The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman

 

Alice Hoffman, author of Practical Magic, Here on Earth, and Turtle Moon, has written a sweeping tale set in both the 1950s and the 17th century, about two young witches and their time at Radcliffe, and the first witch of Cambridge, who set up Lilith House, a place for witches at Radcliffe, where they can learn magic along with their studies.  Lauren comes from a rich family and is a descendant of the original witches of Cambridge, whose parents died when she was young.  She is attempting to turn her heart to stone so she can never feel the pain of loss, which also means not falling in love.  Ava, a stunning redhead, didn't know she was a witch; she was raised in Maine on an apple farm, bullied for being different, and forced to follow her parents' strict rules to keep her from being discovered.  Ava and Lauren meet before the nightlong celebration welcoming new witches to Lilith House.  They save each other from being run over by a car and become blood sisters.  

Ava finds letters from Cambridge's first witch, Rose Bridewell, who tells the story of her life and the lives of other witches.  Rose is rescued from a jail in England by Increase Mather's wife, and Mather takes her to America.  Mather's wife is a witch who doesn't practice, and Rose and she become more than employer and employee; they become fast friends.  Mather's son, Cotton, is a witch, but doesn't know it. He hates himself, and that hate reaches out to those like him.  Cotton will go on to start the Salem witch trials.  The fear of being named a witch mirrors the fear of the 1950s McCarthyism that Ava and Lauren live in.

Ava falls hard for Jamie Mather, a man whose family sent him to Harvard to become a lawyer like the rest of them, even though he has no interest in it.  Jamie wants to get far away from his family, who treat him differently for being a witch.  Despite her efforts not to, Lauren falls in love with a tattoo artist named Carick, but refuses to give in to her emotions, even as she finds excuses to keep going back to see him.  Lauren spends her free time trying to keep Ava away from Jamie because he is a Mather, and the Mather family has hunted witches for a long time, and he will only hurt Ava.  This causes her friendship with Ava to be quite rocky at times.

This captivating novel keeps you quickly turning pages to find out what happens next.  It explores the power of friendship, finding love, and two men, in the present and the past, who seek to destroy those who are different, whether they be witches or so-called communists.  Both women from the 17th century and the 1950s have to hide who they really are, as well as Lauren't brother, Lionel, who is not only a witch, but gay in a world that punishes people like him as being unnatural.  This book holds a mirror up to today's society and how those who are different are still persecuted.

Quotes

It was said that everyone had three fates, the one they were born with, the one they walked away from, and the one they made for themselves.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.15)

Her mouth was so red she looked like a flower, although her true intention was to be the thorn.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.19)

The world will break your heart, but you can repair the world every day.  You know how you are, even if no one else does.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.23)

Ava's mother had always warned her to not accept favors from other girls.  Once she did, she would surely find herself at their mercy, for that was what friendship was about.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.34)

Hate yourself and everyone else will agree with you.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.57)

People said you couldn't make someone love you, but Jamie knew for a fact that you could make someone hate you.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.65)

Love is chemistry.  If it weren't, people wouldn't do such stupid things in the name of love.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.68)

Be willing to do what you most fear if you ever plan to be free.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.93)

It's people that ruin things, not love.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.92)

Sometimes you don't know why you've gone somewhere until you've reached your destination.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.116)

What men don't understand they will seek to destroy.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.164)

Love was greedy; it was all that you wanted once you'd had it; it was the reason to wake in the morning and to go to bed at night.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.184)

A story can tell you what to do when you don't know how to live your life.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.217)

Once you read a story, you'd carry it with you.  Even if it's hidden, even if it's only a bonfire, it will remain a part of who you are, and one day you'll find it; it will rise up in your blood and your bones to be remembered no matter what.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.280)

He was clearly a tortured soul.  He'd be worse by the end of the night, when he finished The Catcher In The Rye and realized he would never be happy until he discovered who he really was.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.315)

Love has nothing to do with the here and now.  That's what he'd said.  It's what we have no matter what happens.

