Review of The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird

In seventeenth-century Scotland, saying the wrong thing can lead to banishment - or worse. Accused of being a witch, sixteen-year-old Maggie Blair is sentenced to be hanged. She escapes, but instead of finding shelter with her principled, patriotic uncle, she brings disaster to his door. 
Betrayed by one of her own accusers, Maggie must try to save her uncle and his family from the king’s men, even if she has to risk her own life in the process.

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I loved this book. I like it when a book is historically accurate and quite a few of the characters and places were real and Elizabeth Laird's own ancestors, so there's a unique personal touch in there too. The story is well plotted and suspenseful in all the right places, and sad in all the right places too.
Maggie Blair is a heroine that, when it ends, I was sad to let go. The other characters in the book are equally excellent, even the spiteful Annie, whose fate is really quick shocking.
One strange thing though: there's a scene where Maggie is hiding with some cattle herders who are helping her to get to her Uncle's house. One of them offers her money to cure his earache and she refuses, much to his dissapointment. Later on though when she's half asleep she mutters some words (not realising that she's doing this) that she'd heard her Grandmother use and his earache is miraculously cured the next day. That's the closest you get to true witchcraft. I figured maybe she'd use 'spells' more often after that but no...

5/5

Received free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review