witch trials – Emma's Biblio Treasures

BOOK REVIEW: They Can’t Burn Us All by Cathryn Kemp

Published August 13th, 2026 by Bantam
Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Dark Fantasy, Adventure Fiction

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

From the award-winning author of A Poisoner’s Tale comes a dark, feminist retelling of the most famous witch trial in 17th-century Iceland, perfect for fans of The Witches of Vardo and The Mercies

Westfjords, Iceland. 1655

Þuríður Jónsdóttir has grown up praying to the old gods and watching her father and brother practise rune magic.

But now, a witch-hunting craze is sweeping across the land of ice and fire, fuelled by the Protestant Reformation. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, those condemned as witches here are not women, but men of learning. And when Þuríður’s father and brother are accused of witchcraft and condemned to burn at the stake, she is helpless to save them.

As Lutheran Pastor Jón Magnússon’s accusing gaze turns to Þuríður herself, the first woman to be called ‘witch’, he will find that she is no ordinary woman.

She is prepared to fight back. But at what cost?

And in an age of fear and persecution, whose side will the community take? Who will fight for justice?

Set against a backdrop of sweeping religious and social change, They Can’t Burn Us All is a feminist retelling of Iceland’s notorious Kirkjuból witch trials.

BUY HERE

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MY REVIEW:

One of the things I love about historical fiction is when a true story is retold and I learn about things I’d never heard of before. Obviously, we all know about the witch trials. But I knew little about Iceland’s witch trials and nothing about the witch trials of Kirkjuból.

Westfjords, Iceland. 1655. Þuríður Jónsdóttir has grown up praying to the old gods and watching her father and brother make a living practising rune magic. But the King of Denmark has declared praying to the old gods and a crime and witch trials are sweeping through Iceland. Then, Lutheran Pastor Jón Magnùsson accuses her father and brother of witchcraft, puts them on trial and sentences them to burn at the stake. Powerless to save them, Þuríður is left alone. But the Pastor isn’t done with her family yet. He turns his attention to Þuríður and accuses her of being a witch, making her the first woman in Iceland to face such an accusation. But Þuríður won’t go down without a fight and the Pastor is about to discover she is no ordinary woman…

Cathryn Kemp shows that her debut was no one trick wonder by delivering another powerful and unforgettable retelling. Darkly atmospheric, haunting, heartrending and unsettling, I was under her spell from the first page to the last. Exquisitely written and meticulously researched, the story is so detailed that I could feel the icy snow, smell the stench of the jails and hear the raven’s cries. A story of female agency, female rage, prejudice, religious fever and the power of silence, there is a real sense of urgency, fire and savagery on these pages. These women’s long-forgotten voices rise from the annals of history to remind us how important women’s voices are and how vital it is that we speak up against those trying to strip us of our rights. And then there’s that stirring and spectacular finale that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Sheer perfection!

The story is filled with charismatic characters that you will both love and hate. Strong, determined and headstrong, Þuríður is an unforgettable heroine. I am a big believer in silence speaking louder than words when people are committed to misunderstanding you, and Þuríður takes that to another level. She hasn’t spoken a word since her mother’s death a decade earlier and her silence only adds to her allure. She exudes defiance and her silence only riles those trying to persecute her even more. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have Lutheran Pastor Jón Magnùsson. I despised this man. A vile, unscrupulous character who uses religion as an excuse to persecute and punish those he feels have wronged him, I felt the anger burn within me every time he was on the page. I needed this villain to get his comeuppance.

Gripping, magical and utterly spellbinding, this is a must-read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or witchy stories.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Thank you Bantam for senidng me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cathryn Kemp’s first novel, bestselling A Poisoner’s Tale, won the HWA Debut Crown Award 2025 and has been published internationally in the U.S., Canada, Italy, France, Brazil and Portuguese speaking territories, Vietnam and globally.

Cathryn’s second novel, They Can’t Burn Us All, is published with Penguin Random House in August 2026.

Her personal memoir, Coming Clean (2012), won the Big Red Read Prize for Non-Fiction. Cathryn co-founded charity, The Painkiller Addiction Information Network (PAIN), which has successfully lobbied Government, including the House of Lords and the APPG for dependency on prescribed medicines.

Cathryn is a Sunday Times and Amazon Number 1 (in four categories) bestselling ghostwriter, with a prolific career writing celebrity, inspirational, true crime, addiction and nostalgia titles.

She has written across the full spectrum of the British and international press, and has appeared on television and radio, including ITV’s This Morning, Lorraine and Panorama, BBC’s Women’s Hour and regional BBC radio stations across the UK.