Alice Hoffman (The Witches of Cambridge, p.392)

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Cambridge-Novel-Alice-Hoffman/dp/1668074648/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jUVbBP5jlvHNHxcEt2RPKSIgU71VrH-ZkZFpACETZDCqvfpZfHMDnmcAGlFqR6ePWf6xr_kFWw12D_Bjom6gEliz2_gYT1xRy6tr_HWXdUnkSf_7rwhYORLFHs-yurQ85qkHgfGtNafJRBxyBxl3wE6PgIwafiH3Owz2YHnKaZhy_gZJV-QZwGKAaaHKmsiLMoSir8bKqYKPcwb6c0lfZWYt7UUuM_nC4EDGwZyAxyg.fE9HAiMf2qZQ0aYJJeZgbgeZ8EVJIS5V3onnpJHBcsY&qid=1791114161&sr=8-1

Link to ThriftBooks:https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-witches-of-cambridge/57207255/?resultid=4cafd96d-fced-435f-ad85-281019cdc7ea#edition=74508075&idiq=87017754

Eyes of Prey by John Sandford

 

This is the third book, published in 1991, featuring Lieutenant Lucas Davenport, a cop in Minneapolis.  He's had it rough in the last two books and is now in the depths of depression that seems to have no end.  His captain assigns him to the Bekker murder investigation, which is looking into the death of Stephanie Bekker.  All of her friends tell the cops that they wouldn't be surprised if her husband committed the murder because he was always a little off.  However, the husband has a rock-solid alibi.  Carlos Druze, a man Bekker met in a bar one night, kills and carves out the eyes of Stephanie for Bekker, who, like in the Hitchcock movie Strangers On A Train, will kill a woman at the theater Carlos works at who is giving him problems.  While killing Stephanie, Carlos is seen by her lover, who has just come out of the shower, to inspect the noises in the kitchen.  They both get a good look at each other.  After Bekker kills the theater woman for Carlos, Carlos kills the man he believes to be the lover so he cannot be identified.  Things begin to unravel for the two killers from there on out as Lucas draws closer to figuring out what is really going on.

Sandford writes books that tell you early on who the killer is.  The novel alternates between Lucas's and the killers' viewpoints.  This way of reading a book is both interesting and hard for me.  I like the insight into the killer's mind, but I get frustrated with the cops who spend chapters unable to figure out what is going on.  Bekker is a weird character.  He takes all sorts of drugs and pharmaceuticals such as cocaine, speed, meth, Xanax, Clonopin, PCP, steroids, acid, and lots of other drugs that I have never heard of.  He manages his life by what drugs he takes to feel or act a certain way.  It's a wonder he isn't brain dead, or just plain dead.  As the book goes on, he starts to have lots of blackouts.  A friend of mine got me reading this series and is ahead of me.  They tell me that the fourth book, Silent Prey, is the best, but that you have to read Eyes of Prey first.  So I pushed my way through the book.  It wasn't a terribly bad book, just hard to read at times, and the insight into Bekker's mind is priceless.  

Quotes

They would find him there, standing over the body like the innocent man in a Perry Mason television show, point a finger at him, accuse him of murder.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.503)

A fifth man, older, sat by himself in front of a bowl of peanuts, nursing a lifelong rage and a glass of rye.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.506)

You gotta be young or naive to write poetry.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.507)

Fuckin' women. So casual about the way you break a guy's heart.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.577)

In a week, you couldn't find that hole with three Geiger counters and a Republican water witch.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.628)

Column-writing is the only job I know where sarcasm passes for intelligence.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.633-4)

Nothing gives an editorial writer more satisfaction than seeing somebody else booted out of their job.

