Synopsis:
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw. Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burning approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions. As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen? Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose? Red Runs the Witch’s Thread is an eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
Edition:
Review copy provided by the author
My Thoughts:
Red Runs the Witch’s Thread was a genuinely fun book. It was certainly engrossing, and to be honest, I didn’t entirely see the end coming. I thought Christian was a very interesting character – she’s way too rigid and un-fun to really say that you “like” her, but at the same time, she clearly has some pretty deeply rooted issues which also makes it tough to hate her. You have to sort of accept that you’re in for a weird time with a lady you have a difficult relationship with.
And Christian definitely has issues. That is abundantly clear from the start. Her obsession with making the whitest of white thread – is it just because her family needs the money after the death of their patriarch? Because it seems like there’s more to it than that. She seems obsessed. And she is. She’s constantly jabbering about purity and cleanliness and purity. She seems to think that getting her thread as blinding white as she pictures in her head will somehow cleanse her of her sins.
Honestly, for such a short book (it’s under 200 pages), there is SO much to unpack here. I’m pretty sure Christian would be a psychologist’s dream. Or a priest’s. The way she associates womanhood with sin and filth and girlhood with purity and all things good is…it’s a real thing. And then there’s the witch burnings – with the 25th anniversary of that whole thing approaching, Christian is also being forced to reckon with her connection to them. Her mind is unraveling like a spool of thread the cat got hold of – really quick and in the messiest way possible.
About the Author:
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author’s royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Rating:
I genuinely enjoyed Red Runs the Witch’s Thread. It is a delightful novella dealing with extremely complex topics like grief, trauma, and guilt. That’s a pretty heavy load for such a short story to carry – but Red Runs the Witch’s Thread does it with aplomb. It’s a quick and engaging read, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Red Runs the Witch's Thread
By Victoria Williamson
Silver Thistle Press
Published: April 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781738436422
Hardcover, Paperback, E-book
171 Pages
