{"id":7052575,"date":"2026-08-31T10:27:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/they-cant-burn-us-all-by-cathryn-kemp-bookchattercookiebiscuit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T10:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:27:22","slug":"they-cant-burn-us-all-by-cathryn-kemp-bookchattercookiebiscuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7052575","title":{"rendered":"They Can\u2019t Burn Us All by Cathryn Kemp \u2013 Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit"},"content":{"rendered":"


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From the award-winning author of\u00a0A Poisoner\u2019s Tale\u00a0comes a dark, feminist retelling of the most famous witch trial in 17th-century Iceland, perfect for fans of\u00a0The Witches of Vardo\u00a0and\u00a0The Mercies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Westfjords, Iceland. 1655<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00deur\u00ed\u00f0ur J\u00f3nsd\u00f3ttir has grown up praying to the old gods and watching her father and brother practise rune magic.<\/em><\/p>\n

But now, a witch-hunting craze is sweeping across the land of ice and fire, fuelled by the Protestant Reformation. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, those condemned as witches here are not women, but men of learning. And when \u00deur\u00ed\u00f0ur\u2019s father and brother are accused of witchcraft and condemned to burn at the stake, she is helpless to save them.<\/em><\/p>\n

#TheyCantBurnUsAll\u00a0 X\/Twitter <\/strong><\/em>@cathrynkemp<\/em><\/a> #bantambooksuk #RandomThingsTours\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 @annecater\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0@RandomTTours<\/a><\/em>\u00a0
Instagram<\/em><\/strong> @cathryn_kemp<\/a><\/em> @bantambooksuk<\/a><\/em><\/em> @randomthingtours<\/a><\/em>\u00a0#blogto<\/em>ur #Iceland<\/em><\/p>\n

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As Lutheran Pastor J\u00f3n Magn\u00fasson\u2019s accusing gaze turns to \u00deur\u00ed\u00f0ur herself, the first woman to be called \u2018witch\u2019, he will find that she is no ordinary woman<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She is prepared to fight back. But at what cost?<\/em><\/p>\n

And in an age of fear and persecution, whose side will the community take? Who will fight for justice?<\/em><\/p>\n

Set against a backdrop of sweeping religious and social change,\u00a0They Can\u2019t Burn Us All\u00a0is a feminist retelling of Iceland\u2019s notorious Kirkjub\u00f3l witch trials<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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My Review<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a horrifying chapter in this book that will probably haunt me forever, and it\u2019s mentioned at least three times. But setting that aside, I thought They Can\u2019t Burn Us All<\/em> was amazing, wonderfully written and immaculately researched. I\u2019ve read a lot of novels set in Iceland from modern Scandi noir to a book about Scottish women in the 1800s sent there to repent their sins.<\/p>\n

But this is set 200 years earlier, during the sweeping witch hunts that took place all over Europe, except in Iceland it was different. Elsewhere, witches were almost all women, with almost 60,000 being put to death for witchcraft. In Iceland, they were all men. Women were not educated, most couldn\u2019t read or write, so were deemed incapable of being witches and casting spells and curses.<\/p>\n

\u00deur\u00ed\u00f0ur J\u00f3nsd\u00f3ttir\u2019s father and brother have been accused of witchcraft by Lutheran Pastor J\u00f3n Magn\u00fasson. He claims they have put a curse on him and deserve to die by fire. But when it makes no difference, the Pastor turns on \u00deur\u00ed\u00f0ur, accusing her of practising witchcraft herself. It becomes an obsession.<\/p>\n

This is the first time a woman has been accused and what follows is almost as horrifying as the aforementioned chapter. But will the community come together to defend her as they failed to do with her father and brother?<\/p>\n

While They Can\u2019t Burn Us All<\/em> is a work of fiction, it is based on the notorious Kirkjub\u00f3l witch trials of 1656. The author tells us that while some of the characters are \u2018real\u2019 based on actual historical figures, their portrayals are fictitious, as are many of the events that surrounded them.\u2019 The place names are all real, though Kirkjub\u00f3l no longer exists.<\/p>\n

Many thanks to\u00a0@annecater<\/a>\u00a0for inviting me to be part of\u00a0the #TheyCantBurnUsAll #blogtour<\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cathryn Kemp is a Sunday Times bestselling ghostwriter and author, with a prolific career writing celebrity, inspirational, true crime, addiction and nostalgia titles. Her personal memoir Coming Clean<\/em> won the Big Red Read Prize for Non-Fiction.<\/p>\n

A Poisoner\u2019s Tale<\/em> is her first foray into historical fiction. When not researching dark, dangerous and beguiling women from history, Cathryn can be found on the south coast with her son and her familiar, a ginger cat called Gingey.<\/p>\n

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