John Sandford (Eyes of Prey, p.721)

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Prey-Book-3-ebook/dp/B000QFCFH0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PD9M5LTNQ4YK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.exRbuFpFcORbcTNIZRCnCF5ocRGc5IOSiDo5eF_37HmDppS6kwxuQZrzO0Lwgs9Psq3dzpV69G-nLZ94bLhnvOkDCJI92qUd4nzad4x8N4MnF12ka-BMErKVcoBs6TuKowuR0TZmyqCkAQG3XUk3uEp6MGzqPfcny7C-GxTzP-ED67ztiXjf5jhL7Mtd2ym0c2jntI-4J7XKDfd5At_C8sH9Jp2wQJS0GhCesLXhfsY.VzqUlukR98KcOcOEIQIFpoT9_q2dBTobUF3Iwu7MTr8&dib_tag=se&keywords=eyes+of+prey&qid=1790886222&s=comics-manga&sprefix=eyes+of+prey%2Ccomics-manga%2C347&sr=1-1

Link to ThriftBookshttps://www.thriftbooks.com/w/eyes-of-prey-by-john-sandford-ken-howard/247386/?resultid=758dede3-d4c9-41c5-b5ab-b58e18daa9aa#edition=3504529&idiq=1384714

Mystique Volume one: Dead Drop Gorgeous by Brian K. Vaughn (Writer), Jorge Lucas (Art),and VC's Randy Gentile with Paul Tutrone (Letterer)

 

This captivating graphic novel opens up with Xavier's top spy, Prudence, in Russia, trying to get schematics for Russian Sentinels that had been sold out of the country when she gets caught by pyrotechnic arms dealer Steinbeck.  She tells him, "That you can't always get what you want," and he replies, "But if you try, sometimes you just might get what you" Then she knees him in the groin and says, "Kneed".  Later, she tells him she's more of a Beatles fan and says You know what they say about happiness ('Happiness Is a Warm Gun' off of the White Album).  There are all sorts of pop culture references throughout the book that will make you laugh.  

When Prudence is killed by Steinbeck, Professor X hunts down Mystique with Forge's help.  He offers her a trade-off: work for me, and I will keep your enemies and the government from finding you with a new device that can shield her presence, or take her chances without it.  She also can't kill anyone when she goes to Cuba to crush the recently bought Sentinels from Russia.  In Cuba, young mutants have been going missing, and their parents suspect the government, which has a decidedly anti-mutant stance.  Will Mystique complete her mission with only the tranquilizer gun Charles left for her and rescue the children? I absolutely adored this book.  It's the first Mystique novel I have read, and it's a winner.  This series takes place from 2003-2005.  I cannot wait to get my hands on it.  The art is amazing, and the writing is beyond great.  Get your hands on a copy today.

Link To Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Mystique-Vol-Dead-Gorgeous-2003-2005-ebook/dp/B08XN3YDP6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10TQIG4ZKR1HM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FsGkYrlE_FLw42QNZ1HuMUIK2old6zXymIsKtNbyUoWm3FIIKoFyxzclFMYXwu_sPnfrTVaJBYicDoiiVgvnHoOnvQ-PHaAeMyrddo7d6tWm8F6Otw-XiTGmrRc4Cyewljd8ianA3FkpljRDWUiz1VISX24SF6DCN6liaRJYOHbWbT6rmcLuCqx3vdkpedSokqJvD5DfTC8AcVooN655QXftjXmCCkxxSItoDHVTRNE.umBMdkGTneU9LDfYZSb12x3yfY6-6PiQS-YVF6vUo1E&dib_tag=se&keywords=mystique+volume+one&qid=1790610091&s=books&sprefix=mystique+volume+one%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1

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Verity by Colleen Hoover

 

This tense psychological thriller opens with Lowen Ashleigh, a novelist, who is introduced to Jeremy Crawford, the husband of famous thriller writer Verity, who has been in a terrible car accident (some say a suicide attempt) after losing her twin daughters to two tragic accidents.  Verity is barely alive, and Jeremy hired a nurse to care for her.  Verity's publishers are seeking someone to write the last three books in Verity's famous series.  Jeremy tells her that Verity admires Lowen's writing and that he wants her to write the rest of the series.  Lowen, an introvert, has not had much success in the publishing world.  It doesn't help that she refuses to go on book tours or participate in social media to promote her books.  This is why she lives in New York City: to hide from the world.

Jeremy and Verity still have a five-year-old boy, Crew, who is having a hard time of it after all the tragedy.  Jeremy has Lowen come to his and Verity's house in Connecticut to research the series and look for any outlines Verity might have written.  Instead of outlines, Lowen finds an autobiography Verity wrote.  This unpublished manuscript is very dark and paints Verity as a sex fiend who obsesses over her husband and wants him to love only her, not the children they have, which she resents for putting her in last place.  As Lowen reads about Jeremy in the autobiography, the two bond over their losses.  As she spends more time with Jeremy, she finds herself falling for him and wanting him to forget that he's a married man.    

