The Winter Witch
Paula Brackston, 2013
St. Martin's Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250001313
Summary
In her small early nineteenth century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She is small and quick and pretty enough to attract a suitor, but there are things that set her apart from other girls.
Though her mind is sharp she has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic—the household objects that seem to move at her command, the bad luck that visits those who do her ill. Concerned for her safety, her mother is anxious to see Morgana married, and Cai Jenkins, the widowed drover from the far hills who knows nothing of the rumors that swirl around her, seems the best choice.
After her wedding, Morgana is heartbroken at leaving her mother, and wary of this man, whom she does not know, and who will take her away to begin a new life. But she soon falls in love with Cai’s farm and the wild mountains that surround it. Here, where frail humans are at the mercy of the elements, she thrives, her wild nature and her magic blossoming.
Cai works to understand the beautiful, half-tamed creature he has chosen for a bride, and slowly, he begins to win Morgana’s affections. It’s not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there—a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her man, and herself from all comers, Morgana must learn to harness her power, or she will lose everything in this beautifully written, enchanting novel. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Paula Brackston's first novel Book of Shadows was first published in the UK in 2009. It was issued in the U.S. in 2011 under the title The Witch's Daughter. Her second historical fantasy Lamp Black, Wolf Grey came out in 2010. The Winter Witch, Paula's third novel, came out in 2013.
More
From the author's website.
Paula lives in a wild, mountainous part of Wales. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and is a Visiting Lecturer for the University of Wales, Newport. Before becoming a writer, Paula tried her hand at various career paths, with mixed success. These included working as a groom on a racing yard, as a travel agent, a secretary, an English teacher, and a goat herd. Everyone involved (particularly the goats) is very relieved that she has now found a job she is actually able to do properly.
When not hunched over her keyboard in her tiny office under the stairs, Paula is dragged outside by her children to play Swedish tennis on the vertiginous slopes which surround them. She also enjoys being walked by the dog, hacking through weeds in the vegetable patch, or sitting by the pond with a glass of wine. Most of the inspiration for her writing comes from stomping about on the mountains being serenaded by skylarks and buzzards.
In 2007 Paula was short listed in the Creme de la Crime search for new writers. In 2010 her book Nutters (writing as PJ Davy) was short listed for the Mind Book Award, and she was selected by the BBC under their New Welsh Writers scheme. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Brackston (The Witch’s Daughter) delivers an intimate paranormal romance that grounds its fantasy in the reality of a 19th-century Welsh farm. Widower Cai Jenkins needs a wife to qualify as a porthmon (head drover) and to help run Ffynnon Las (“Blue Well”) farm. Morgana Pritchard, mute by choice, is no blushing bride, however: she has Romany blood, an affinity for animals, and the growing power of a witch. Already an outsider, Morgana runs afoul of locals who blame her for unusual weather and sickness, as well as one who desires Ffynnon Las for the power of its titular well. Whether on a drive with Cai to take cattle and sheep to London or staying home to learn to be the new Witch of the Well, she is challenged by hostile groups who threaten her freedom and life. Brackston provides clear portraits of her protagonists and their lives on the farm, even if her villain veers a bit to the melodramatic and overweening.
Publishers Weekly
Shortlisted for the Crème de la Crime Search for new writers, Brackston debuted with The Witch's Daughter. She's back with a second work starring a young Welsh witch who has yet to master her magic.
Library Journal
Eighteen-year-old Morgana Pritchard, silent by choice since childhood, doesn't know the extent of her magical powers until new husband Cai's housekeeper, Mrs. Jones, a witch herself, starts to teach her.... What Morgana does know—because she can smell it—is that there is powerful evil in the community, soon identified as Isolda Bowen.... When Isolda curses Cai...the young witch must summon all her knowledge and resolve to fight for both their lives. Love of landscape and lyrical writing lend charm, but it's Brackston's full-blooded storytelling that will hook the reader.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. What did you think of the arranged marriage between Cai and Morgana? Which of them did you sympathize with more?
2. How do you feel about Morgana’s speechlessness? How do you think it helped or hindered her developing relationship with Cai. Did it make her harder for you to connect with as a reader?
3. Mrs. Jones became a very important person in Morgana’s life, what did you think of her? How might the story have been different without her?
4. Superstition and the supernatural (arguably!) played a much bigger role in society in 1830 than they do now— how did they impact Morgana’s new life at Ffynnon Las?
5. Did you find the landscape around Ffynnon Las attractive, threatening, or perhaps both?
6. Isolda uses her magic in very different ways from Morgana. Which of them do you think more closely conforms to most people’s idea of a witch? Why?
7. Did you see Reverend Cadwaladr as a victim, or a weak man who should have known the right thing to do?
8. The weather was almost a character in its own right in this book— would you agree with this statement? How much were you affected by it as you read?
(Questions issued by publisher.)