Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Her Kind


Published by Penguin Random House

The release date for my novel based on the Kilkenny Witchcraft trials is nearing, its the 4th April! 

The book is inspired by events in Kilkenny in 1324, by a trial that arose after moneylender Dame Alice Kytler was accused of witchcraft by Bishop Ledrede. She was a very wealthy business woman with debtors, and relations, in high places - records show she had lent King Edward (half of Kilkennie was governed by the crown in those days) a princely five hundred pounds. There's no record of his honoring that payment... but more of all that later. 

The case is historically significant for a number of reasons, it predates the Witch hunts of the 16th Century by two hundred years, yet the accusations made against Alice and her household, are almost identical to those that were to follow. It marks a significant moment in witch trial history, one where sorcery was elevated from being a petty to a much more serious, heretical crime - a change that had significant long term consequences... But, the heart of my book are the people involved in the case, Richard Ledrede, Dame Alice Kytler and her maid Petronelle ... 

Her Kind is available to pre-order Here

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The novel also got a mention in this piece...


                                                                           
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For anyone interested in hearing more in the meantime - I wrote an article about the background to the trial for Womankind's Gothic edition....

Issue #5: Gothic

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