This is unusual among this author's books in being one of the few not set in the classical world of Greece/Rome etc, although I have previously read a couple set in the middle ages. The setting, of a pre-English Civil War Devonshire countryside and Dartmoor, was promising and set up a clash between the puritan population and the more earthy countrypeople who hark back to the reign of Good Queen Bess/Elizabeth I with its pleasure loving delights. As anticipated, given the author's usual views, he is firmly on the side of the latter and against the puritan viewpoint.

Added to the mix were Gubbings, people dwelling on the moors and luring people to their deaths, a community who, it turns out, are in reality not only extreme Puritans but the descendants of a race once winged who lost their power of flight through a disease and now have only vestigial wings and plumage that they must conceal lest they be thought witches. The Gubbings now condemn any enjoyment in life, with the exception of a woman called Stella who once left to live in Exeter, married a sailor called Philip and had a daughter Aster, now nine years old. A few years ago Philip died of the plague and so Stella and her daughter returned to the Gubbing community on Dartmoor where she survives precariously, being too "Elizabethan", liking beautiful objects, such as her musical instrument, a predecessor of the clavicord, and pewter plates.

The Gubbings have infiltrated the church community of the nearby village and view the poetry-writing vicar Robert, known as Robin, with suspicion as he is also too "Elizabethan" for their tastes. Meanwhile, the local apothecary, tells his son Nicholas to gain the vicar's confidence and spy on him with the intention of finding evidence of wrongdoing. Nicholas, who has had to return from university in Cambridge due to a broken leg, likes Robin who becomes like an older brother to him. The Gubbings then force matters to a head by luring the two men into their clutches.

This had the potential to be an interesting and pleasant read, but some of the character development is entirely too amorphous and really doesn't go anywhere, for example, the conflicted character of Judith, Stella's childhood friend who is now jealous of her and leads the prosecution against Robin and ultimately Stella. The biggest problem however were the repeated references on almost every page to the burning of witches - which is instrumental in the climax. Although the author's afterword credits some written sources for his 17th century background, and also explains that his vicar character and Stella are based on real life people of the era, he shares a common misconception that execution of witches in England was by burning - a method used in Scotland and on the continent - when in reality it was always by hanging. This was a nasty enough means of execution since it predated the scientific reforms of the Victorians, and so the victims died by slow strangulation.

I also found the kangeroo court that Nicholas' father organises at the end very unconvincing - the actual legal procedure was arbitrary enough that it wasn't necessary for him to suddenly appoint himself as a magistrate. It also had the effect of undermining the role of Judith especially as it transpires that Nicholas is adopted and his parents are also Gubbings as are other people in the vilage. It would have made more sense if they were not Gubbings, but instead were human - as it is, it begs the question of why the Gubbings in the village are pursuing their own vendetta against Robin instead of teaming up with their colleagues on Dartmoor.

The end could have been more convincing if the villagers had instead decided to "swim" the witches instead of burning them (especially in view of their intention to drown Aster in any case) as this was a common test to see if the victim was innocent or not. Such swimmings were often done spontaneously by a community without resorting to the law. As it was, I found it so annoying to read on just about every page references to witch burning that I can only award this 3 stars.

(I would also add that the cover of this edition is totally unrelated to the novel - no giant insects or scantily clad women appear in the book although there are some references to bosoms etc!) ( )