This Fearful Thing – L M West

Inspired by true events, ‘This Fearful Thing’ tells the sometimes harrowing story of a woman accused of witchcraft, not once, but three times and her fight to survive.

This Fearful Thing – L M West
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£9.99

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Description

An act of revenge. An accusation of witchcraft. A reckoning.

Southwold, Suffolk, 1645. Ann has fled from her past but when her childhood tormentor finds her in a busy street, she realises the past she thought long-buried has come back to haunt her. When rumours of witchcraft begin she knows that he will stop at nothing to destroy her…

Inspired by true events, ‘This Fearful Thing’ tells the sometimes harrowing story of a woman accused of witchcraft, not once, but three times and her fight to survive.

Inspiration for ‘This Fearful Thing‘

I once read that you should write the book that you can’t find but that you really want to read.  I was hard-pressed to find any novels about witchcraft written from the point of view of the women who stood trial and, as a woman of a certain age, I started to gnaw away at the thought ‘What would it be like to be accused – what would you do?’

‘This Fearful Thing’ is the result and tells Ann’s story in her own voice. It is my first novel. Throughout the writing process, I have felt that Ann was looking over my shoulder, often steering me in unexpected directions and that she wanted her story told, and to be remembered. I hope I have done her justice.

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About The Author

I am Laina West, writing as L M West, and I live in Suffolk with my husband. It is a watery place, full of mystery, and tales of strangeness and magic.

The cliffs are crumbling, over the centuries whole towns have been consumed by the sea and the coastline is constantly changing and eroding.

There is a real sense of history, of time, in this place, a sense of ‘other worldliness’, and this is what I try to evoke in my writing.

Although they were nearly four hundred years ago, the East Anglian witchcraft persecutions still feel alive and vivid today, in a world where women, in particular, are still sometimes mocked for their appearance and where the old become invisible. Those accused were not all old, nasty and malicious, as portrayed by the (mainly male) commentators, but often healers and herbalists, and the majority of them were women.

Since I was a child I have always wanted to write a book but I never thought I could do it! I left school with three O-levels and have never written anything before. Admittedly, 65 is a bit late to start, but I thought that if I was going to do it I’d better get on with it. So I took the opportunity of lockdown 2020 to do two online writing courses with Curtis Brown Creative (recommended!) and sat down to see what happened. ‘This Fearful Thing‘ is the result!

During my research, so much information came up about other witch trials in the area during that black summer of 1645 that I was compelled to carry on. My second novel, ‘The Unnamed’, now available, tells the story of the Aldeburgh witch trial and a third novel, ‘We Three’, about accusations in Dunwich, is underway.

Stories of witchcraft accusations, told by the victims, written by a woman. Enjoy!

When I’m not reading and writing I paint, garden, walk, and natter.

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