Have been unable to review due to illness. Review coming soon! This novel looks fantastic and I can't wait to read this one!

This is a book that I just could not connect with. A lot of people loved it and it's well written so give it a try. It might be just what you are looking for.
I received a complimentary copy from Boldwood Books via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

As a huge fan of Judy Leigh’s warm-hearted, hilarious and whimsical women’s fiction titles, I was so excited about her debut timeslip novel written under the name of Elena Collins. The Witch’s Tree is an exquisitely written, highly intriguing and mesmerizing tale you certainly will not want to miss.

Artist Selena needs a break. The end of a love affair has left her unsure of what her future might hold and desperate to escape her old life, she rents Sloe Cottage in the village of Ashcombe where she hopes to have enough space to lick her wounds, rest and recuperate and figure out what she is going to do next. Selena is enjoying settling down in her new home, but she begins to feel uneasy as secrets from the cottage’s past intertwine with the present in the most alarming and unexpected of ways…

In 1682, Grace Cotter would love nothing more than a husband and a family of her own. With her work on the farm, looking after her father and learning the secrets of healing from her grandmother Bett, Grace has certainly got a lot to keep her busy. But she still yearns and hopes for love. However, unbeknownst to Grace people are watching her. And talking about her and jumping to dangerous conclusions about her skills. One wrong move and one false step and Grace’s fate could be set and all her hopes of finding love dashed forever.

Three centuries separate Grace and Selena, however, both women are united by magic and by a desperate need for atonement. Grace is a restless spirit in search for peace and there is only one person who can help her: Selena…

Having read all of her books as Judy Leigh, my expectations for Elena Collins’ The Witch’s Tree were pretty high – and they were all exceeded. A spellbinding page-turner full of brooding atmosphere, chilling tension and nail-biting suspense, The Witch’s Tree grabs your attention and gets under your skin the second you open the book.

A terrific tale packed with dangerous secrets and shocking revelations, The Witch’s Tree will go down a treat with Barbara Erskine fans – don’t miss it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
The dual timeline of this book attracted me, I usually enjoy this genre. This book is well-written with very interesting protagonists, Grace and Selina. The atmosphere when the ghostly presence of Grace appears is conveyed so well that I found it quite creepy at times, I empathise with Salina hiding under her bedcovers. The descriptions of the scenery and Selina's paintings used poetic prose, creating gorgeous images as I read. The stories of both women were interesting, realistic and engaging and the other characters in the book were also very believable and likeable.
I cannot rate this book too highly, I enjoyed it so much, and have signed up to follow this author.

I am on the fence about this one. It has many components that I enjoy- a dual timeline, well drawn characters and a setting that comes alive. It reads very hmuch as historical fiction and is obviously well researched. Of course I loved the witchy elements and the hint of the supernatural and they were handled really well. Because of all these things it seems like I should love this book.

However, it fell short for me. It was a slow read. Now I don’t always mind that. Sometimes that aids in character development or creating atmosphere, but unfortunately that was not the case here. This book just felt repetitive and tedious and I would find myself skimming pages that rehashed territory that had already been covered. Still, I can’t say I hated it because there were elements that worked really well and kept drawing me in. I think this book just needed more time at the drawing board and some more editing and fleshing out. I gave it three stars but I think it had the potential to be much more.
Thank you to #netgalley for and advanced copy of this book.

The cover and title totally sold this to me…..who doesn’t love a book that is filled with magic! from the start this story won me over. It is beauifully written and kept me captivated from start to finish. It left me wondering why on earth I haven’t read any of the authors other books before.

I cannot begin to tell you how good this story is. The Witch’s Tree is pure escapism.

I loved the characters, I could totally relate to Selena with her being an artist. It took me back to my college days when I did Art and Design. I love how the story alternates between the past and present. Following two different time lines building up layers. Each page I read I wanted to know more, I simply couldnt put it down.

This is a well crafted, atmospheric read that I could’nt get enough of. Filled with stunning decriptions that made me feel like I was in the story. I have to admit that I am sad that I finished it and left with a book hangover. This book is absolutely brilliant, I cannot recomend it enough. Giving it all the stars…. it is stunning. I loved every single page of this story.

Massive thank you to Rachel for the blog tour invite and to Boldwood Books for a copy.

Selena needs to get away her relationship just ended and she suffered a miscarriage.
Selena picks a picture perfect cottage in Somerset. She is looking forward to taking some time to relax and paint.
Sloe cottage is keeping secrets that will not stay hidden.
In 1682 Grace longs for a husband and a family to call her own. And until that happens she is happy working on the farm, looking after her father and learning her Grandmother's healing hands.
The two women are separated by 300 years but are drawn to each other, can Selena help Grace and lay her restless spirit to rest
From page one I was captivated by this book. Set in a dual timeline we learn the story of Grace and Selena
I wasn't fond of Selena to begin with for a 38 year old women she seemed weak and naive but as the story unfolded she gained strength and grew as a person.
Grace was definitely my favourite character, she was strong and knew what she wanted out of her life but was stopped from achieving this by suspicion and maliciousness.
This story is beautifully written with great vivid
descriptions of the Somerset countryside. This story has stayed with me and I have been recommending it to anyone who will listen to me.

