Slewfoot: 200 Word Reviews #14

Slewfoot by Gerald Brom is a folk horror flavoured historical fantasy tale that makes up for its lack of fear factor with horrifying injustice and satisfactorily violent female rage-fuelled revenge, though with a narrative so neatly woven it feels a little artificial.

Abitha is a wild, red-haired young woman in Puritanical New England, who loses her husband and finds herself exploited by the patriarchal rules of Sutton, in debt with debtors on her heels. Running parallel, an ancient entity, demon and divine, awakes and finds itself lost in this new world. Together they forge a new path, finding answers and solutions that once would have seemed unthinkable.

Brom’s writing is easy to read, carrying the narrative through a series of escalating events to a satisfying climax. However, it lacks much artistic or stylistic flair; more a canvas for the story than art in itself. The narrative is so satisfying that it feels manufactured to be that way, where every character gets their due, unlike real life.

Despite that, Slewfoot was an extremely fun read that had me sweating at its most tense moments, and I recommend it to anyone wanting a folk horror revenge tale, without any of the horror.