[]
They Can't Burn Us All
  • Published: 13 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529950403
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $34.99
Categories:

They Can't Burn Us All

Formats & editions
Hardback
13 Sept 2026
EBook
13 Aug 2026
Audiobook
13 Aug 2026
Pre-order from…
Apple Books Audible Google Play Kobo Libro.fm Spotify

A powerful, deeply moving and dark feminist retelling of the most famous witch trial in 17th-century Iceland, perfect for fans of The Witches of Vardo and The Mercies.

Iceland, 1655

When a land of ice and fire, legends and sagas is swept into the Protestant Reformation, a witch-hunting craze begins. Unusually, those condemned and burned as witches are not women, but respectable men of learning.

Þuríður Jónsdóttir has grown up praying to the old gods, and watching her father and brother practise rune magic. When the two men are accused of witchcraft and condemned to burn at the stake, Þuríður is helpless to save them.

But as Lutheran Pastor Jón Magnússon's accusing gaze turns to Þuríður, he will find that she is a woman prepared to fight back.

In an age of fear and persecution, whose side will the village take? Who will fight for justice?

Set against a backdrop of sweeping religious and social change, this is a story of the most famous witch trial in Iceland – where one woman stands up to the patriarchal forces against her.
  • Published: 13 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529950403
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $34.99
Categories:

About the author

Cathryn Kemp

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 won the Big Red Read Prize for Non-Fiction. A Poisoner’s Tale 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.
portrait photo of Cathryn Kemp

Also by Cathryn Kemp

A Poisoner's Tale
See all

Praise for They Can't Burn Us All

They Can't Burn Us All is a thrilling, fiery fable, full of compassion, rage and magic. Kemp brings 17th century Iceland to vivid life; a place of deadly storms and even deadlier curses, of long-hidden secrets and lingering resentments. A timely and important reminder of the enduring power of women's voices.

DANIELLE GILES, author of Mere

I utterly adored Cathryn Kemp’s debut, A Poisoner’s Tale, so I had high hopes for They Can’t Burn Us All, and I wasn’t disappointed! This is a haunting, mesmerising tale of C17th Icelandic witch trials, with descriptions so evocative you can feel the snow’s chill and hear the ravens’ cries and smell the fires burning. A dark, urgent tale of female agency and the power of both speaking out and refusing to speak.

NAOMI KELSEY, author of The Burnings

I absolutely LOVED They Can't Burn Us All. Immersive and heartrending, TCBUA is a powerful and compelling retelling of 17th century witch trials . . . With breathtaking descriptions and meticulous historical authenticity, I was completely captivated by this vital work of witch literature

ANYA BERGMAN, author of international bestseller, The Witches of Vardø