Sin Eater

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi, 284 pages

In 16th-Century England, it is custom for dying people to confess their sins to a woman who will then eat specified food at their funeral to take those sins upon herself. This allows the deceased to ascend to heaven unburdened of their worldly sins. The woman is called a sin eater, and as she takes on every sin committed by everyone else, she lives a cursed life, one in which she may not speak and in which no one (even family) speaks to, touches, or even looks at her for fear of being tempted into further sin. This fascinating historical novel introduces us to May, a young woman who is sentenced to becoming a sin eater and quickly becomes aware of a complex tangle of murder and intrigue among the queen's closest companions.

I was unaware of the custom of sin eating, which apparently lasted until just over 100 years ago in England, meaning there were hundreds of years of sentencing women to life as a social pariah, often for meaningless crimes. This book is fascinating, heart-wrenching, and a surprising page-turner. Highly recommended.