An impressive debut novel from Stacey Halls. The Familars is a fantastic historical fiction based on the events of the Pendle Witches, with a focus on the one of the accused, Alice Gray. In this fictional account a wealthy young woman, Fleetwood, has had a history of miscarriages and hires Alice as a midwife after meeting her by chance on her husband's lands.

Halls is excellent with her narrative. I love the gothic and suspenseful atmosphere of the book. Although this book is mostly creative licence, Halls does appear to really know the subject of the Pendle Witches. I would have loved for her to have included a biography of books from her research.

At times, it did feel really unbelievable. For example, Fleetwood is heavily pregnant and manages to travel 80 miles in one day on horse back. From my experience with horses, not even the most athletic of these animals could cover these distances (maybe 60 miles at a push - if I'm wrong let me know).

However, this was a fun and gripping read. I look forward to Halls next book that's coming out later this year.