This is an absolutely amazing novella. The length is perfect - whilst I would have enjoyed a full novel about Patience, our leading protagonist, I really loved the snapshot into her life (and the dangers she faces for being born a witch) which Of Sorrow and Such gives us.

The characters are engaging, the world is fleshed in a way which gives more than enough background without saturating the novel in description, and the plot swerves between engaging examples of every day activity and heart in the mouth action. I was swept along from the word go.

This is also a book which is absolutely all about its women. Men feature, and I don’t think they’re overly within two dimensions considering the time the novella seems to be set in, but they’re not the key roles. Feminism in a very historically appropriate way (no one voicing Mary Wollstonecraft but a great deal of female support and empowerment).

I cannot recommend this enough. An instant favourite which has me itching to get stuck into more of Slatter’s work.