3.5

A blend of non-fiction and memoir, history and personal anecdotes and stories, Ashes and Stones recounts the gruesome witch trials/hunts that occurred across Scotland in the seventeenth century.

Shaw untangles myths and applies what happened in the seventeenth century to what is still happening today with references to Roe v Wade and the the #MeToo movement.

At times, atmospheric and haunting, well-researched and interesting viewpoints in regard to witch tourism. I did feel as though the first half of the novel was a bit repetitive and I wasn’t always a fan of the voice of the narrative.

Overall, informative, history defying and feminist. A tribute to the witches burned and tortured and a reminder for us not to glamorise but memorialise the events that occurred.

With ASHES AND STONES by Allyson Shaw, the reader is invited to witness not just a reckoning in progress, but one which has been hundreds of years in the making. For this is the story of how thousands and thousands of Scottish women were murdered as witches over hundreds of years.

It's a beautifully written, impeccably researched tome. Not only has the author done her reading - often painstakingly untangling old Scots language, but she has also stood on every spot, comparing accounts from then to what is to be found now. The result is a unique addition to the canon, and one which will readers will be turning to in centuries to come.

Part historic record, part cry for justice, there are two other things which set Ashes and Stones apart from other works you are likely to find on this topic. The first is that the author has chosen to organise the material not by chronological order, but by the locations of the crimes themselves. This means that anyone interested - of which I've no doubt there will be many - can keep a copy in their car while driving about Scotland for ease of reference. I have no doubt they will - as I have done - begin to see Scotland in rather a different light. It's quite a strange feeling to read about this town, or that square, which one has tramped through X number of times, without the faintest idea of the level of misogynist rampage that has gone on. (Nor, did I have any idea that the Scottish government had recently issued pardons to many of the women who had been tortured and murdered for witchcraft through the centuries.)

But, for me, what really set Ashes and Stones apart was the way it was written. Without wishing to spoil it, the author herself had an extremely compelling reason not only to write the book, but to include within it, a memoir of why she has chosen to do this. This lends added poignancy to each piece of information she uncovers and each grave she stands overs.

The horrifying carnage of what happened to these Scottish women who failed to conform will likely shock many - as it should. But what is also likely to stay with them is the profound empathy and respect with which Ms Shaw has brought them back to life on these pages.

With many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me see an advance copy.

The gorgeous cover and the blurb attracted me and I found the book informative and well researched.
I know I'm a minority but I wasn't a fan of the style of writing that I found a bit too emphatic at times.
I found the historical part more interesting than the memoir but it was compelling read as the two parts mixes well.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.

I am utterly obsessed with the history of witchcraft and learning about what we as a country, a United Kingdom, and as a civilisation have done in the past to those who were suspected of witchcraft. It's a huge atrocity that we as a society have just ignored and forgotten which just doesn't sit right with me.

They say if you forget history you are doomed to repeat it.

Allyson Shaw does such a good job of driving home the human stories behind each story or fable as she travels across Scotland to find monuments or memorials to those murdered throughout the centuries where the weak, poor, or strange were dismissed as witches, tortured by those they knew and killed. Most of these memorials do a bad job; they're either small and insignificant, or subtly victim blame those who died.

History is after all written by those who wrote the rules.

On a personal level, I really appreciated Allyson including her own life stories, and also her own chronic illness and how it hindered her in her research and travels. I too have Fibromyalgia and find it hard to express what I feel on a daily basis, and Allyson managed it beautifully.

The writing style was so beautiful, and her research, though largely second and third hand as she herself admits due to Covid and red tape was incredibly thorough and well done. The message was definitely driven home.

If you have an interest in history, Scotland, feminism, or like me, Witchcraft in history, you'll really enjoy this non-fiction.

I love fiction novels on witches and wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy reading the true side with a non fiction book like Ashes and Stones. But I have to say the journey that Allyson took to detail each witches truth was so detailed, you feel like you are walking the steps with her, To know that they took the most vulnerable, the unwanted, even the healers, and in hindsight were put forward as a show of entertainment shakes your very soul. You also get an insight into Allyson and her life story within the book as she comes to Scotland to reconnect and make it her home.

