Author(s): Kate Hodges

Contemporary

1782. Nancy Lockaby is trying to salvage her reputation as an astronomer - left in tatters after a discredited discovery - when she receives a mysterious letter, inviting her to join Shakespeare scholar Caelan Malles at his crumbling house in Inverness.

But at Blackthistle House, Nancy notices that Caelan is spending more and more time locked away in
his study with his books. As his behaviour becomes ever stranger, more questions gnaw at Nancy. Why does Caelan believe there is a link between Shakespeare and the stars? Why does he refuse to discuss Charlotte, his now-deceased wife? And why does he head, at night, to the cottage where live three strange women he calls hags?

Nancy refuses to believe in anything that cannot be rationally explained. And yet, as she seeks to discover the answers, she sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life - and her perceptions of magic - for ever . . .