What You Call Free is a piece of historical fiction.
This novel is loosely based on the lives of two women, Helen Alexander and Jonet Gothskirk (who was forced to wear a ‘sackcloth’ or ‘gown of repentance’ as punishment for adultery during the period of the Covenanters).
After falling pregnant, 18-year-old Jonet seeks refuge among a group of religious dissidents with the help of widow Helen.
Johnston’s exploration of religious tensions, female oppression, and what it truly means to be ‘free’ within the context of a turbulent 17th-century Scotland, is enlightening.
What You Call Free, by Flora Johnston, published by Ringwood, £9.99.
[review rating=”3″ align = “left”]
TAGS
FOLLOW US
