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The Familiars

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About this listen

 To save her child, she will trust a stranger. To protect a secret, she must risk her life...

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy.

Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong.

As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the North-West, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye?

Soon the two women's lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood's stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake.

Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

Stacey Halls is the Winner of the Women's Prize Futures Award for her novel Mrs England.

'Assured and alluring, this beautiful tale of women and witchcraft and the fight against power was a delight from start to finish' Jessie Burton, bestselling author of THE MINIATURIST©2019 Stacey Halls (P)2019 Bonnier Books UK Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Pregnancy Marriage
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Living in Clitheroe so close to Pendle Hill, the stories about the Pendle witches are not just fable, but our vivid history. It was so lovely to hear such a beautiful fictional account of it and so eloquently read too. I will be reading the book as well.

Wonderful book and beautifully read!

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A lovely novel and a number of moments that are brilliantly articulated that makes you feel like you're in the room with the characters. Moments that will make you feel gobsmacked and some that make you cry as you feel the emotion.

A wonderful tale of mysteries that gently unfold.

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Really good audiobook I was hooked from the start. Great twist at the end which I did not expect!

Great story

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A wonderful book about a horrible time and affair. Katy Sobey does a great job narrating it. It drew me in right from the start, and it made me look up the Pendle witches.I may read Thomas Potts's "The Discovery of Witches" next.
I love it when a book educates me while entertaining and fascinating me at the same time.
This novel certainly scores high on all accounts.
If you're interested in a very dark age,read this book (or rather listen to it).

Great book, wonderful narration

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A good story, well written and narrated. I loved this book and look forward to read more by the author.

Fascinating

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