The Sin Eater

by Megan Campisi

Set in a thinly disguised sixteenth-century England, Megan Campisi's The Sin Eater is a wonderfully rich story of treason and treachery; of women, of power, and the strange freedom that comes from being an outcast – because, sometimes, being a nobody sometimes counts for everything . . .

'A dark and thrilling page-turner that turns a dystopian eye on the past in an unnervingly contemporary way' - Emma Donoghue, author of Room.

A Sin Eater’s duty is a necessary evil: she hears the confessions of the dying, eats their sins as a funeral rite. Stained by these sins, she is shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town.

Recently orphaned May Owens is just fourteen, only concerned with where her next meal is coming from. When she’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread, however, and subsequently sentenced to become a Sin Eater, finding food is suddenly the last of her worries.

It’s a devastating sentence, but May’s new invisibility opens new doors. And when first one then two of the Queen’s courtiers suddenly grow ill, May hears their deathbed confessions – and begins to investigate a terrible rumour that is only whispered of amid palace corridors . . .

Can you uncover the truth when you’re forbidden from speaking it?

• ISBN10: 1529019087
• ISBN13: 9781529019087
• Publish Date: 2 April 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Mantle
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

It's time to enter a historical fiction like no other in Megan Campisi's Sin Eater. I picked this book up because it promised to be a blend of The Handmaid's Tale and Alice in Wonderland. Let me tell you – it did not disappoint.

May received a life sentence on the day she stole bread. Now, she must forever be a Sin Eater – somebody who listens to the confessions of the dying and takes on their sins so that they may find peace.

May had already been alone before becoming a Sin Eater, but now she is more isolated than ever. Even her mentor, another Sin Eater, cannot speak to her. Yet May won't hesitate to find the truth – and vengeance -for an act that cost her mentor her life.

“With how you came into the world and what you've seen lately you should know, the more you live, the more the sinner and the saint can't be pulled apart. All of us just getting by.”

If you're looking to put up a book that packs quite the punch, then it is time to read Sin Eater. Megan Campisi does not shy away from the darker sides of humanity, and it is blindingly clear in this novel.

In truth, having finished Sin Eater, I can now see why comparisons were made to The Handmaid's Tale and Alice in Wonderland. While Sin Eater is very much its own being, the tones are strikingly similar. Both the horrifying and the fantastical.

What's so impressive about Sin Eater is the sheer amount of inequalities that Campisi tackles here. Classicism and sexism are brought to light here, as are other societal differences until they become nearly suffocating. As I'm sure was the intent.

I really respect the story that Megan Campisi was trying to convey here, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thanks to Atria Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[elysium]

The book is set in a fictional sort of Elizabethan England kinda world. I mean the queen is called Bethany and her predecessor Maris, a new religion has replaced the old one. You get the idea. I think I spent too much time thinking who this court lady is supposed to be in real life… The set up was interesting but weird. I had not heard of Sin Eaters before so I had to do some googling and apparently, the role existed but very little is known about it.

The story is told by May’s point of view as she tries to adjust to her new life as a Sin Eater and being shunned by everyone. And it’s such a dark and lonely life when you’re not allowed to even speak. Basically, all you do is hear people reciting their sins before they die and then you eat the food that symbolizes the confessed sins. And there’s court intrigue where May gets involved and needs to uncover.

It was a well-written and imaginative story. May was a likeable character who was determined to uncover the mystery. Since she can’t talk and doesn’t know how to read, she has to learn all by herself which was interesting. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. And that’s in a good way.

What a great debut! I really enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to reading more from the author. And I think the cover is cool.

[Inkslinger]

ARC provided by Edelweiss+, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, and Megan Campisi. All opinions are mine and freely given.

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"The Sin Eater walks among us, unseen, unheard
Sins of our flesh become sins of Hers
Following Her to the grave, unseen, unheard
The Sin Eater Walks Among Us."


04-08: 'Sin Eater' by by Megan Campisi is billed as 'The Handmaid's Tale' meets 'Alice in Wonderland,' a description which frankly couldn't be farther from the truth. The story is indeed interesting, awful in many ways.. but if that's what you're looking for, it's not what you're going to get.

