I really enjoyed this one! How have I never heard of Brom before? I came across it completely by chance in the receiving room at my library, saw it on the cart and went "ooh, that looks like fun!". And it was.
Set in 1666 in Connecticut, Abitha, who is recently widowed, is trying to save her husband's farm, working the land herself. Her brother in law, Wallace, is trying to sabotage her at every turn so he can take the farm for himself. Abitha meets a creature called "Father", a half-man, half-goat beast who seems like a Godsend. He keeps her safe and helps her tap into the magic inside herself. With Father's help, her crops grow and she is able to pay off her debt to Wallace. This ignites his anger and he has Abitha arrested and tried as a witch. It was super creepy and tense.
I bought this book thinking it was more a traditional biography about Pete Shelley and Buzzcocks, but it was actually a series of interviews Pete did with Louie before he passed away in 2018. Louie (not related to Pete) was apparently a *giant* Buzzcocks fan (she tried to make the case that Buzzcocks were better than the Beatles--quite a stretch, but I give her credit for her effort!) and asked Pete about the origin of each of the songs from Buzzcocks' earlier albums, before they broke up in the early 80s. I don't know if she would have gotten to their newer material if she'd had more time to interview him. It was a shame she didn't, because their 2003 album is my favorite. For hardcore Buzzcocks' fans, this book is a treasure. For a more casual fan like myself who doesn't have their entire catalog memorized, it was a bit boring. Still, Pete seems like he was a nice, intelligent guy and it's a shame he passed away so young.
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