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I chose/read this book in large part for its setting in Essex, and in part as hopefully not too demanding a read.

it started out OK, spending quite abit of time introducing and building the different characters, and also moving from London to the Manningtree area of Essex. the descriptions of place, around Manningtree and Mistley, were good, and at times atmospheric.

the historical aspect, and how it connected to the present day, was interestingly done - with several of the contemporary characters having 17th century counterparts, and playing out some of their lives and roles and events.

the novel was pretty good up to a point. a good mix of characters, also providing a good mix of perspectives. I was relieved there wasn't too much time/description spent on the torture of women accused of witchcraft, and more on the prejudices of the time, and also present takes on it. there were ghosts, Pagans, Christians, locals who knew/lived by the Old Ways. there were relative newcomers to the village awa families who'd lived there generations. and I enjoyed the cottage and it's herb garden 🙂🌿

what went wrong? why did I abandon it at around 90 percent read?!?

in part it got repetitive, to the point of significant chunks of dialogue/commentary being repeated.
in part I lost interest in the story and characters. many of the human characters started become unlikable and/or neutral at best... and increasingly polarised and annoying. it all got abit hysterical and dramatic - but hysteria being seriously diagnosed by the local doctor, and the drama being abit over the top.

there also seemed to be an increasing muddling of Wicca and Satanism. it was abit blurry at times throughout. from the start the Wiccan character was kinda accepted but mostly tolerated, with her faith and practice dismissed by others, tho taken seriously by some. but it (Wicca) was in places dubiously drawn and represented, and I think used quite sensationally at times. it also didn't feel like the author had a particularly consistent idea/understanding of it, and came across quite muddled.
I stopped at a point where it all got abit extreme - the mixing up of Wicca and Satanism, the increasing manipulation of characters within this.
there were some good bits, but things become abit polarised for me, wrt one character kinda taking over, another being positioned as increasingly weak and less strong a person than her character had previously been. and I suspect I started to find some of the dynamics coercive and potentially abusive.

I would have quite liked to read on to see how the story concluded (and did try once more). but I couldn't face it, and it had gotten more annoying than enjoyable.
I remember after reading a previous novel by the same author I decided I wouldn't again (and yet I did!), and I think her stories are both good on some levels, but reach a point for me where things start to get abit silly - the drama becomes abit overladen, and starts to get abit ridiculous (to my mind. it might work really well for other readers). it just goes abit beyond for me, and loses my interest. I'm generally quite good at suspending my disbelief, but there's something about the human drama, and relationship drama, that gets abit much for me.

also, I was rather bothered that what had happened to the two cats had not been resolved for several chapters! were they forgotten? was it an attempt at heightened suspense? were they waiting to be part of some big reveal/climax?! whatever the reason, they were left in hinted at peril for way too long, and I didn't like that either! 🙀🙀

unrated - I can see it's good and bad points. and as ever, it's so subjective. and I'm aware it could in part be about what mood I'm in/what I'm in the mood for. I thought I was, and I was for a while, but that changed.

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accessed as a library audiobook, read by Beth Ayre.
the reader had a particular way of reading, that I think created pauses where there wasn't punctuation, like every so many words - it was abit annoying at time, and possibly had an impact too.