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A review by tshrope
The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland
4.0
After reading and enjoying Maitland’s Company of Liars I was excited to read her next book the Owl Killers, and I was not disappointed. In fact I think this book was even more of a compelling read than the first.
Set in the 1320’s in England, a group of Christian women known as beguines come to the small (fictional) village of Ulewic from Burges to establish a beguinage (a self-sustaining community of women). They are met with suspicion and are immediately targeted as the root of all evil (floods, famine, sickness and death) by the Owl Men, a group of men who rule the village through paganism and fear.
The story is told through 5 different voices which I did not have a problem following. In fact I thought it added to the story showing different points of view and enhanced character development. I know other reviewers did not like this technique but I did not have a problem with it.
Maitland is a master of this era and it is fascinating to learn so much about everyday life at this time (the Church’s power, what people ate, what types of herbs were used for medicinal purposes etc). She does not let her historical knowledge of this time period overwhelm her overall story though and does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. There are a couple of loose ends she leaves dangling (what happened to Servant Martha, the leader of the beguines, and Father Ulfrid, although we can guess he where is fate will lay), but these few details do not deter from the enjoyment of the story.
I also liked the touch towards the end of the book when she refers to the main character in the Company of Liars (set 20 years later) who will come along and find a book left by one of beguines.
Set in the 1320’s in England, a group of Christian women known as beguines come to the small (fictional) village of Ulewic from Burges to establish a beguinage (a self-sustaining community of women). They are met with suspicion and are immediately targeted as the root of all evil (floods, famine, sickness and death) by the Owl Men, a group of men who rule the village through paganism and fear.
The story is told through 5 different voices which I did not have a problem following. In fact I thought it added to the story showing different points of view and enhanced character development. I know other reviewers did not like this technique but I did not have a problem with it.
Maitland is a master of this era and it is fascinating to learn so much about everyday life at this time (the Church’s power, what people ate, what types of herbs were used for medicinal purposes etc). She does not let her historical knowledge of this time period overwhelm her overall story though and does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. There are a couple of loose ends she leaves dangling (what happened to Servant Martha, the leader of the beguines, and Father Ulfrid, although we can guess he where is fate will lay), but these few details do not deter from the enjoyment of the story.
I also liked the touch towards the end of the book when she refers to the main character in the Company of Liars (set 20 years later) who will come along and find a book left by one of beguines.