From what I was able to read this was a very engaging and interesting story and I cconnected to the main character straight away. Unfortunately due to formatting issues I wasn't able to complete the book.

I am no Eve. Eve wasn't content to live in the heavenly plains with the Maker. She leapt to earth and sought out Adam, keeper of the fields and orchards, made him lead her to the Maker's tree and stole its fruit/ When she ate all but the last bite, which she fed to Adam, the Maker cursed her for her treachery and sent her to be the mistress of the underworld.

The sin eater was a fantastic read! Of course, it's set in an alternate Tudor world, and the queen is totally Elizabeth and the Maris before her was Mary (I've also never studied British history, so I'm just basing this on general knowledge. I was also surprised to realize that Sin-Eaters were an actual thing! The last Sin-Eater in England actually passed away in 1906, which does indicate that this is a fairly modern custom.

Of course, sin-eating could not have been as regulated as it is in this book by Megan Campisi. But it's not hard to imagine because we do live in a world where the legal system means that the rich and powerful can manage to absolve themselves of almost anything. We all know of Brock Turner, and we have those men in this story. Epstein may have committed suicide, but Weinstein is still ready to fight and hold on to any power and support he has.

But this is a review about the book, and what I mean to say is that it reflects modern society fairly accurately. Upon being pronounced a Sin-Eater, everyone who has ever known her turns their backs on her and won't even hear the sound of her voice. In an attempt to keep all sins between her and the dead, she is not allowed to speak; not even to the older mentor. The poor cannot afford her services because they cannot buy that food, as we see from those in jail. The man who sentenced her to this had done this to his own wife before her to be rid of her; he made her the dumping ground for everyone's sins.

But what I did appreciate was how the custom of Sin-Eating also brought secrets out into the open. Everyone knew what a certain heart represented; everyone could bear witness, but also be locked out of the particularities of the witnessing. Everyone knows, but also no one but the woman whose voice no one will hear.

Of course, May is more like Eve than she wants to be, and while she attributes this to the more wicked (read nasty, cruel, vindictive) side of her family tree, it's more how she really isn't content to starve to death like a good poor person or do anything more than eat sins in her new role.