The King’s Witches
It is 1589, and Anna, the princess of Denmark, is heading for Scotland with her dour lady-in-waiting, Kirsten, to meet her betrothed, King James VI. But the journey does not go to plan. Violent storms threaten their very survival, and their dangerous predicament is blamed on witchcraft. At the same time in North Berwick, a young woman called Jura, whose healer mother has just died, goes to work for Baillie Kincaid and his family. Kincaid is seemingly a pious man, but his repulsive and unsolicited attentions quickly fall on the new maid.
It is against this backdrop that the novel begins its journey, in a story told through three first-person narratives in the present tense, switching between Anna, Jura – who has inherited her mother’s healing skill – and the mysterious Kirsten.
The story is based on historical truth. King James VI, who became James I of England, did indeed sail across to Denmark to fetch his bride. He was also famously notorious for his cruel persecution of so-called witches. And the North Berwick witch trials were very real.
Using the perspectives of the three women – two of whom are fictional – and imagined official letters, the author does a wonderful job in retelling this terrible period of British history. It is unbelievable to us now that such superstition and persecution was rife back then. The methods to extract ‘confessions’ were hideous. The novel is personal and very, very readable.
Foster cleverly weaves the three strands to create a compelling, page-turner of a story which throws up surprises along the way, while sticking to a historical framework which is embellished to great effect. The sights, smells and sounds of 16th-century Edinburgh are captured brilliantly. I was glued to this story from start to finish.
