Shaylah's Reviews > The Hanging of Hettie Gale

If I could, I would love to give Tess Burnett’s “The Hanging of Hettie Gale” more than five stars. This paranormal and ghostly historical fiction tale certainly deserves a lot of attention.

“The Hanging of Hettie Gale” is set in The Moor of England in the late 1700s and introduces us to such an outstanding character, Hettie, but under absolutely horrific circumstances. From the very first chapter, we are with Hettie in what you think is one of the worst moments of her life. Life is certainly not easy for Hettie, and it is heartbreaking and devastating to read. It left me with all sorts of emotions. She is such a kind soul and becomes such a loving and protective young mother. Her voice is reflective of the time period, setting, and her lack of education, which really made her character come alive for me, and I love her even more.

With only a few years of being a mother to her golden child, an abominable and heinous crime is committed against Hettie, yet she is charged with murder - leading to her conviction and hanging.

Jurors, judges, soldiers, and neighboring families have their secrets to keep. History has a tale that survives centuries.

And now, The Moor is known to be haunted, and bodies continue to disappear in the last place Hettie’s son was known to be alive in 1772.

In a dual narrative set centuries apart, Burnett weaves another storyline into Hettie’s. It’s present day, and Alice is returning to their family cottage in The Moor to search for her missing cousin. They spent their childhood summers at Crag Cottage and grew up reading stories about Hettie, who lived not far from their cottage, and the ghost who drowns their victims in the surrounding waters.

Alice has always felt this strange connection to Hettie since she was a young girl. Ever since she first read her story and visited the tiny barn, she lived in so long ago with her young child. She always wondered more about her. Alice always felt a cool breeze and would notice black crow feathers as if Hettie was there, trying to tell her something. And now that she’s back to find her cousin, who was last seen walking towards The Moor, these feelings and connections to Hettie are even stronger.

The storyline weaves between Alice and Hettie as Alice meets with locals, visits museums and libraries, and reads through old diaries and deathbed confessions to piece together what really happened that dreadful day that Hettie was charged with murder. She realizes that if she can solve this mystery, she may be able to find her cousin.

I was fascinated by Burnett’s skillful storytelling, intricate plots, and connecting details to piece together the mystery.

I feel the need to touch on Hettie once more. The author’s writing creates a compelling and emotional character in Hettie. There are so many lines I would love to quote here, but there is a paragraph towards the end where Hettie (as a ghost) talks about watching the others who came to the pond over the years, die. And how maybe (as a ghost) she could have saved them, but she watched them die and then wondered if that made her a bad person. And what she says after that about being watched herself by the soldiers, during her sentencing, while she stood at the Hanging Tree, and while she died while they cheered, was so very profound and moving. I didn’t want the story to end - simply for this character.

Thank you, #NetGalley, #TessBurnett, and #BloodhoundBooks for eARC in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved this book!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Incest, gang rape, sexual abuse, thoughts of pedophilia by a character, child death.