ABOUT BOOK

A Westerly Wind Brings Witches

 Mind, Body, Spirit   Writer of the Year, Kindred Spirit magazine.

   “a remarkable blend of comedy and compassion … full of unexpected things, entirely charming and well worth your time.”

Nimue Brown, author of numerous books on Druidry and Paganism.

A Westerly Wind brings Witches crosses genre boundaries: encompassing women’s issues, women’s spirituality, humour, historical/contemporary and magical realism. Delighting in the far out world of contemporary paganism, digging deep into an age-old rural folklore, returning to Tudor times when witch hangings were the must-see Netflix of the day and mainstream reality was a supernatural one. Kind

Moira Box, with not a lot going for her, legs it down to Cornwall to join a cantankerous coven of stroppy women, opting for a new career as hag and hindrance. A spot of past-life therapy re-brews the elements which make us who we believe ourselves to be (and others insist we are!) – genetics and environment – by stirring in a third, soul inheritance.  Shapeshifting poor Mogs back to The Burning Times, when women’s role in the lingering rural folkways was disappearing from Merrie England.  

Today, wild women wrapped in cloaks pop up amongst the Cornish standing stones on a full moon basis. Wriggling out of the closet woodwork, giggling and garnished with glitzy-witchy fashion accessories, still stubbornly non-compliant and undoubtedly up to mischief… 

inner strength and transformation amidst the heady presences of the Land and the Otherworld. Thoroughly enjoyed.” 

Gemma Gary – Traditional Witchcraft, A Cornish Book of Way

I’ll add that I love being surprised by books, and this one absolutely delivered on those terms.  The content is well rooted in history and draws on what we actually know of cunning folk, and witch trials – often so sorely misrepresented in fiction. There’s some gleeful playing with tropes and resisting of conventions here. This is a hopeful book, with good things to say.  Sally pokes fun from a place of affection and understanding. Anyone who has been a Pagan for a while will see something of their own experiences here, I have no doubt.  

The writing itself is delightful. It’s a really playful style in the more contemporary sections, and often cheerfully anachronistic for the historical parts. At times the book is emotional and challenging, but overall it’s a warm-hearted and hopeful thing to read.Nimue Brown

A dud family gene pool handout won’t stop a common-or-garden lass from trying out life at both ends of the fair/foul continuum, complete with crazy curve balls. Whether in an era of mass hysteria sweeping Europe and perpetrating brutal crimes against women, a rat and Black Death infested mediaeval London, or today’s zany world of glamour and pretty privilege, an indomitable Mogs and her coven cronies find there is more to life than time and place, and we’re so much greater than our face value. This quirky novel explores the age-old questions Who am I? And who am I not? – despite how much we’d like to be! What can I do? What can’t I? – however much They keep on insisting we must…

 Put down and put upon, but under foot is where to find the soul.


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