Slewfoot - Brom | Folklore Horror Review
Slewfoot Cover
Personally, Slewfoot was a classic example of ‘Instagram made me buy it!’. So many accounts spent time raving about it that I knew I had to join the party. Once I had looked it up online, the cover really sealed the deal, being so tempting in its luscious artwork. It arrived just before Christmas and I am glad I didn't wait any longer before reading. This is one of the most unique horror novels I have ever read.
Folklore Horror, if that is indeed what you would call this novel, was never really on my radar. I had heard of it but always assumed that the novels inside it would be full of creepy crawlies and filled more with gory and disgusting elements of horror. Slewfoot was not that at all. Slewfoot had my pulse raised and shuttled me through to the end before I had ever realised I had begun!
It is also worth noting that I found it to be one of the best representations of feminine age that I have come across, especially in a book written by a male. Abitha’s emotions were so realistic and felt so natural that they enamoured her to me even more than I would have been anyway. To this end, I never really noticed any of the bad things that she did as being mad, which then led me to question my morals and how religion has influenced them. Essentially, what I am saying is, that I will be reading this book again, and again, and again!
Slewfoot tells the story of a young female named Abitha, who is sent to the small town of Sutton in colonial America from England by her father in answer to an advertisement looking for suitable wives. Abitha does not fit into the Puritan village she finds herself in at all, constantly feeling the pull of her mother’s pagan spells and potions. Her husband Edward also struggles with the pious and virtuous nature of his brethren. Edwards’ brother Wallace finds himself in debt and threatens to take the farm from the couple, this ignites a feud that will bring bloodshed to the village and awakening for Abitha.
You can always tell when a novel is going to be a good read when you feel entranced after just a few pages. I don’t believe there is any way that anyone could put this book down and not finish it. The story is so rich and detailed, that the words Brom uses are just right for creating a heavy atmosphere that it is more than conceivable could be harbouring magic. Moreover, the magic that is portrayed is always done so in a realistic way, by, of course, rooting it in the pagan healing methods of Abotha’s mother.
The characterisation of Abitha especially was excellent. So real and raw, I felt connected to her from the moment she spoke and that connection is also a huge part of what carried me so swiftly through the end pages of the novel. But even periphery characters, such as the Reverend and his wife and Wallace were all characterised with such care that I naturally formed the emotions to them that the story required. This solid foundation meant that the rest of the story was a natural incline and decline for me, there were no parts that I felt were missing or that were too long because I was enamoured by these characters.
There is also an element of the story that feels as though it exists as a moral question about religion. Certainly, much of the action in the novel is spearheaded by the religious fanatics of Sutton, but there is an underlying element that indicates the reader must choose which side they stay on. The third-person narrator helps this questionable atmosphere as readers are allowed to see all of the opinions and aspects of the folk living in and around Sutton, not just the Puritans but the Wildfolk and Abitha too.
For the first time, I honestly have no complaints about this novel. I tried very hard, for the sake of balance, to find something and I just couldn’t! Due to that, I have to give this a perfect 10/10 and hope that I can find more of Brom’s work very, very soon in the future!
