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Widdershins, Book 1
The new audio book of Widdershins is narrated brilliantly by talented actor, Christine Mackie, from Downton Abbey, Coronation Street, Wire in the Blood, and so on.
The first part of a two-part series, Widdershins is inspired by the Newcastle witch trials, where 16 people were hanged. Despite being the largest mass execution of witches on a sin-gle day in England, these trials are not widely known about. In August 1650, 15 women and one man were hanged as witches after a Scottish witchfinder found them guilty of consorting with the devil. This notorious man was hired by the Puritan authorities in response to a peti-tion from the Newcastle townsfolk who wanted to be rid of their witches.
Widdershins is told through the eyes of Jane Chandler, a young woman accused of witchcraft, and John Sharpe, the witchfinder who condemns her to death. Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane soon learns that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world. From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witchfinder and save in-nocents from the scourge of witchcraft.
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Extract
Thank you, Helen Steadman and The Coffee Pot Book Club
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About the Author
Dr Helen Steadman is a historical novelist. Her first novel, Widdershins and its sequel, Sun-wise were inspired by the Newcastle witch trials. Her third novel, The Running Wolf was in-spired by a group of Lutheran swordmakers who defected from Germany to England in 1687.
Despite the Newcastle witch trials being the largest mass execution of witches on a single day in England, they are not widely known about. Helen is particularly interested in revealing hidden histories and she is a thorough researcher who goes to great lengths in pursuit of his-torical accuracy. To get under the skin of the cunning women in Widdershins and Sunwise, Helen trained in herbalism and learned how to identify, grow and harvest plants and then made herbal medicines from bark, seeds, flowers and berries.
The Running Wolf is the story of a group of master swordmakers who left Solingen, Germany and moved to Shotley Bridge, England in 1687. As well as carrying out in-depth archive re-search and visiting forges in Solingen to bring her story to life, Helen also undertook black-smith training, which culminated in making her own sword. During her archive research, Helen uncovered a lot of new material and she published her findings in the Northern History journal.
Helen is now working on her fourth novel.
About the Audiobook Narrator
Christine Mackie has worked extensively in TV over the last thirty years in well-known TV series such as Downton Abbey, Wire in the Blood, Coronation Street, French & Saunders and The Grand. Theatre work includes numerous productions in new writing as well as classics, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Comedy of Errors, Richard III, An Inspector Calls, and the Railway Children. In a recent all women version of Whisky Galore, Christine played three men, three women and a Red Setter dog!
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Author Links
Website: https://helensteadman.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hsteadman1650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helensteadmanauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helensteadmanauthor/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Helen-Steadman/e/B076P4VRJD
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2297484.Helen_Steadman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHQ6GYusuraZF3fb-sLWx2Q
Narrator Link
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533499/
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Book Link
https://books2read.com/u/boa6VR
only 99c/99p during the tour
B for Bookreview 