The Owl Killers: A Novel

The Owl Killers is a story set in 1300’s England where both Christianity and paganism are fighting for a foothold in the tiny village of Ulwich. The village is torn between the Church’s demanding of their share of their meager earnings, the payments to the lord of the manor and the Owl Masters who use terror and superstition to try bring the people back to ancient pagan ways. Into this mix...more

The Owl Killers is a story set in 1300’s England where both Christianity and paganism are fighting for a foothold in the tiny village of Ulwich. The village is torn between the Church’s demanding of their share of their meager earnings, the payments to the lord of the manor and the Owl Masters who use terror and superstition to try bring the people back to ancient pagan ways. Into this mix comes a group of Christian women who live in their own beguinage, a community where they live without men as celibates but without taking the veil. When the village is struck by disaster after disaster both the Church and The Owl Masters seek to blame the women for all the bad luck coming their way, this despite the fact that this self sufficient group has shared their food, cared for the ill and sheltered those in need. The tension slowly ratchets up until the dramatic conclusion. Maitland is quite adept at rich details that make you see and feel the desperation of this small village and the conflict between different factions that takes no heed of those in desperate need. The story is told in alternating voices, those of the women of the beguinage; Father Ulfrid- the inept village priest; the young daughter of the manor; one of the poor children of the village; an embittered member of the beguinage; each provides a distinct point of view of the village and the events occurring around them. My one complaint is that the story sometimes weaves between brutal reality and witchcraft blended with the supernatural; I would have liked a clearer point of view. What I really appreciated where both the glossary of medieval terminology and the author’s notes that provided a wonderful explanation of the climate changes that occurred at that time as well as the background into the formation of the beguinage- which existed in many parts of Europe right through 1927. Well researched, well written and very atmospheric. Definitely worth the read if you enjoy medieval historical fiction.   hide