Set in 1822, Dr. Aubrey Waycross has finally found a position as a town doctor in Lawrenceville, GA. The problem is that the townspeople are superstitious, and they believe in the travelling shysters that sell miracle elixirs. Additionally, The Winter Sisters are claiming to heal these people as well. Waycross knows their type, old witches with bottles of potions and such lining the walls of their decrepit cottage. But there might be more to these sisters than he’s seeing, and it might behoove him to meet them, even if he doesn’t have plans to stay in a town where no one wants him to treat them.
This one was interesting because I didn’t like Waycross at first. It might be the benefit of modern medical advances, but I saw his treatments as equally foolish as the travelling salesman, Salmon Thumb’s, miracle elixirs. And I rolled my eyes at his superiority over others with these treatments. But then I put the eye rolling aside because I knew there had to be more in store for this good doctor, and there certainly was.
I loved the characters in this one. From each of the sisters, to the doubting townspeople, they all provided a humorous backdrop to this historical fantasy. I found Aubrey’s use of Ether equally amusing, and it was reminiscent of Wilbur Larch in John Irving’s The Cider House Rules. Effie was my favorite of the sisters, and I enjoyed that Westover allowed us to draw our own conclusions as to what was going on with her frailty, though it was mildly spelled out if you were willing to put it together. I found the end of the book didn’t do her the justice I would have liked to see. But the story along the way was addicting, and it made the book hard to put down. Nicely done.
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The Winter Sisters is available on Amazon for $4.99, it’s enrolled in KU.
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