This creepy book enfolds you in the mystery that is Verity, another name for truth, that this novel attempts to uncover from all the lives involved.  But this thriller has a gotcha that is found in most thrillers today, and while I guessed some of it, I really didn't expect the surprise ending.  I want to thank Tyf, a friend from college, who told me to read this book years ago when it came out.  I finally got to it, just in time to watch the movie coming out soon.   This is a book worth looking into.

Quotes

Most people come to New York to be discovered.  The rest of us come here to hide.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.6)

It's what you do when you've experienced the worst of the worst.  You seek out people like you...people worse off than you...and you use them to make yourself feel better about the terrible things that have happened to you.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.7-8)

I wasn't simple. I was difficult.  An emotionally challenging puzzle he wasn't up for solving.  Which was fine.  I wasn't in the mood to be solved.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.21)

I think the idea of me is better than the reality of me.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.25)

Thinking I'm not good enough is part of the writing process.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.41)

Find what you love and let it kill you.

Charles Bukowski

You can't look at someone the way he looked at me--with the entirety of his past--without also imagining the future.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.71)

And that's what love at first sight is.  It isn't really love at first sight until you've been with the person long enough for it to become love at first sight.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.73)

But when a person finds someone who makes all the negativity in their life disappear, it's hard not to feed off that person.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.83)

I might be obsessed with him, but a woman knows if she wants to keep a man forever, she has to act like she could get over him in a day.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.85)

It's very simple, really.  Take care of your physical being.  Feed it what it needs, not what the conscience tells you it wants.  Giving in to cravings of the mind that ultimately hurt the body is like a weak parent giving in to her child.  "Oh, you had a bad day?  Do you want an entire box of cookies?  Okay, sweetie. Eat it.  And drink this soda while you're at it."  Caring for your body is no different from caring for a child.  Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it sucks, sometimes you just want to give in, but if you do, you'll pay for the consequences eighteen years down the road.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.103-4)

This is the first time I've ever had a guy open a door for me.  Dammit.  How messed up is that?

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.124)

A terrible sex life is like a virus.  Your marriage can be healthy in all other aspects, but once the sex dies out, it starts to infect all the other parts of your relationship.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.161)

It was one thing I hated most about being a mother.  All the fucking vomit.

Colleen Hoover (Verity, p.191)

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Verity-Colleen-Hoover/dp/1538739720/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aMb3fQIGyVKZjwodFzuDTScRzPmcOxTH7yUcDjClKtloRatWhxHqywvzu8sHl0wjCWqioP231X6btO4q4pKnJGBAMzcDPWrUTLVJn_F8a1Qyog2rgAdp3w5ZCfrzjsH3sDk1nOzhB3ilgSbyBiwIWhKGwhKfmHC4gPuHT30lO8gYpfVmd2yudTItFsHj-DE7cLntOy1VVbfBdOscO6I68QOjV_fUqDX8YF6VqZioH6g.dYLTg0jkKaH3qbbHLGJrkTCYfwb-cr4q3D1Y9sJF8bg&qid=1790279581&sr=1-1

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Spider-Man Spider-Verse: Spider-Men by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer Spider-Man #4-5), David HIne with Fabrice Sapolsky (Writer Edge of Spider-Verse #1), Tom DeFalco (Writer Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special #1)

 

This graphic novel features Peter Parker from Earth-616, or the Amazing Spider-Man; Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man; Spider-Man Noir; Peni Parker, aka SP//dr; and Spider-Ham.  All of these Spider-Men will face off against Mysterio of 616, who gets rid of Peter Parker by sending him to another world so that he can rule Earth-616.  These Spideys must help him defeat Mysterio and get back to his own Earth.  Peter Parker makes the mistake of going to see Aunt Mae and Gwen Stacy.  The Peter Parker in this world is dead, and at first it is hard for them to see this other Peter Parker, but soon they are discussing the differences between their worlds.  

