Exclusive interview with author Paula Brackston and a review of her new book about a witch trying to live a quiet life in England
Rating: 3 Stars
“I live near Hay-on-Wye, which has the biggest collection of second-hand bookshops in the world,” says The Witch’s Daughter author Paula Brackston. “I spent many happy days nosing around there. The Witch’s Daughter is set in three different historical periods. I’d chosen eras that particularly interested me…17th century Wessex, Victorian London and the World War I trenches.”
The Witch’s Daughter is part historical novel and part fantasy. There is a longing for things and times lost and the compassion of a woman who wants to help a young girl have a better life. Follow Elizabeth throughout history as she runs from Gideon who wants payment for saving her as a child.
In 1628, she watched her mother die for being a witch. One of the last things her mother told her was to go to Gideon, a warlock who could save her. He instructed her in witchcraft and made her immortal. In almost present day England, Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith has a life she is content with. For over 384 years she’s written a book of shadows that tells of her life in every place she’s settled.
Elizabeth befriends a lonely teenage girl and begins teaching her about healing and the ways of the Hedge Witch.
“The idea for The Witch’s Daughter emerged from a mixture of things,” says Brackston. “I wanted to write the sort of book I enjoy reading, and that often seems to be historical fiction or fantasy. I was drawn to the notion of a real witch moving among us, and once I struck on the thought that the main character could be immortal all manner of creative possibilities opened up.”
Brackston researched books about the magic to describe in the novel. “That led me to read some fascinating texts. I now have some pretty unusual books on my shelf. A visitor to our house got quite unnerved by the number of volumes I have on spells and the occult.”
At her book launch, Brackston had some problems. “My first book launch was a nerve-shredding affair, as severe weather meant the books had not been delivered to the bookshop. With five minutes to go, and facing the local press and a throng of eager booklovers, I had no books to sign or sell. By some miracle, and because of some extremely stalwart delivery men, the books did arrive just in time I seem to remember we all drank quite a lot of wine that day.”
Brackston began writing short stories for magazines and selling non-fiction work to publishers for anthologies. She wrote a travel book that follows her month-long horse trek around Wales. She wrote the historical fantasy, Lamp Black, Wolf Grey, that’s only available in the UK.
Under the name PJ Davy/PJ Brackston, she writes comic novels and is developing a new series. Her comic novel Nutters was shortlisted for the Mind Book Award in 2010.
Brackston lives in the Brecon Beacons. “It’s a particularly dramatic and beautiful part of Wales,” says Brackston. “Our house is high up a hill with far-reaching views, surrounded by sheep and buzzards. It is a very peaceful place, but at the same time quite wild, and you are close to nature. I find that stimulating when I am working on story ideas. I was brought up here, and returned to start my own family. I can’t imagine wanting to raise children anywhere else. Only yesterday we woke up to find three mad March hares boxing in the field behind our house.”
The Witch’s Daughter is set in Dorset, where Brackston was born. “For me the county has all that is special about the English countryside…rolling hills, sweet meadows and woodland, pretty market towns, and a rugged coastline.”
The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston. Hardcover, 320 pages, Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition, (January 18, 2011), Language: English, ISBN-9780312621681 $24.99
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