This August let Fantasy Reads take you to an unusual holiday destination – Unholy Island. It is the setting for a series of Fantasy/Mystery novels by British author, Sarah Painter. The first novel in the Unholy Island series is called The Ward Witch (2023) and it is available in all the usual formats. The second volume, The Book Keeper, was published in February of this year and a third volume, The Island God, is due next month. Unholy Island is to be found off the Northumbrian coast and belongs in the same fictional world as Painter’s eight-volume Crow Investigations series about the four magical families who dominate London. It isn’t necessary to have read any of this series to enjoy The Ward Witch.
Unholy Island is joined to the English mainland by a causeway which can only be crossed at Low Tide. The small mist-shrouded island is home to just twelve permanent inhabitants – not all of them as human as they appear to be. Tourists sometimes find their way to this remote place but they always leave after no more than one night with only hazy memories of where they have been. The island’s magical wards see to that. Unholy Island’s current Ward Witch is a woman called Esme Gray, who found sanctuary there after fleeing from her violent husband. Esme has now been Ward Witch for seven years but she still isn’t fully confident in her magic. So when the islanders realize that a stranger has been camping on the island for several nights, Esme assumes that it is her fault that the wards have failed to repel him.
The stranger is a man called Luke Taylor. For eighteen-months Luke has been searching Britain for his twin brother, Lewis. The identical twins were part of a happy family until their mother died and their father became a violent drunk. Luke worked hard to become a successful professional but Lewis turned to violence and became involved in a criminal underworld. In spite of their very different lifestyles the twins always kept in touch until the day that Lewis disappeared. Luke has heard nothing from his brother but hopes that he is still alive somewhere. A rumour that Lewis might have taken refuge on a remote northern island sends Luke to Unholy Island. He tries to question the inhabitants of the island’s only village about Lewis but gets nowhere. The village shopkeeper, Matteo, turns out to be mute, the elderly mayor, Tobias, is courteous but claims to be unable to help, and Esme, the attractive woman who runs the island’s only guesthouse, tells him to leave at once. Exhausted by his search for Lewis and attracted to the island itself, Luke is stubbornly determined to stay.
The islanders may not be willing to talk to Luke but they are certainly talking about him. Hammer, a formidable man with a dark past, wants to use force to get Luke off the island, but Bee, one of the mysterious Three Sisters who live together in the village for much of the year, insists that he be allowed to stay. She declares that the island itself must have a purpose for Luke – not a comforting thought since it usually means that one of the islanders will soon need to be replaced. Luke moves into Esme’s small guesthouse and tries to get to know his prickly hostess. He is increasingly attracted to Esme but realizes that something has made her very nervous around men.
The islanders’ worst fears are soon realised when Luke claims to have stumbled on the body of one of their number on the seashore. Some of the islanders are suspicious of his story, especially after a policewoman summoned from the mainland announces that the dead islander was probably murdered. Luke is astonished to be told that he has inherited the post of Book Keeper and moves into what seems to be sentient book-shop. Trouble follows him to the island in the form of brutal thugs who hold him accountable for his brother’s debts. This, and the unsolved murder, threaten the peace of Unholy Island. Esme has visions which she can’t yet control about Luke’s brother and about a mysterious object which may link the murder to the withdrawn teenage son of one island couple. As her investigations put her in danger, can Esme solve the murder and clear Luke?
This is a novel with an enormously strong sense of place. Painter herself acknowledges that her Unholy Island is modelled on one of the most magical places in Britain – Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island. Linked to the mainland by a tidal causeway, tiny Lindisfarne is hauntingly beautiful and has a complex and fascinating history. I can attest from personal experience that crossing the causeway to Lindisfarne is like going back in time to a place where humans seem insignificant compared to the majesty of nature. Painter captures all these qualities in her fictional counterpart. The inhabitants of Unholy Island live with almost constant wind and frequent fogs, the shrieks of sea-birds overhead, and the ever-changing moods of the North Sea. It is in many ways a bleak place, but amateur painter Esme and newcomer Luke are both sensitive to its wild beauty.
