#ADGIFTED all thoughts and opinions are my own, I choose books and authors I want to read, I tend to lend towards genres I enjoy the most.
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too. But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.
As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?
Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
An eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
Genre: Historical Fiction/Adult/Supernatural Length: 250 pages
Published: April 2024 by Silver Thistle Press
Goodreads: Goodreads link
Amazon: Amazon link
About the Author Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded
by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
My Review
I knew as a Witch myself I would have mixed emotions on this, mainly as it’s based on real life. And the hatred Christian feels is very real still today, not just witches, but I digress. The author gives us an amazing balance to show how this bigoted hatred view comes about and how it festers and poisons everything. Would you choose your mind or soul? For me it’s the soul every time. All this said, I can’t lie it did rise up emotions in me, I felt such dislike for this character, though I could also give them my understanding. I liked having the two timelines for Christian, both young and older and how the sins of the past can shape the future, or blight it. How white can you get your thread, the whiter the purer. I know mime would be Red!! Well written and well out of my normal range of reading, Thank you to The Write Reads and Silver Thistle Press for this incredible opportunity,.to find a new author, I will have to read their previous books. Such an intriguing book, one I would whole heartedly recommend to others.
Thank you for the parcel of amazing goodies, I will wear and use the extras, as well as try out the recipes. The most beautiful thoughtful PR parcel to ever have been given. Makes my heart sing x
Hipster 