Witchfinder's Sister
Beth Underdown
Narrated By: Lucy Brownhill, Roy McMillan
Duration: 10 hours and 54 minutes
What to expect
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown, read by Lucy Brownhill and Roy McMillan.
'VIVID AND TERRIFYING' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
The number of women my brother Matthew killed, so far as I can reckon it, is one hundred and six...
1645. When Alice Hopkins' husband dies in a tragic accident, she returns to the small Essex town of Manningtree, where her brother Matthew still lives.
But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed, and there are rumours spreading through the town: whispers of witchcraft, and of a great book, in which he is gathering women's names.
To what lengths will Matthew's obsession drive him?
And what choice will Alice make, when she finds herself at the very heart of his plan?
'A richly told and utterly compelling tale, with shades of Hilary Mantel' Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat
'Anyone who liked Cecilia Ekback's Wolf Winter is going to love this' Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
'Beth Underdown grips us from the outset and won't let go...at once a feminist parable and an old-fashioned, check-twice-under-the-bed thriller' Patrick Gale, author of Notes from an Exhibition
'A tense, surprising and elegantly-crafted novel' Ian McGuire, author of The North Water
'Beth Underdown cleverly creates a compelling atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia... Even from the distance of nearly four hundred years, her Matthew Hopkins is a genuinely frightening monster' Kate Riordan
Genre
Historical fiction
Listen to a sample
A tense, surprising and elegantly-crafted novel
Chilling, gripping, terrifying and exquisitely written
A novel for our times. Beth Underdown's The Witchfinder's Sister explores another time and another place to lay bare the visceral horror of what a witch hunt truly is
'Alice's voice reaches us with admirable clarity and she tells a truly horrifying story with compassion and intelligence. This is a truly accomplished and satisfying début novel'
A haunting, brooding debut
'Superb: dark, terrifying and utterly compelling'
'A compelling debut from a gifted storyteller'
'An accomplished debut novel... this is a powerful, disturbing book, full of drama, with a masterly evocation of England in the 1640s and a sickening final twist'
'A clever novel with a slow burn of horror'
Thumpingly good
THE MOST THRILLING HISTORICAL DEBUT OF 2018
Based on the true story of the infamous witchfinder Matthew Hopkins, with one of the most memorable heroines in recent historical fiction, this haunting novel is perfect for fans of The Miniaturist, Sarah Waters and The Essex Serpent.
Entertaining and thought-provoking, with a valuable message for our own times
A chilling, creeping novel with parallels to more modern forms of witch-hunts
'Anyone who liked Cecilia Ekback's Wolf Winter is going to love this. [It's] about tiny braveries and small courage... a real David and Goliath story, but far less straightforward'
Atmospheric and filled with foreboding, it's a novel that draws you under its spell
Beth Underdown cleverly creates a compelling atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia... Even from the distance of nearly four hundred years, her Matthew Hopkins is a genuinely frightening monster
Beth Underdown grips us from the outset...at once a feminist parable and an old-fashioned, check-twice-under-the-bed thriller
'A clever, pacey read that blends truth and fiction'