Other characters who appear in this comic are Nick Fury, Tony Stark, and Black Cat.  It is very well written, though that is no surprise, considering who wrote it.  The art, however, doesn't always live up to other artists' renderings of the subject matter.  For instance, I don't think the artistry for the Noir section is sufficiently dark and moody.  It really does not feel like the 30s and 40s.  I really enjoyed the Spider-Ham anniversary, which celebrates his birthday in a fun and hilarious way. Overall, I think that this is a good comic.  Three other comics in this series focus on different Spiders or villains. My slight disappointment in this one will not keep me from seeking them out, as this series has a unique concept that is very intriguing. 

Link To Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Man-Spider-Verse-Spider-Men-Enter-Book-ebook/dp/B07JHZV8DN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QO78MFJRG5FB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KEqo7OsM6IAT8OLJmW5w1-Pwg8XnPXEG_FiDE4_R70r0aeR2-IAkVC-qUGncD7IzieefNuWMfw7MdlU92AeNimZKyMTJxV8LJMjLvZI9hpLvsDXOERyixkGnvu6-wMiQX_EB5sQ9ymUMbBfUoEt_oW7MZm_XrCXdeSAHkDJ-6eYd7uAOaVmlmy-HvmqRM2Rc7TKg8Fk5SUxxiVdJy3Rz4CsP-IfCisglL3olxibrh-w.e_DQugzBLgT3ZbrxcGZ4WhpZi1oeIZ0A25VvgnA68js&dib_tag=se&keywords=spider-man+spider-verse+spider-men&qid=1790097569&s=digital-text&sprefix=spider-man+spider-verse+spider-men%2Cdigital-text%2C159&sr=1-1

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The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay

Set in 1973 London, this brilliant novel focuses on two women: Diana, the first female Director of the Modernist Collection at the Tate Gallery; Lily, her assistant director who emulates Diana. Pablo Picasso has just died, and Diana wants to put on an intimate show of some of his works.  On opening day, Lily's job is to listen to the crowd talk about the exhibit and report back to Diana.  Lily is a painter and hopes for Diana to look at her portfolio and offer her a slot in her Emerging Modern Artists exhibit.  But everything goes downhill quickly when Lily looks at the paintings in order and says aloud what she thinks: that the painting Woman Laughing is a fake.  

The Tate's director fires her on the spot, as the London Times is there and has heard her.  Diana tells her to go wait in her office.  She decides to put off firing Lily, for the time being.  Meanwhile, an art insurance detective from New York, Connor, arrives to investigate, and the two get closer, even as Lily becomes a suspect in the forgery.  The real forger is setting her up as a fall guy.  

But this book is about more than art. It's about relationships.  Lily has locked her family out of her life because she feels to blame for an accident that took place twenty-two years ago that left her mother in a wheelchair.  Diana and her husband have a relationship where his ego is so big that there's no room for hers.  Both characters have difficulty with their families. It is also about the relationship between Lily and Diana.  Lily, who got her start working at St. Martin's art school cleaning and filing, gets her paints and canvases from the students' trash, and her "studio" is a utility closet.  Diana, meanwhile, is wealthy and has everything she could want.  She sees Lily as Eliza Doolittle and herself as Henry Higgins.  

I fell in love with this book on the first page when it mentions the Tate Gallery.  It is at the top of my list of places to see.  I also love art, though the Modernist Movement is not one of my favorites; I do appreciate it, and I once had a print of Picasso's Old Guitarist on my wall.  This book is set in a time when Nazi-stolen art is beginning to appear on the art market, as well as a lot of forgeries.  While labs exist to test paints and canvases, they are rarely used, and it makes it easier to sell a forgery. 

I really related to Lily, and even Diana.  They are two women trying to make it in the male-dominated field of art at a time when women's rights were a growing concern, and you had to work twice as hard for half as much.  Diana works hard to get to where she is, as does Lily, who started out as Diana's secretary and was promoted to assistant director.  These strong female characters must fight to find their way in this world, and while some may cheat to do so, sometimes it's necessary.  These two women have problems with family members that everyone can relate to, and problems in their relationship with each other.  This is a very relatable book and a good choice for a book club read.