It was ok. But it was very very very very slow.
The cover is just exquisite and the writing fine.
Yet the pace of this just made this heavy work for me as a reader to get through it unfortunately.

It’s written in dual timelines and third person which isn’t always a good double combination for me. One or the other would have been fine.

It has atmosphere and the characters well formed.

If it just wasn’t for it being tediously slow.

What I loved most about this book was the beautiful and evocative writing. The landscapes and the depiction of Selena’s paintings in particular were beautifully drawn by Elena Collins, along with the sense of place in Sloe Cottage – I could picture it perfectly.

The dual timeline effortlessly wove together artist Selena’s present day story with that of Grace’s in 1682. I adore books set in the seventeenth century and I’m fascinated by that period of history, so it was testament to the author’s writing and storytelling that Selena’s thread captivated me as much as Grace’s did.

The Witch’s Tree is poignant and beautifully written and the two women’s entwined stories were heart breaking and emotional. It’s a book I can highly recommend.

The very atmospheric opening sets the tone so well in this book, and the dual timeline with 2 female characters works brilliantly and keeps you gripped and intrigued from the first page to last!

In the now, we follow Selena who has been having a fling with a married man and he's left her. She's heartbroken and needs to move on and get away from the area and she finds herself drawn to Sloe Cottage which she finds online, and for a very low price too! We soon begin to find out why!

Sloe Cottage was also the home to Grace, back in 1682, so we get to learn her story. She's a wonderful woman, a hard worker and taking care of her father as her mother died when she was 12. Grace is a woman who is interested in creating herbal remedies and she's very connected to the land, learning lots from her grandmother. But her practices are frowned up and land her in trouble because of beliefs of others in the village.

The story flits between the 2 women and their timelines and there is so much going on for both women that they could easily have had a book each about them! The connections between the now and the past are striking and really connects the women in your mind and I loved the links with witchcraft and how the unknown scared so many back then, alongside the story of Selena who starts to sense things of a different nature going on in the cottage... all a little bit creepy at times!!

I raced through this story and found the characters both had such amazing stories to tell. The setting really helps too and you could just picture the cottage with the beautiful old tree watching over both women at different times! Highly recommend!

I have to admit that this book took me much longer than usual to read, because it was an atmospheric journey into the past and not conducive to sleep, at times!

Selena goes to Sloe Cottage to paint and to recover from the devastating end of a relationship. The cottage is centuries old and before long, Selena senses that there might be another person at the cottage, not of this world.....

Grace lives in Slough Cottage in the 17th century. A poor girl, daughter of a farm labourer, she lives at the cottage with her father. She also works at the same farm as her father, weeding and milking cows. She is a sweet girl, who treats everyone in her orbit with kindness. She has a particular bond with her grandmother, Bett, a fierce woman who is a midwife and who has knowledge of healing and herbs which she is passing on to her granddaughter.

The descriptions of Grace's life made me so sad. Here is a lovely young woman who has it hard and yet whose kindness shines through. In the 17th century though, it doesn't take much for gossip and superstition to turn to anger and hate....

I found this story to be compelling and thrilling. It evoked a lot of emotion in me, it has to be said.

Beautifully written.

5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books.

Moving between 2timelines we meet Grace (past) and Selena (present) and the setting of Sloe Cottage. This was an enjoyable read. I loved the description ps of the countryside surrounding Sloe cottage.. I enjoyed how the characters developed and the way they echoed each other, with various similarities but also the significant differences between them.
Having read several books of a similar style I felt it flowed well
This is the 1st book I’ve read from this author but I shall be looking out for more

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title

In a Nutshell: Outlier opinion alert! Would have worked better for me had it been faster and had I not read another book with a similar storyline. Too much of déjà vu!

Story Synopsis Sans Spoilers:
Present day, England. When her married lover dumps her, landscape artist and gallery co-owner Selena takes a break in Somerset valley. The cosy Sloe Cottage appeals to her artistic sensibilities. However, she soon starts feeling a strange vide from the past. What secrets is Sloe Cottage trying to whisper in her ears?
1682. Grace Cotter is mostly content with her lot in life, taking care of her old grandma and her sick father, and working as a milkmaid on a nearby farm. But when her eye falls on the farmer’s son Nathaniel, the troubles in her life begin. With rumours and gossip always abundant in a small village especially when it comes to single women, what lies in store for Grace?