Painter also writes convincingly about the dynamics of a small island community. The islanders have a love-hate relationship with the day-trippers and a general mistrust of outsiders. They must co-operate to survive but without respect for each other’s privacy, life on Unholy Island would be unbearably claustrophobic. One coping mechanism is that when the islanders dine in the only pub, The Rising Moon, a person’s choice of table indicates whether they want to eat alone or in company. Another rule is that no questions should be asked about an islander’s former life or about their identity. Unholy Island is a sanctuary for people trying to escape a troubled past or searching for a place to live as their true selves. This apparently close community is full of secrets, which Painter cleverly exploits by continually shifting the viewpoint of her narrative between outsider Luke and various islanders. We, the readers, learn the terrible reason why shopkeeper Matteo never normally speaks aloud and are given hints about the immense age of Mayor Tobias who has been on the island since before humans first came there. Many secrets remain to be revealed in the course of the series.
The Ward Witch is a mystery story which could fit into several sub-genres. You could view it as a traditional closed-setting crime novel since a murder takes place on an inaccessible island which limits the suspects to a small group of islanders. The island’s magical protections prevent the police from investigating properly so amateur sleuthing is required. Esme’s brief visions are not very different from the flashes of intuition frequently permitted to non-magical detectives and her ability to talk to and empathise with other people is the key factor. The crime does turn out to be related to a magical object but the motives of the murderer are rooted in human nature. The publishers have labelled this series as Cosy Crime but I think that is misleading. Unholy Island is no cosy rural idyll and the story has only a little humour and a great deal of underlying sadness. Tobias regrets that an intelligent and conscientious police officer must have her memory tampered with and, after the murderer is uncovered, the islanders are faced with the grim task of being judge, jury and executioner.
There is now a suprisingly large sub-genre of crime novels with amateur or professional detectives who are also good witches. Amusing examples include Nancy Warren’s Vampire Knitting Club novels and several series by A.A. Albright set in magical enclaves in Ireland. I use the word amusing because these are essentially light-hearted novels with entertaining plots but little depth of characterization. Esme is a benevolent witch but there is nothing light-hearted about the cruel backstory that Painter has given her of growing up in care and then being trapped in a controlling and abusive relationship. The islanders are the closest thing to a supportive family that Esme has ever had. So perhaps her story does fit into a another sub-genre that is currently popular – the Midlife Crisis Fantasy Crime novel. Publishers have finally noticed that middle-aged women exist – and buy a lot of novels.
Although I’m pleased to be offered Fantasy novels centred on middle-aged characters, I have felt that many of them are rather glib and rush their heroines into a happy ending – new home, new job, new lover – with unnatural speed. Painter creates a much more realistic portrait of a woman whose recovery from years of abuse is painfully slow. Esme still lacks confidence in her own abilities and is terrified of being turned out of the sanctuary she has found. She has a fierce protector in Hammer but that only locks her into victimhood. She even dresses defensively. In one of the book’s few comic moments, Esme realizes that it doesn’t matter if Luke sees her in her night things because she is swathed from neck to foot in two bulky layers of flannel.
One thing that I liked about The Ward Witch is that Luke is allowed his own midlife crisis. His dreadful teenage experiences have left their mark on him. Luke has never found contentment or strong relationships to replace his dysfunctional family and he fails to realize that woman find him very handsome. There is soon a strong spark of attraction between Luke and Esme but any relationship between these two damaged people will need care and time to build if it is to succeed. So, expect a very slow-burn romance element. By the end of The Ward Witch, a murder has been solved and there is a new twist in the mystery surrounding Luke’s brother. In The Book Keeper we learn more about the purpose of the bookshop with a mind of its own and Esme and Luke find themselves investigating a series of arson attacks and another murder. I’m keenly looking forward to discovering more of the secrets of Unholy Island in the third volume. Until next month…
Geraldine
August 2024