In this episode of In My Good Books, I’m joined by Cathryn Kemp to talk about her new historical novel They Can’t Burn Us All, which takes us to 17th-century Iceland and a notorious real-life witch trial where the story of witchcraft looked very different from elsewhere in Europe.
We look at some of the bigger questions running through They Can’t Burn Us All - misogyny, power, jealousy, sisterhood and the way communities can turn against their own. Cathryn explains why writing about the past gives her the distance to explore issues that remain uncomfortably relevant today, and why researching the witch trials left her with more rage rather than fewer questions.
Cathryn recommends The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Still Life by Sarah Winman and The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff.
They Can’t Burn Us All by Cathryn Kemp is out now.
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