The Wicked of the Earth
It is October 1650, and Cromwell rules England. During the previous year King Charles I had been executed. James Archer, Parliamentary spy, whose Newcastle family are by tradition loyalist, departed Newcastle to choose the Parliamentary side during the wars. Now traumatised after his experience at Drogheda, he is sent north by the Parliamentarian Council to spy in his home town.
His task is to investigate trade and, importantly, peculiar recent witch trials as well as the ongoing killing of women associated with the accused. His personal mission is to discover the fate of his sister Meg, who was one of the accused witches.
Archer is persistently placed in danger once he reaches Newcastle, a city where both wealthy Royalist and Parliamentarian families continue to be invested in the city’s trade. The accused women were drawn from many of these families. Archer faces danger everywhere he goes, particularly once he discovers much has been concealed and the charlatan nature of the Scots witch picker.
This is a thrilling novel, meticulously researched, peopled with a collection of well-defined characters, women and men, friends and ruthless foes, mostly the latter. Archer’s quest is continuously thwarted. Thus, the novel’s carefully constructed plot is laden with brilliant twists and turns. The Wicked of the Earth is an atmospheric novel rooted in a credible mid-17th century Newcastle. The story’s narrative kept me fascinated until a poignant, surprising climatic ending. Scenes are vividly and accurately portrayed with attention to fascinating detail.
This story is one of the best researched novels of the Interregnum era I have read, praiseworthy for its heart, characterisation, understanding of the human condition in a particular time and place, and importantly the novelist’s fine writing and its great page-turning quality. Highly recommended, The Wicked of the Earth is a superb debut novel, and I very much look forward to a sequel.
