The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews

The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews
UK Publication: February 2022
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

One Word Review – Wicked. Three Word Review – S**t Gets Mythical!

Synopsis from Goodreads: The most beguiling debut of 2022, perfect for fans of The Essex Serpent, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock and The Binding.

She is awake…

Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft.

Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before.

Something has awoken, and now it will not rest.

Richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is set in England during a time of political turbulence and religious zealotry. It is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but most of all it is a spellbinding story of impossible things.

My Thoughts: For a debut novelist Andrews really knows how to draw her reader in, don’t believe me? Check out this amazing opening:

“She is awake. And I must remind myself of how it began. The end of all things. It was a time of witches, it was a time of saints, a time when rabbits hunted foxes, when children came into the world without their heads , and kings lost theirs on the scaffold. The world was turned upside down, or so some said.”

Wow right? From this point on the reader is plunged into the life and story of Thomas Treadwater as he tells us from his present in 1703 about events that happened when he was a young man in 1643. As his story progresses the reader begins to put together the truth about the present day why he lives as he lives and who it is that he shares his life and home with.

A lot of the fun in this story is piecing your own ideas together from the little snippets provided and because of that I will say no more…

Who would like this? Well the title tells you what to expect so if you have no problem with that particular mythology appearing in Norfolk England and you like beautiful writing go for it.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?