Quotes

We live with our lies because we must.

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.38)

Is love merely a covering for despair?  A plaster that doesn't quite cover the edges of the wound?  Does darkness always creep around the corners of joy and press upon it?  Shrink it?

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.114)

Families are complicated, Lily.  You can love them and hurt them, want them to draw close while shoving them away.  Those two states--the pull and the push--can be true simultaneously.

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.145)

Art is the singular soul, the flaws, the vulnerability, and the many all on display.

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.153)

But feeling something and having the courage and vulnerability to act upon it are very different things.

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.166)

We don't get to choose what life throws at us. I suppose we only choose our reactions, our responses to it.

Katherine Reay (The English Masterpiece, p.202)

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/English-Masterpiece-Novel-Katherine-Reay-ebook/dp/B0DMJQNKZ8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16ZV3M2SI87GX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6-U8JikUThvFO3hEfcXVoqdfNDJqw9B78uUCmYBpEdW57pp82xcwZeNmZUENkF_RYbUtJPBt7oKEdeLKfRVR82-pkqFIF8ezSBMmHDA-4cU.Cu5Z8q5usjkpz1RO1WLUhMWkXyIfiW5C5tQwz_FV4WI&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+english+masterpiece+katherine+reay&qid=1789920312&s=digital-text&sprefix=the+english+mas%2Cdigital-text%2C167&sr=1-1

Link to ThriftBooks:https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-english-masterpiece/55263073/?resultid=9d321c4e-2f01-4ed1-9e99-73e7bd340170#edition=72052803&idiq=86061292

 

Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine

 

This alternative-history fantasy retells the story of Henry Tudor and his six wives.  Catherine of Aragon is living in exile without her daughter Mary and realizes she can fake her death when a nun who looks like her is very sick and dying.  The nun is buried with the pomp and circumstance of the former Queen she is imitating.  Lina, Catherine's childhood nickname, is now her name, and she starts working for the Helleborne Sisterhood, a large group of women run by Princess Marguerite of France.  This organization's goal is to provide equality for women in Europe. This means that women, in secret, are given an education, medical training, and work undercover in various countries as political spies who try to help the women of that country.

Lina is sent back to England from a Sisterhood hideaway to save Anne Boleyn, her enemy, who will quickly become her friend. Anne is a witch, and Lina gives her a bespelled ceremonial knife and spells she can use to keep from being beheaded.  On the chopping block, Anne casts a spell to make herself invisible and then cuts off her pinky finger to create a body double to die in her place.  Lina whisks her away to a hideout and waits for news from Princess Marguerite.  The princess has plans for the two to recruit witches for the cause.  They start with the great-great-grandniece of Joan of Arc, who helps them recruit hundreds more, saving many from being burned at the stake.  

None of this keeps Anne from her promise to kill Henry Tudor for the many evil things he has done.  Lina and Marguerite try to rein her in, but Anne knows that her time to enact revenge will come soon.  Meanwhile, Henry is on wife number five, Anne's cousin Katherine Howard.  Will the Sisterhood be able to save her from her fate?  This novel delves deep into the lives of the women and men of the 1500s and brings them into brilliant light, including the six wives, the Duke of Norfolk, Cromwell, and many others.  As these brave women try to right the wrongs against them, they will create strong bonds of friendship.   I found myself relating to these women and cheering them on.  While the ending is both sad and awesome, this is Laine's first adult novel, and she promises a sequel.  

Quotes

Just be happy when you can.  And when you can't, make your anger count.

Jillian Laine (Henry Tudor Must Die, p.130)

Gabriel had been beautiful in the way only a Parisian could be, with both strength and delicacy.

Jillian Laine (Henry Tudor Must Die, p. 149)

It was far easier for humans to devolve than to evolve.

Jillian Laine (Henry Tudor Must Die, p.211)

Perhaps this was how Anne felt--bottomless anger burning just hot enough to cover all her fear, for it was far easier to be angry than to be afraid.

Jillian Laine (Henry Tudor Must Die, p.214)

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