this Londoner arrives in a small English village looking for the body of her husband and the fortune he was carrying with him, she is ignored, despite her railing at the villagers night and day. But when one priest decides to help her, she begins to make headway. Frances Bright, a Quaker, is also a widow, and she is attempting to hold onto her home for her daughters, although a male relative is trying to make a claim to it. When Frances is told by another woman that she may have heard the murder of Sarah Kidd’s husband, she begins to look into the situation. Meanwhile, a murderer lurks among them.
This is an intriguing, multi-layered mystery. The treatment of women, the daily lives of the Quakers, the superstitions and prejudices of the time, and a murder mystery are all woven together very well. The founder of the Quakers, George Fox, is a minor character. The determination of both Sarah and Frances to get to the bottom of things during an era when women did not have a lot of pull is commendable and kept me cheering for them. In many different ways, we are shown how women had to break the rules in order to get any kind of fair treatment. The villain in this story is frightening indeed, and the ending is quite a surprise. Recommended.