Thanks so much Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an advanced copy of Ashes and Stones.

I visited Edinburgh in November and went on a witch tour, learning about the history of the witch trials in Scotland. It was an extremely emotional journey.

Once I saw this book I knew that I had to read it. And I was absolutely blown away. Our author tells her own story as she travels around the country speaking about the women who have been murdered or tortured after being accused of being a witch.

I was glued, I devoured this book. If you have any interest in this history than I would highly recommend this book.

Ashes and Stones is historical non-fiction with a touch of memoir to it. It examines the history of the atrocity of the witch trials in Scotland and how that history is remembered, be it in small folk memorials where offerings are made by local communities or the more official monuments that in some ways still ask the predominantly female victims to account for themselves. Shaw looks at the effect that not been able to grieve such a crime may have on a populace, how that failing can give way to the history becoming the stuff of entertainment (witch tourism essentially), where memorial is not at the heart of it but rather amusement of modern audiences. It is a strange thing to think that the death of thousands could be a source of amusement, and a lot of the reason for this is how we currently frame the witch trials in our history. We treat them almost as a blip, a folly, but we forget that the people with the authority at the time were believed to be some of the great minds of the time.
This is a book that speaks back to power, both currently and indeed across the centuries. Shaw at all times keeps the victims of the trials front and centre, while asking us why it is not the people who committed the atrocities modern society asks to account for themselves instead of those that were burned at the stake. Of course the fact that Shaw is speaking back to power, across time, across views, makes this an exceptionally powerful and insightful read. I found myself taking moments just to absorb what I was reading, to understand the nature of it better and in remembrance of those who were murdered. Shaw highlights the fact that those most likely to be accused would have been amongst the more vulnerable groups of society. It also served to highlight well how power was (and indeed still is) used to other that group.
For me, this is a solid five/five read. I found myself thinking about it well after I’d finished reading it. Shaw has a graceful and nuanced tone that addresses the tragedy well without ever coming across as insincere. She strikes a rare balance of addressing the past while speaking from the present, with subtle personal elements woven throughout. It is unflinching in its account, refusing to do what popular media has done in the past regarding the witch trials (the dark romanticising of them almost). Not one for the faint hearted but definitely worth reading. I highly recommend it.

Super interesting read!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book.

Allyson Shaw writes words as an enduring memory of the horror of the Witch hunts that took place in Scotland in the 17th and 18th centuries especially. Taking great care to research the stories of the accused, predominantly women, from the transcripts of their own confessions (most obtained through unimaginable cruelty and torture) , trial records and other documents, Shaw then journeys around Scotland to the communities that now mark the places of such trials, captivity and murders by way of stones, gardens and other monuments.
Drawing comparisons across the centuries with identifiable systems at play today: patriarchy, class, the price of difference (mental health, race, disability, being LGBTQ+, chronic conditions), the shunning of alternative medicine, and the superstition, silence and lies that hide the truth of a very existence.
This is a revealingly dark and authentic book that insists on the truth being told in all its complex and unromantic glory regarding the real women that suffered greatly, accused of a crime they never committed.

An incredibly interesting and heartwrenching read that had me both fascinated and reaching for tissues. I think it is easy when watching, reading or thinking about witch trials to foget that this did actually happen to people, often for little to no reason and that is terrifing.
Until I read this book I had no idea that witch trials had taken place in Scotland, or how many people had been brutally murdered for witchcraft. IT was eye opening and abhorant and has definitely made me want to research more into it

Ashes and Stones is very compelling. The author travels across Scotland and actually visits
the sites where witch trials took place. It is often soul wretching what she discovers and shares. These memorials are the only remrants lefts and serve nowdays as a totem to the murdered
people (mostly women), who were victims to silly superstition, greed and worse. Imagine living in a time where being weak, beautiful or poor can actually be a criminal offence? I find myself this topic fascinating and yet soul wrenching to the point feeling anger.
I am grateful that in past few years more books are written and more history comes to light. Witch trials were awful and in Scotland alone nearly 2000 women were killed for no reason than terrible rules. Injuste!

This book is also on audio version which I plan to finish listening on as I feel I would like to connect more with the authors message.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this opportunity.