*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: The Maiden
Author: Kate Foster
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
The Maiden is a fictional account of the real-life case of a
woman named Lady Christian Nimmo who was convicted of the murder of her lover
and executed in 17th century Scotland. The story is told through the
multiple perspectives of the different women who played varying roles in the
life of James Forrester (Lady Christian’s lover and apparent murder victim), including
Lady Christian herself. Although they are initially separate perspectives, they
gradually begin to intertwine as the story progresses.
Despite being a passionate historical fiction reader, I tend
to stick within the realms of the 20th century so reading something
set in the 17th century was a step into unknown territory for me. But,
it’s ultimately a step I’m glad I’ve taken as The Maiden has been one of my
standout books of 2023 so far.
Kate Foster’s flawless storytelling made all of the
characters truly come alive on the page and for this to be her debut work is
really impressive. Each character has such depth and complexity to them and I
was particularly captivated by both Lady Christian and Violet. The vivid
descriptions of 17th century Edinburgh were also incredible and
clearly impeccably researched.
Lady Christian’s story is a compelling and complex read which
takes so many twists and turns that it truly had me on the edge of my seat and
made it easy for me to absolutely devour the book in a single sitting. The
story jumps between time periods, sharing Lady Christian’s story before the death
of James Forrester, during her trial and also in the aftermath of the trial.
This is supported by frequent extracts from newspaper articles documenting the
trial and the subsequent events.
The story was quite hard-hitting at times as it’s ultimately
a tale about the experiences of multiple young women being groomed and
exploited by a man in a position of power over them. It does really make you stop
and think about how little the female experience has changed in 350 years and this
is still terrifyingly common in the 21st century.
Kate Foster provides a powerful exploration of the idea that historically women haven’t had a voice no matter how loudly they’ve shouted and this is perfectly captured in the quote at the forefront of the blurb: "In the end, it did not matter what I said at my trial. No one believed me." I’m a big fan of fiction which provides a feminist commentary and this was done brilliantly in The Maiden through the exploration of the female experience in 17th century Scotland where society was engulfed by patriarchal and misogynistic ideologies and largely governed by the church. I love that Kate Foster has chosen to use literature to share the story of a real woman silenced and ultimately forgotten by history and it will be really interesting to see if she continues this with her future works.
Overall, The Maiden is an incredible historical fiction work which
has the potential to be one of the best we see in 2023. It is truly one of the
standout debut novels we’ve seen and it has really secured Kate Foster’s place in
a list of authors you need to watch.
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