Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s post is a review of the Folk Horror novel Slewfoot by Brom.   This is a book that has been on my radar since it was released in 2021, and I am delighted to have finally read this novel!   I actually spent all of October slowly reading this book, finally finishing earlier this week, not because I am a slow reader (quite the opposite) and not because it is a slog to get through (also quite the opposite), but because this book is so enjoyable that I wanted to savor it!   I have also seen several other people discussing reading this book this year or having it on their reading list, so I guess it is getting some attention this year.   I find it interesting, as I did not realize this fact until I had already purchased and begun reading it.  

Now that I have finished my preamble let’s get onto the actual review.   The first thing I have to say is that Slewfoot is such a beautifully written book with amazing illustrations, also by the author Brom.   The novel is folk horror at its finest, with so much drawn from both European and Native American folktales to create a truly atmospheric story.   Abitha is a young woman who came from Britain to New England to marry Edward Williams.   Edward is sweet and kind to Abitha, but his brother Wallace holds her in contempt for her strong-willed nature, which is highly loathed in the Puritan colony of Sutton.   What is also loathed is Abitha’s practice of folk magick, selling of small spells and charms.   She had learned the craft of the Cunningfolk from her mother, who was a respected Cunning Woman.

The book begins in the year of 1666 when Slewfoot is called forth to the land of the living by the Wildfolk, who call him Father, but he is seen as a Demon or Devil by the Puritans.   After Abitha is widowed (which is not a spoiler as it is in the jacket description of the novel), her path crosses with Slewfoot, and her life will never be the same!

I do not want to give away any more details for fear of giving spoilers, but this novel is impeccably written with a lot of magickal beauty (even describing folk magick practices quite accurately) to balance the bloody horror.   Emphasis on bloody, as the final fifty pages, the last act and climax of the novel, is full of carnage and female rage!   There are some truly upsetting and even traumatic elements of the story that are like a gut punch, but that is by design.   I would say what many have before: if you liked Robert Eggers’s 2015 folk horror gem, The Witch, you would love this novel!   I highly recommend this one to lovers of folk horror and witchy tales, but be warned of how bloody and truly horrific it can get.

I hope you have enjoyed this short review of Slewfoot.   Have you read this book?  Do you want to read it now?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the book cover.   I found the picture on https://www.amazon.com/Slewfoot-Tale-Bewitchery-Brom/dp/1250621992.

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