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Thank you for reading, Bibliophiles xxxxx

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Blog Tour Review: The Familiars by Stacey Halls ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Today is the first day of the blog tour to celebrate the release of what’s been called “the most spellbinding debut novel of 2019” in paperback and I’m excited to share my thoughts. Thank you to Compulsive Readers Blog Tours for the invitation to take part and to Bonnier Zaffre for my gifted copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

SYNOPSIS:

In a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman is the greatest risk of all…

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 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 prove the physician wrong.

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

Soon the two women’s lives 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.

MY REVIEW:

The Familiars is one of those books that is a work of sheer beauty. I was in love before I’d even read a word and could tell that reading it was going to be an experience. And I was right. It was lyrical, atmospheric, addictive, extraordinary and simply breathtaking; the story every bit as beautiful as the book. I devoured it within a day – living within its pages and drowned in its words. A remarkable and unforgettable debut novel that was a joy to read.

“The king has muddled wise women with witchcraft.”

Based around the true events of the Pendle Witch Trials, the author has blended fact and fiction to create a masterpiece. Though beautiful, it is also a dark story of prejudice, injustice and misogyny. It reveals how women were penalised for what they knew and helping others through things like midwifery. The men in charge were threatened by this and called what they did witchcraft so they could round them up and charge them with a crime where they’d created the perfect outcome – death whether you were guilty or innocent. The book also explores why so many women charged with witchcraft would confess and the lengths the witch hunters would go to in order to “prove” someone guilty.

The novel also showcases other realities of life for women of that era. So much was expected so young and at just thirteen Fleetwood was married to her second husband, without any say in the matter. At seventeen she’s pregnant with her fourth child and worried for her position if she doesn’t provide her husband with an heir. It was a sobering reminder of how little autonomy women had at that time over their bodies and their lives, and that their position was always precarious and dependent on men. I found it fascinating when Fleetwood observed that while she is seen as lucky to me married to a man with money and have her own household, poor women actually have more freedom – they are free to choose a husband out of love and aren’t traded as a way to climb the social ladder. I imagine no one would ever have expected Fleetwood to envy Alice’s position in life and it’s a reminder that things are all about perspective.

“At four feet and eleven inches, everyone I met was taller than me, though I did not intimidate easily.”

I loved Fleetwood. She is formidable, fierce and a fighter. I loved that she didn’t let her size stop her and coming in at four feet and nine and a half inches myself, I felt an affinity and solidarity with her from the start. She is a woman ahead of her time in how she sees the witch trials and I admired that she didn’t feel she could sit idly by and not do something; though I do think she finds this strength to act because Alice is her friend and midwife rather than a stranger. My heart broke for her losing three babies before we meet her and for all she had been through at such a young age. It must have been terrifying for her to be pregnant and not really know anything about childbirth except that a lot of women don’t survive. When I learned that she was based on a real person I fell in love with her even more and plan to find out more.

“I felt the baby move, and was aware at once that while all three of us were here and alive now – Alice, the baby and I – one day very soon we might not be, and there was no way of telling which of us would make it.”

I really liked the strange friendship that grew between Fleetwood and Alice. At the beginning of the book, Fleetwood is lonely and wants nothing more than to have a friend she can confide in, so she found what she needed twofold when she met Alice – a midwife and a friend. Alice is a more mysterious character but we do know she is strong, loyal and kind. I always got the sense she genuinely wanted to help Fleetwood. Their relationship was the heart of the story and I felt more invested in it than any other relationship in the book. The author had me on tenterhooks time and again as the women put themselves on the line and remained steadfast in their support of one another.

The Familiars was my 100th read of the year and is definitely in my top ten for the year. I was enchanted by the author’s flawless storytelling and was instantly transfixed. The agony, apprehension, fear, rage and determination dripped from every page. It is a gem of a novel that I urge everyone to read.

Paperback out September 24th

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire, as the daughter of market traders. She has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and moved to London aged 21. She was media editor at The Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk, and has also written for Psychologies, the Independent and Fabulous magazine, where she now works as Deputy Chief Sub Editor. The Familiars is her first novel. You can find her on Instagram @staceyhallsauthor and Twitter @stacey_halls

As part of the media campaign for the paperback release of The Familiars, Stacey has asked people to use the hashtag #FWordsHavePower and share their powerful F words. Below is an excerpt from her email:

Some of the most powerful words in the English Language begin with ‘F’. My debut novel The Familiars has F-words in abundance! For a start there’s Fleetwood, the main character, who is female and fiery, and her friendship with Alice, who may or may not have a fox familiar. There are themes of feminine fury, fates intertwined, failure . . . you get the idea.

These are the F words she shared to describe the novel:

She asked us to share our own F words on social media. My F word was almost Fibromyalgia because it colours so much of my life, but instead I chose the word that describes who I’ve been since before I was born: