The Village Healer's Book of Cures

4 4 out of 5 stars | 10,697 ratings

Price: 17.5

Last update: 01-02-2025


About this item

In seventeenth-century England, a female healer enflames the fury of a witchfinder in this propulsive novel about murder, revenge, and the dangerous power of knowledge.

Mary Fawcett refines the healing recipes she’s inherited from generations of women before her—an uncanny and moral calling to empathize with the sick. When witchfinder Matthew Hopkins arrives in her small village, stoking the fires of hate, he sees not healing but the devil at work. Mary’s benevolent skills have now cast her and her young brother under suspicion of witchery.

Soon, the husband of one of Mary’s patients is found murdered, his body carved with strange symbols. For Hopkins, it’s further evidence of dark arts. When the whispering village turns against her, Mary dares to trust a stranger: an enigmatic alchemist, scarred body and soul, who knows the dead man’s secrets.

As Hopkins’s fervor escalates, Mary must outsmart the devil himself to save her life and the lives of those she loves. Unfolding the true potential of her gifts could make Mary a more empowered adversary than a witchfinder ever feared.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Brittney Gonzalez
    4.0 out of 5 stars Could have done without the forced romance, but a good book!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2023
    The Village Healer’s Book of Cures is a historical fiction / thriller / romance book written by Jennifer Sherman Roberts. This book was her debut novel and was published in November 2023 by Lake Union. The ebook version has a total of 277 pages, but the story ends on page 256. The remaining 21 pages include the author's acknowledgments, a note from the author, and a full list of sources and recipes that were used during the story.

    The book takes place in seventeenth-century England and tells us the story of a small village's healer, Mary Fawcett. When a witch finder comes to town, Mary becomes suspicious after one of her patient's husbands dies - covered in mysterious markings.

    Before I go any further, I want to warn you of some spoilers. I will remain as vague as possible, but some certain points of the story will be brought up as I discuss my thoughts on the book.

    I also want to mention that overall, this was a pretty decent first novel for an author. I have read way worse material from experienced novelists, so I have hope for Ms. Roberts and her next works.

    With that out of the way…

    The first part of the book was very interesting. It was written well, had no major grammatical or editorial flaws, and was easy to read. About halfway through the book, the pacing and writing felt different - as if someone else had written it (or heavily edited it and it lost the author's original tone). This is about the time when the story began pushing romance between Mary and the love interests. The last part of the book recovered some of the awkward sounding writing but never reached the same quality as the beginning had.

    During the story, Mary has two love interests - Robert Sudbury and Simon Martin. Despite being rude and shoving away ALL romantic advances from Simon, Mary allows him to kiss her and even implies she wanted the affection. This interaction between the two felt forced and unnatural. It was even explained to the readers (through Mary’s thoughts) that ‘she was cold and tired and wanted connection and passion’. Personally, if you have to hold the reader’s hand and justify why a character is doing something, then it is too out of character, and they probably shouldn't be doing it.

    Robert Sudbury ends up being Mary’s romantic choice for the story (despite her allowing Simon to kiss her - even after she began to have feelings for Robert). The interactions between these two, in an attempt to further their relationship, were actually some of the most irritating parts of the story to read. Mary became wishy-washy and out of character. She would do things that felt extremely unlike her. One moment, Mary is being soft and caring, then another, Mary is pleased to see Robert heavily injured. This part was extremely jarring, as it went WAY against her personality and felt sadistic.

    In terms of actual writing and errors:

    In chapter 10, the word "greasy” is echoed and used three times way too close to each other - sometimes even just a few sentences away.

    Page 123 included some actions and speech between Simon, Robert, and the witch finder. The first half of the page is difficult to decipher who is doing what and took me a few re-reads. This same thing happens again later in the book, causing confusion and a need to re-read to fully understand.

