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The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland
The Blurb On The Back:
England, 1321. Welcome to the Dark Ages.
Deep in the heart of the countryside lies an isolated village governed by a sinister regime of Owl Masters. Theirs is a pagan world of terror and blackmail, where neighbour denounces neighbour and sin is punishable by murder.
This dark status quo is disturbed by the arrival of a house of religious women, who establish a community outside the village. Why do their crops succeed when village crops fail, their cattle survive despite the plague? But petty jealousy turns deadly when the women give refuge to a young martyr. For she dies a gruesome death after spitting the sacramental host into flames that can’t burn it – what magic is this? Or is the martyr now a saint and the host a holy relic?
Accusations of witchcraft and heresy run rife while the Owl Masters rain down hellfire and torment on the women, who must look to their faith to save them from the lengthening shadow of Evil … a shadow with predatory, terrifying talons.
It’s the north of England in 1321. 11 women have arrived from Bruges to establish a Beguinage (a form of religious order for women) on land bequeathed by a wealthy widow near the village of Ulewic. Servant Martha runs the Beguinage on charitable principles with the help of her friend, Healing Martha, but Ulewic is suspicious of outsiders and indeed, suspicious of Christianity in general, for there are those in the village who subscribe to the old ways and pagan faith, and all bow their heads to the Owl Masters – mysterious men who dispense brutal justice and demand tribute for their protection. When Agatha, the wayward daughter of the local lord Robert D’Acaster, is disowned for staying out late during a festival, the Beguinage agrees to take her in. Doing so, however, sets in motion a chain of events that threatens everything the Marthas hold dear – for the men in Ulewic cannot tolerate the idea of a community of independent women and they will do whatever it takes to bring them all down …
Karen Maitland’s second novel skilfully mixes historical fiction with mystical elements and a strong feminist screed that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. I particularly enjoyed how Maitland switches points of view in the novel to keep the action moving and at the same time bring together the independent plot strands to form a cohesive whole. Particularly good are those chapters told by Servant Martha and Father Ulfrid, each of whom has their own secrets that make them both desperate and bring them into insurmountable conflict with each other. I also enjoyed learning more about beguinages – a group that was common in Europe but which never really got a footing in the UK and again, the conflict between Christianity and pagan custom forms a neat tension within the book that the hapless villagers find themselves caught between. Maitland does well at making the history feel authentic and the feminist themes feel modern without contradicting the time period. I did find some of the characters – notably Robert D’Acaster and his slimy nephew Phillip, but also Ulfrid’s lover, a little two-dimensional – and the downbeat ending may disappoint some, but I found myself gripped by what was happening so that while this is a very long book, I read it very quickly and will definitely check out Maitland’s other work.
The Verdict:
Karen Maitland’s second novel skilfully mixes historical fiction with mystical elements and a strong feminist screed that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. I particularly enjoyed how Maitland switches points of view in the novel to keep the action moving and at the same time bring together the independent plot strands to form a cohesive whole. Particularly good are those chapters told by Servant Martha and Father Ulfrid, each of whom has their own secrets that make them both desperate and bring them into insurmountable conflict with each other. I also enjoyed learning more about beguinages – a group that was common in Europe but which never really got a footing in the UK and again, the conflict between Christianity and pagan custom forms a neat tension within the book that the hapless villagers find themselves caught between. Maitland does well at making the history feel authentic and the feminist themes feel modern without contradicting the time period. I did find some of the characters – notably Robert D’Acaster and his slimy nephew Phillip, but also Ulfrid’s lover, a little two-dimensional – and the downbeat ending may disappoint some, but I found myself gripped by what was happening so that while this is a very long book, I read it very quickly and will definitely check out Maitland’s other work.
Thanks to Penguin Books for the review copy of this book.
Deep in the heart of the countryside lies an isolated village governed by a sinister regime of Owl Masters. Theirs is a pagan world of terror and blackmail, where neighbour denounces neighbour and sin is punishable by murder.
This dark status quo is disturbed by the arrival of a house of religious women, who establish a community outside the village. Why do their crops succeed when village crops fail, their cattle survive despite the plague? But petty jealousy turns deadly when the women give refuge to a young martyr. For she dies a gruesome death after spitting the sacramental host into flames that can’t burn it – what magic is this? Or is the martyr now a saint and the host a holy relic?
Accusations of witchcraft and heresy run rife while the Owl Masters rain down hellfire and torment on the women, who must look to their faith to save them from the lengthening shadow of Evil … a shadow with predatory, terrifying talons.
It’s the north of England in 1321. 11 women have arrived from Bruges to establish a Beguinage (a form of religious order for women) on land bequeathed by a wealthy widow near the village of Ulewic. Servant Martha runs the Beguinage on charitable principles with the help of her friend, Healing Martha, but Ulewic is suspicious of outsiders and indeed, suspicious of Christianity in general, for there are those in the village who subscribe to the old ways and pagan faith, and all bow their heads to the Owl Masters – mysterious men who dispense brutal justice and demand tribute for their protection. When Agatha, the wayward daughter of the local lord Robert D’Acaster, is disowned for staying out late during a festival, the Beguinage agrees to take her in. Doing so, however, sets in motion a chain of events that threatens everything the Marthas hold dear – for the men in Ulewic cannot tolerate the idea of a community of independent women and they will do whatever it takes to bring them all down …
Karen Maitland’s second novel skilfully mixes historical fiction with mystical elements and a strong feminist screed that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. I particularly enjoyed how Maitland switches points of view in the novel to keep the action moving and at the same time bring together the independent plot strands to form a cohesive whole. Particularly good are those chapters told by Servant Martha and Father Ulfrid, each of whom has their own secrets that make them both desperate and bring them into insurmountable conflict with each other. I also enjoyed learning more about beguinages – a group that was common in Europe but which never really got a footing in the UK and again, the conflict between Christianity and pagan custom forms a neat tension within the book that the hapless villagers find themselves caught between. Maitland does well at making the history feel authentic and the feminist themes feel modern without contradicting the time period. I did find some of the characters – notably Robert D’Acaster and his slimy nephew Phillip, but also Ulfrid’s lover, a little two-dimensional – and the downbeat ending may disappoint some, but I found myself gripped by what was happening so that while this is a very long book, I read it very quickly and will definitely check out Maitland’s other work.
The Verdict:
Karen Maitland’s second novel skilfully mixes historical fiction with mystical elements and a strong feminist screed that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. I particularly enjoyed how Maitland switches points of view in the novel to keep the action moving and at the same time bring together the independent plot strands to form a cohesive whole. Particularly good are those chapters told by Servant Martha and Father Ulfrid, each of whom has their own secrets that make them both desperate and bring them into insurmountable conflict with each other. I also enjoyed learning more about beguinages – a group that was common in Europe but which never really got a footing in the UK and again, the conflict between Christianity and pagan custom forms a neat tension within the book that the hapless villagers find themselves caught between. Maitland does well at making the history feel authentic and the feminist themes feel modern without contradicting the time period. I did find some of the characters – notably Robert D’Acaster and his slimy nephew Phillip, but also Ulfrid’s lover, a little two-dimensional – and the downbeat ending may disappoint some, but I found myself gripped by what was happening so that while this is a very long book, I read it very quickly and will definitely check out Maitland’s other work.
Thanks to Penguin Books for the review copy of this book.