This is the story of the madness of Christian Shaw, the girl at the center of a real life historical event where young Christian Shaw accused 35 people of witchcraft, resulting in the execution of seven people. The book starts at Christian’s adult life, as she is working to start a thread and textile company, which the real life Christian Shaw also did, but in the story, she is obsessed with bleaching threads of purest white as if that will clear her family’s name and bring them in better societal standing. But as the 25th anniversary of the executions is approaching, Christian’s hold on her sanity is deteriorating, and she is spiraling as the truth of her real sins are resurfacing. In the end though, she has to face the truth of what she did and can choose to either continue with her evading and false piety, or she can embrace it and relinquish her soul to its darkness. This is a historical literary horror, with a lot to unpack under the surface. The messaging is heavy with themes of internal misogyny and fear of sin, all of which would have been perpetuated by the adults in Christian’s life, pressuring her to hide and cleanse what she perceived as sin: her burgeoning womanhood, and carnal relations. It’s a short read, but the depth of it kept me coming back to see how Christian Shaw’s descent into madness would end.