THE HERALDING

Disease, freezing cold, unrelenting rain, and a beast lurking in the woods threaten the inhabitants of a small English village in the 14th century in McCarthy’s medieval fantasy novel.

In April 1316, Matilda’s husband of but two years, Galeran, succumbs to “a pestilence.” It’s a time of widespread famine, brought about by a year of horrible weather. Hunger now rules the lives of the villagers, and with starvation come suspicion and madness. Death and perfunctory burial are daily occurrences. The author describes in gruesome detail the deterioration of one young man whom Matilda cared for after he sank into delirium: “[His] mind had soon departed and he screamed at the monsters that were only in his head. His fingers began to darken until they turned black, and one by one, fell off.” In September, a monstrous beast that’s been living in a nearby black pit emerges, shakes himself, and becomes a man. Into the plagued village walks the shape shifter with mystical powers: Finn, who seems young and charming with a gentle temperament. But after storehouses are raided and animals disappear, villagers eye Finn as the source of their misery. The novel tells a supernatural horror story that’s dominated by a persistent tone of danger and bleakness; indeed, the only source of optimism is in the budding romance between Finn and Matilda. She’s a likable lead character who gradually finds her strength even as she faces the condemnation of her friends and neighbors. Overall, McCarthy is a fine wordsmith, and she builds tension with each image of misery and impending doom: “the dark began to press against her door and windows. And the fog’s tendrils sneaked through the spaces in the walls. Maybe there was more than cold and hunger lurking in the fog.” The tale is consistently shrouded in dark mystery, and it will be best appreciated by readers who savor supernatural stories about prowling demons in the dark.

A chilling campfire-style thriller.