Where the book worked for me:
😍 Loved, loved, loved the cover! Perfect for the story!
😍 I liked Grace. Her character was nicely developed and she seemed to fit into her historical era. Other than Grace, only Grace’s Gran has enough of a personality to make her stand out in the historical timeline.
😍 Many of the secondary characters in the contemporary timeline are quite appealing, with their varied interests and varied personalities. They aren’t as layered as I would have liked them to be, but still, they add value to the timeline.
😍 I liked the atmosphere. The blackthorn tree (which also appears on the book cover) serves as the perfect deliverer of spooks and creeps. This was one rare occasion where I enjoyed the contemporary timeline better than the historical one, simply because of the atmosphere.
😍 The descriptions of the places in Somerset are amazing. Made me wish I could go there for a peek!
😍 The historical research is good and this is evident from both the timelines. All aspects of the 17th century seem to be spot on.
😍 Unlike typical dual timeline stories, the character perspectives don’t change with the change of a chapter. Rather, many times, there is a shift from Grace to Selena (or vice versa) within the same chapter. But these are marked clearly. I liked this unusual approach of writing the dual perspective, though I am not sure how this would work with other readers.

Where the book could have worked better for me:
😢 It was sloooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Took me ages to complete. I felt like a person climbing UP on the DOWN escalator – the percentage indicator wasn’t moving upward fast enough!
😢 There is a great deal of repetition in the writing, especially in the dialogues which sound quite unnatural at times. Like, if I were to tell my dad, “Next Sunday is Christmas day, the 25th of December, when our Lord was born into the world”, I am sure he would look at me as if I have lost my marbles. Even the scenes gets repetitive after a while. The book would have been much more impactful had it lost a hundred pages of such fillers.
😕 Selena is supposed to be 38 but acts nothing like her age. (Is 38 the new 28 of fiction, I wonder?) She seems very short-sighted at times.
😕 All the characters other than the ones I’ve mentioned so far are uni-dimensional caricatures. Flat, not layered, boring. David was the worst prig of all.
😕 Unlike what the tagline says, it is not timeslip!
😕 The book might have worked better with me if I hadn't read this kind of storyline before. Unfortunately it felt quite similar to ‘The Visitor’ by Sara Sartagne. Of course, I am not saying that the story has been plagiarised. There are only SO many stories in the world after all. But as I had read the other book just a few months ago, I couldn’t enjoy this one as much.

I might have been more forgiving of the problems had this been a debut writer. But the author’s note confirms that this is the pseudonym of a prolific romcom writer. As such, I can’t ignore what didn’t work for me. My high expectations because of that gorgeous cover didn’t help matters.

That said, you might like it better, as mine is pretty much an outlier opinion. Do read the other reviews before you make up your mind about this one.

2.5 stars.

My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Witch's Tree”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I really enjoyed this book it has a dual time frame now and the late 1600s
It has a pinch of the supernatural just enough not to be ridiculous.
Great for fans of Barbara Erskine and Susannah Kearsley.

I absolutely loved this book, I immediately connected with the characters of Grace and Selina and loved how the novel flowed between the two timelines seamlessly.
The plot was gripping and engaging throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed the different perspectives and the time slip aspect of it.
The parallels between our two main characters Grace and Selena really stuck out to me, namely their resilience after facing cruelty at the hands of others.
Were introduced to a host of colourful characters all whom I could picture vividly thanks to the authors descriptions which only helped to heighten my enjoyment of this novel.
#booktour

I love dual timeline books and this didn’t disappoint. It’s beautifully written and I was sad when I finished the book. This a very easy to read book.
This was my first book by this author but I will definitely look out for more.

A story with a dual timeline always catches my attention and this one did just that. The Witch's Tree is told from the present and from the year 1682. I was whisked away with this fascinating story.

We meet Selena,in the current day, a professional artist. She has retreated to a cottage in Somerset after a traumatic relationship breakdown. In the 1700s there is Grace, a milkmaid who lives with her father in a tied cottage. She lives a simple life and only wants a husband and to learn from her grandmother. These times are dangerous. Dreamers and healers aren't looked at kindly and Grace is walking a deadly line.
Full of magic, romance, betrayal and friendship, this was a captivating read. Elena Collins has created both women so well. I could almost feel their presence as I read. This is a story about women, through the ages. How they have been manipulated, scorned and even belittled, or even killed, just to fit an agenda. Grace's story was one that happened time and time again during that time, and my heart went out to her. Selena's was a modern day woman's issue but both women are victims of other people's problems. Its a tale that shows me that you just need to be true to yourself, constantly.

The cottage was almost a character in itself. It was described so well I could see it there in the beautiful Somerset countryside. I have been to Somerset tons of times and this book makes me want to go back.

