I received this book in a giveaway from GoodReads.

This is a story that mimics certain events in history set in 16th century England. Fourteen year old May is left alone after her father dies. She takes in laundry but it is not providing her with a living. One day she steals a loaf of bread. Her punishment is to be a sin eater.

A sin-eater is a person that you request when near death. You confess your sins to them and they indicate what foods need to be prepared based upon your confession. After the person dies and is in their coffin, the food is placed on the coffin. The sin-eater comes and eats all the food on the coffin. Once the sin eater has finished, the dead person’s soul is free to go to the Maker.

May learns the ways of the sin eater from the one already living in town. One day they are called to the castle for an eating. On the coffin is an item that the sin eater did not ask to be prepared. She hesitates to begin the eating. May ends up eating the food. And just like that she finds herself in the midst of palace intrigue.

May is frustrated. She feels that she hasn’t had adequate time to learn all the functions of a sin eater. She is angry. As a sin eater she is only allowed to talk as a person confesses and as she relates the food to be prepared. She didn’t want this occupation. She misses being touched. Because she takes on everyone’s sin, she is seen as unclean and never to be touched.

This is a story about personal growth. May has an occupation thrust upon her and it is up to her whether she grows and accepts her fate or rejects it. She has to look deep within herself to find the answer. As she is caught up in the palace intrigue she learns that she can be strong and resilient. She faces the future on her own terms.

My Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻

Additional Thoughts: This is a very well conceived book. I enjoyed the character May. After spending a significant amount of time developing the characters of Paul and Brida I felt that they were dropped out of the story with no ending to their story.