The novel is about a young orphaned girl who gets into a bit of trouble just trying to survive on her own in 16th-century England and in a moment of rebelliousness or perhaps.. vanity, she draws the eye of someone in a position to change her life entirely. Not for the better, but for the worse.


"His shadow stayed in the house for weeks. It wasn't dark like a shadow, just an empty place in the shape of my da. I would see it out of the side of my eye and turn knowing he should be there. But when I looked there wasn't anything."


Sentenced to a lifetime as a Sin Eater, a woman collared and marked, May must hear final confessions of those who are dying and then eat ritual foods based on the sins they confess. By doing so, it's believed that she takes their sins unto her own soul, allowing them to pass freely into heaven.

A child truly alone in the world, she's quick to form bonds to anyone who shows her kindness. When the older Sin Eater she learns from refuses to eat food representing a sin that isn't confessed, she's arrested and tortured to death.. but already feeling an affinity for the woman, the young girl becomes determined to find the truth of the deception and avenge her.

That's really what the bulk of the book is about.. May's adjustment to her horrible new situation and her journey to solve the mystery that resulted in her only companion's death.


"There's a white mist rising from my lips. Mayhap it's my soul fleeing my body. My soul melting away into the air. Why doesn't it take me with it? I try to go after my soul, but my legs don't answer when I call on them to move."


If you're like me, maybe you'd be shocked to know that the last sin-eater actually only passed a little over a hundred years ago. I was horrified to find such a barbaric custom existed that late into modern history. According to Wikipedia, "a local legend in Shropshire, England, concerns the grave of Richard Munslow, who died in 1906, said to be the last sin-eater of the area." A 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article states that "a (sin eating) was witnessed as recently as 1893 at Market Drayton, Shropshire.

Apparently, it was common practice at one time to hire the poor to do the eating, which is about as financially exploitative a practice as there can be.

For the purpose of this novel, all the sin-eaters are women and that is likely where 'The Handmaid's Tale' reference comes from, but as dystopian an idea that is.. that's really where the similarities end. Mostly it's a story about how easily one can find themselves knocked down.. metaphorically speaking.. and how quick others might be to participate in one's suffering.

There's certainly a recurring theme in human nature, not just in stories, to relish having someone to kick when they're already down. Once someone is sort of.. 'fallen from grace'.. they're deemed safe to abuse, and while not everyone responds to that vulnerability.. some do. Sometimes even people you wouldn't expect it from, friends, family, and more. And sometimes, unexpectedly, there's also someone who just won't bring themselves to treat others badly.. simply because they can.


"This is why we have cursing. I never understood what made folk do it. But now I know. All our dire feelings stain the heart, and the stains bloom into curses."


I saw absolutely no 'Alice in Wonderland' roots anywhere and believe me, I love that fairy tale and often see them just in the dreamy quality of a story or an insinuation of a character's nature. It's just not there in this book. But make no mistake, the book is quite good.

Most of the mystery is easy enough to decipher, in fact.. the clues are written out so plainly, I think perhaps the author didn't really intend for us to linger on that too much. Many of the reveals were more like assurances, just letting the reader know they paid attention and did well. They saw the trail and recognized the crumbs.


"You're nothing if you're dead. I told myself I needed to be alive to help the Sin Eater, but, really, it was my life, dressed up as hers, that I was saving."


What this book really did, in addition to shocking me a bit and making me feel horrible for May, was make me think. It made me go back and research the subject matter, wondering with dread if there were people forced into the role by more than circumstance. The situation the girl finds herself in is certainly a very real possibility, even if I didn't happen across a similar origin somewhere.

Probably the most impactful reveal, actually had nothing to do with the mystery itself.. and everything to do with how May found her life changed. That absolutely stunned me. But there were some sweet moments too, however fleeting. Moments of kindness, of a more gentle humanity shining through here and there. Like a fragile kind of hope.

If you don't mind seriously dark stories, I do highly recommend reading 'Sin Eater.' I'm glad I did.

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04-06: I'm sooooo excited to read this book. It looks amazing and it's out Tuesday, so I'll be focusing on it and a couple others this week for sure!