I loved this novel. Both womens story's where emotional and so enthralling. I was so connected to them both. They made me care so much about them, this is testament to Elena Collins quality of writing. Good pacing throughout and one of them stories you just read and read without realising the time. A very enjoyable dual timeline story.

Powerful, Moving and heart breaking The Witches Tree follows the story of Grace from the 1600’s and Selena from now, both getting over the heartbreak of a jerk but with very different consequences. Both timelines in this story are powerful in their own right, I loved the research that the author has clearly done on Grace’s story line that adds a realism to the story as well as drawing you into that time and her family. Selena’s timeline is just as strong, I immediately warmed to her lovable, if slightly naive character and watching her grow from her devastating break up with David was a joy to read as well as living the heart break of miscarriage along with her. With Grace, I really felt the sadness and loneliness of her life and rooted for her to show her strength in the face of norms and values that we don’t have to content with today!

The timelines cleverly cross over as the two women come together, one otherworldly, one in the present and whilst haunting, is amazingly well done and I cannot wait to read more by this author!

I have read and enjoyed Judy Leigh’s novels, so when I heard she had written a new novel in a different genre, I knew I wanted to read it. Writing as Elena Collins, her new book is called The Witch’s Tree. It’s a dual timeline, historical fiction, with a bit of everything really – romance, relationships, friendship, suspense, witchcraft, mystery, magic…and a whole lot of charm.
The novel is set in two times, two places…
In present day Manchester, Selena is 38 and an artist. She lives with her friend Claire and runs an art gallery with her. After a difficult relationship, Selena decides she needs to spend some time in the countryside, away from all the stress and just doing her painting. She rents a 17th Century cottage – Sloe Cottage – for a couple of months.
In 1682, in Ashcomb, Somerset in Slaugh Cottage, Grace (22) lives with her father Will Cotter (42) who is a farm labourer. They live a simple life in a tied cottage - Will working, Grace seeing to the household tasks and cooking, sewing, etc. after her mother died ten years earlier.
The past seems authentic, well-researched, with lots of atmospheric detail which I really enjoyed. I also love how the two timelines come together. It is beautifully written; you’ll get Selena’s view from a certain place, then back in time to see Grace in the same position, it’s very cleverly done.
I liked the main characters straight away. The cottage is so well-described that it almost becomes a character in its own right and the setting is very important to the novel. I found the book easy to get into and I wanted to keep reading to see what happened.
It is interesting to see how women are treated in both timelines – how some things have changed over the centuries, but others not so much. Grace is expected to get married and perform her duties as a wife, mother and housekeeper, whereas Selena has more freedom to choose what to do with her life – yet both of them are badly treated by a man. Both women are strong characters, but Grace is more restricted by the time she lives in.
There’s also the whole ghostly feel to the book. It’s not just a ghost story though, there’s plenty more to it than that, but the cottage seems to retain some “essence” of those who have lived in it before. I loved how the tree branches reach out to the cottage in the present day, like a palm pressing against the window. The novel has that undertone of threat and danger, yet it isn’t a horror novel at all, it is the echoes of the past coming through to the present day. What will happen to Grace and Selena? You’ll have to read the book to find out…
This is the first in three books Judy is writing as Elena Collins and I look forward to reading the next two as well.

The Witch's Tree by Elena Collins is a historical novel set in two timelines: the historical and the present day. Grace Cotter was a simple girl in 1672, kinder than most, she stayed close to home and cared for her father. She worked as a milkmaid for the Harpers where her father labored in the fields. Her mother had died and much of the life had been leeched from Will Cotter when that happened. She also had her grandmother and they were pretty much her world. Because she was a little different, a little smarter, people didn't care for her and eventually started talking. She'd had a child; it was Nathaniel Harper's but then he married another and she told no one. That didn't help. Finally there was an accident and people lied. Interestingly the man who spoke the loudest against her was a drunk, a man no one would give any heed to in other circumstances. It was only an hour until she was hanging from an oak tree, her life over. Her body buried with a big stone placed on top of her grave so she could not escape it.

Selena was a woman who rented the cottage where Grace and her father had lived. It is now present day and she is running from a man who betrayed her and a baby she lost. She is an artist, a painter, and this is the perfect place to hade away and paint. She makes friends and slowly regains her strength. She knows she lives with a ghost. She needs to find out who it is so she and her friend, Nick, started researching, but it was the parish registers that gave them the most. They misinterpreted much of the information but the fact she was hanged as a witch was important. They found her grave, prayed over it, and left flowers. That was enough and she said good-bye to Selena and her cottage. She was at peace.

What a wonderful story. Not exactly parallel but similarities. Selena was open to Grace's spirit and not afraid as many were. She was an empathetic person, more so because of her aching heart. Grace's story was difficult to read because the reader knew how it would end. Selena putting her to rest helped. It was a wonderful story. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Witch's Tree by Boldwood, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #boldwood #elenacollins #thewitchstree