Book Review: The Night Hag by Hester Musson

A Scottish brae, a spectral hag, a horrifying night-mare and a reluctant spiritualist are the key points in this story and they are all points that immediately sparked my interest. Set in Victorian London, Edinburgh and rural Scotland, Hester Musson has put together an enchanting, haunting and intriguing mystery with truly spine-chilling moments weaved in. The protagonist Lil is a sceptic seeking to escape a past entrenched in the Spiritualist movement that was so popular in Victorian society. Recreating herself as an archaeologist and ending up in Scotland, she becomes embroiled in a controversial dig that also rekindles her childhood night terrors, which seem to be warning her of something.

As well as the overarching theme of science warring with superstition and belief, there's also themes of fate and family, and an observation of the emerging feminist movement of the time. Strong women in a time where the patriarchy sought to control them, fighting to maintain their control of their lives and of the things important to them, delivered without preaching but without sugar-coating it either. And with the Gothic atmosphere of inescapable destiny, the bleak landscape of Scotland in winter as a backdrop, and history and folklore as a base, this novel is a wonderfully eerie and evocative tale that will draw you in and have you believing in curses, hags and the unquiet dead.