This is the fifth of the gothic romantic historical novels by Ainsworth that I have read, but is my least favourite. Set largely in the early 17th century under the witch-hunting King James I, it was very long and lacked the fairly strong central narrative drive that the others have had. The last of the four major sections into which it is divided in particular seemed overdrawn, with a number of hunting and feasting setpiece scenes, then an ironically fairly rushed dramatic final few short chapters. While there are some creepy and horrific depictions of they way in which alleged witches were identified, denounced and punished at the time, the effect is spoiled here, by the fact that these witches are real witches and portrayed as archetypal evil, mostly older, women. Some of the vernacular dialogue was quite hard to read as well. 3/5 ( )

Bogged down in the opening chapter