Read by Marisa CalinDuration: 14 hours 54 minutes
In her small early nineteenth century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She is small and quick and pretty enough to attract a suitor, but there are things that set her apart from other girls. Though her mind is sharp she has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic the household objects that seem to move at her command, the bad luck that visits those who do her ill. Concerned for her safety, her mother is anxious to see Morgana married, and Cai Jenkins, the widowed drover from the far hills who knows nothing of the rumors that swirl around her, seems the best choice.
After her wedding, Morgana is heartbroken at leaving her mother, and wary of this man, whom she does not know, and who will take her away to begin a new life. But she soon falls in love with Cai's farm and the wild mountains that surround it. Here, where frail humans are at the mercy of the elements, she thrives, her wild nature and her magic blossoming. Cai works to understand the beautiful, half-tamed creature he has chosen for a bride, and slowly, he begins to win Morgana's affections. It's not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her man, and herself from all comers, Morgana must learn to harness her power, or she will lose everything in this beautifully written, enchanting novel
My Thoughts: It has been a while since I've read a book with witches. The Winter Witch reminded me how much I like this type of genre for I was bewitched from the beginning! I also liked the fact that it was set in a Welsh town and it was an audiobook. It made reading this such a breeze!
The story was told between first person point of view from Morgana's perspective to third person. Morgana was a select mute. In order to understand her thoughts, the story switched to first person. Though she was young, she was a very brave person who stood her ground. The story also followed Cai's perspective but in the third person. He was a kind hearted man who did not care what people thought of him for marrying someone with "disabilities." This made me adore him.
What I loved most about Morgana and Cai was how their love grew for each other as the story progressed. They were strangers at first, but over time, they came to ardently care for one another. Though they were not able to verbally communicate with one another, they were still able to do so with actions and facial expressions. Their relationship development was beautiful.
The magical aspect of this book was also intriguing. Morgana's magic stemmed from her emotions. She was able to make the wind blow or mend broken objects. Her power intensified throughout the book. Next, the villain's magic was dark and destructive. What astounded me was that even though the preacher of the town knew that the villain was an evil witch, he did not prosecute her. Instead, he was convinced by the villain to put all the blame of the town's suffering on Morgana and was able to encourage the town to believe in it as well. The whole time listening to the story, I kept scratching my head and asking, "How is the villain getting away with all this?"
This audio production was read by Marisa Calin. She portrayed Morgana's character splendidly and was able to change her voice to capture Cai's personality. My only complaint about the reading was that there weren't any transitions from 1st person to 3rd person point of view, or vise versa. I was confused many times because there wasn't a break or a change in the narrator's voice to indicate the switch in perspectives. It made listening to this audio a little frustrating for me because I had to rewind it a few times to help clarify things. Other than that, the production was well done.
As a whole, I enjoyed listening to this book. It was not perfect, but I loved the story. The reader was able to represent the characters well and the story was enthralling. This book reminded me that I need to read more books with witches in them. I rate it:
This book counts for the Audiobook Challenge.
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