    At one point, Mary is speaking to her friend, and they have just discussed the next plot point. Then, all of a sudden, her friend asks Mary to look at her breasts and give her an exam. The timing of this interaction was incredibly awkward. We had just moved the story and then all of a sudden had to take a big step back. It gave off a,“I forgot to mention this earlier, so I am just going to throw it in here” sort of vibe. Placement should have been before the announcement of Mary leaving to go to London.

    The ending of the book did wrap up everything nicely so the reader is given a sense of closure. However, it did feel rushed and a little too dramatic.

    Despite some weird parts that jostled me out of immersion, I did enjoy this book, and I think it is worth a shot for historical fantasy fans. A solid 4 / 5!
  • A.M. Swink
    5.0 out of 5 stars THE VILLAGE HEALER’S BOOK OF CURES review
    Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2024
    ‘The Village Healer’s Book of Cures’ by Jennifer Sherman Roberts is a thrilling, beautifully told story of a woman healer living in a small English village in the mid 17th century. Things go awry for Mary and her mentor, Agnes Shepherd, when Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins shows up in Bicknacre, eager to find some witchy scapegoats to pin the community’s evils on.

    What unfolds is a tale of prejudice and misunderstanding, punctuated by turns into the popular practice of alchemy and a puzzling murder mystery. There is so much intrigue and suspense, to say nothing of peril, in the pages that the reader will keep eagerly turning to the end.

    The story is masterfully told - the prose is so readable and the characters so very compelling. There isn’t a weak character in the novel’s cast. The author’s sympathetic, human treatment of everyone involved only adds to the depth and enjoyment of the novel.

    The historical research used here is meticulous - the reader feels fully immersed in the world of 17th century England at the dawn of the civil war, where Puritanical thought threatens to turn daily life on its head. The author’s knowledge of 17th-century healing/cures and alchemy is unsurpassed. A different contemporary recipe is extracted at the beginning of each chapter, with the full recipes included in the novel’s back matter. Incredibly fascinating!

    And of course, who can fail to like Greedyguts, the clever crow who helps the book’s protagonists in surprising ways?

    A wonderful, wonderful book for all readers, especially those who love historical fiction (and historical mystery). I very much hope to become reacquainted with these characters in the author’s next installment!
  • Amanda Montgomery
    3.0 out of 5 stars Tis the season but not the reason for spooky things, but not the reason
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023
    Tis the season for spooky things, and i was hopeful with this selection. Set during the witch trial times of England, I felt like i was in the right place when our healer heroine's village is beset by a mysterious death of a hateful man, followed by the appearance of a witch finder. Does our heroine have additional gifts beyond her cures? Is it suspect when her younger brother's best friend is a crow? And when her beloved mentor is arrested, accused of being a witch? But then that path i was walking started to take the story (and me) in very different directions, and honestly started to lose my interest. While there is a major twist and climatic ending, it was not one that particularly felt did justice to where we had started.

    Each chapter begins with a recipe of sorts, very much true to its title and time period. It was very obvious and appreciated that our author wrote within appropriate context of her time period and subject matter. Nice development of our main characters and i genuinely cared about their outcomes, yet most of the supporting characters were flat and black-or-white.

    My biggest struggle - and reason for lower rating - was that i didn't feel that this story knew what it wanted to be ... Not supernatural enough. Kinda historical fiction with focus of innocent women whose only fault was being intelligent and hateful men who do distasteful things without consequence (at least at first), but then betrayed that premise and turned towards revenge.
  • Ruth Johnson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good Mystery!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2024
    This is a good mystery…keeping the reader guessing as to who committed the gristly acts! The answer is a surprise! Characters are fairly well crafted! It needed a bit more fleshing out of main characters! Description does help! All I. All…a good read! I would read something else by the author .
  • Ms. Tricia A. Deluna
    5.0 out of 5 stars scary but a great read
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2024
    This book had me on edge the whole time. It was a great story and I couldn’t stop reading it. Just the right mixture of magic, romance, terror and humans at their worst.

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