Book Review: Hag Storm by Victoria Williamson

Witches, demons, curses and old wives tales all feature in this atmospheric and exciting adventure set in 18th century Scotland. When his family move to a new tenant farm, Rab, eldest of seven children, labours on the land to help his father eke out a living to support the family. While clearing stones from a field, Rab finds a smooth round stone with a hole in the centre. Impelled to look through it, Rab is terrified when he sees a witch-like figure amid darkening skies. Despite his efforts to rid himself of the stone, it keeps returning to him. Evil is afoot as Halloween approaches, and it’s up to Rab to save himself and his family.

As you would expect from Victoria Williamson, the story is really well written, with tight atmospheric prose, beautiful descriptions and great characterisation. The depiction of the difficulties of trying to live off barren land in bleak conditions is so well-conveyed, I felt I was there. In fact, the image of Rab clearing stones from the field put me in mind of one of my favourite poems, ‘O Stony Grey Soil of Monaghan’ by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh, particularly these stanzas:

O stony grey soil of Monaghan
The laugh from my love you thieved;
You took the gay child of my passion
And gave me your clod-conceived.

…

You flung a ditch on my vision
Of beauty, love and truth.
O stony grey soil of Monaghan
You burgled my bank of youth!

Along with the toil are the joys of a large family, the companionship and support, the laughter as well as some bickering between siblings. Rab takes more than his share of the workload to ease the burden on Gil, the brother a year younger than him, and he allows the little ones steal food off his plate. However Agnes, three years younger and eldest of the girls, unfortunately rubs him up the wrong way. It’s only when Agnes is in danger that he realises how much he would do to save her.

The story is exciting and tense, with time running out for Rab’s family. The ending, although not unexpected, was very satisfying. I love stories about cursed objects (fiction only I emphasise, like ‘The Imp in the Bottle’ or ‘Night of the Demon’) and impending doom. The story is inspired by the early life of Robert Burns and one of his most famous poems, Tam O’Shanter (which I read AFTER I finished ‘Hag Storm’). It’s a mix that works really well.

One other thing to say is that the dialogue is in a light Scots dialect (similar to Jenny in ‘The Whistlers in the Dark’), which perfectly captures the beauty of the lyrical Scottish accent without being difficult to follow.

Overall a super read, especially for fans of Robert Burns, Victoria Williamson, and anyone who likes a touch of dark fantasy.

Valinora Troy

, , , , , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , ,
←
→

19 responses to “Book Review: Hag Storm by Victoria Williamson”

    • I hope you can get a copy of it, I really enjoyed it 🙂 (I have that problem the other way, reading lots of great reviews written on your side of the Atlantic ad then not able to get the book!)

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment