Paula Brackston’s debut novel, The Witch’s Daughter, was the little book that could―with a captivating story, remarkable heroine, and eye-catching package, it has now netted over 200,000 copies in all formats. Now Paula returns with its sequel The Return of the Witch, another bewitching tale of love and magic, featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, a fabulous and intriguing historical backdrop, and a headstrong and relatable heroine readers will cheer for.
After five years in the Summerlands, Gideon has gained his freedom. Elizabeth knows he will go straight for Tegan, and that she must protect the girl she had come to regard as her own daughter. In the time since she the dramatic night in Batchcombe woods, Tegan has travelled the world learning from all manner of witches, and she is no longer the awkward teenager and novice spellcaster she once was. However, her skills are no match for Gideon’s dark, vengeful power, and he succeeds in capturing her. Will Elizabeth be able to find her? Will they be able to defeat their nemesis once and for all?
In a breathless journey that takes them through history, witch pursues warlock. Three people steeped in magic weave a new story, but not all will survive until the end.
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction, Supernatural, Magical Realism
Pages: 320
Published by Thomas Dunne Books
Released: March 8th 2016
| Admittedly, I haven’t read the first book in the series, The Witch’s Daughter. I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, which I was very excited for!
In the beginning, I wasn’t connecting with the story and it was through no fault of the author’s writing. While it wasn’t truly important for me to have read the first book, as it often mentions the happenings of the first, it did make it harder to connect with the characters. So I do suggest reading the first if you have the chance to. Now, on top of that for me, although Brackston’s writing is highly eloquent, dreamlike and beautiful, the moments where it is full of more monologue than dialogue seemed to grow a little boring for me. The story didn’t pick up for me until part three, which is nearly into 200 pages. From there it is a real page turner and I had to put it down to go to bed, well I ended up having dreams about the book, that’s how much it stayed with me. The characters are well developed, the story is at times a little slow moving, but once it gets going it is action packed and we have a driven protagonist who wishes to conquer evil, as well as rescue her beloved friend. A smidge of romance is etched in there and you have a wonderful, beautiful written book. Paula Brackston is an intellectual writer and someone I will most assuredly look out for in the future. ★★★★☆ |
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