The Book of Shadows

Description

'My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this "Book of Shadows" begins'. In the spring of 1628, the Witch finder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from suffering the same fate. It is the Warlock, Gideon Masters, who will instruct her in the Craft and bring her to her immortal state. She could never have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he will be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life. Bess continues her mother's healing work, but is forced to move frequently to protect the secret of her immortality, and to evade Gideon. As Dr Eliza Hawksmith of the Fitzroy Hospital he pursues her through Victorian London. When she is nurse Elise Hawksmith he dogs her footsteps in the dark chaos of Passchendaele in 1917. In the present day she finds a peace of sorts and begins to believe that the danger might at last have passed. She allows herself to befriend Tegan, a lonely teenager in whom Bess sees a scintilla of magic. It is to protect this child that she must finally stand and confront her foe.

Paula Brackston runs creative writing classes and workshops, is a script reader for a film company, and sells her short stories. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her travel book 'The Dragon's Trail' is a journal of her month long horseback trek around Wales. Her autobiographical writing has been published in anthologies -'Even The Rain Is Different', 'Strange Days Indeed', and 'In Her Element'. In 2006 she was shortlisted in the Creme de la Crime Search for new writers. She lives half way up a Brecon Beacon with her partner and their two children.

"Ambitious and thought-provoking, this book will lure you into vivid, visceral worlds where evil lurks at every turn. The beautifully crafted Book of Shadows will be etched on my mind for a long time. What an action-packed, emotionally powerful film it would make too." Sally Spedding "An unforgettable story by a highly original new writer." Rebecca Tope, author of the Cotswold crime series.