Excerpt!
‘What’s it called?’ Mary asked, sliding onto the lap of one of the men at the table. He was in his forties, she guessed, with grey flecks in a reddish beard and hungry eyes that were sad. She passed an arm around his neck, and his left hand rested on her thigh. She liked the players: they were always good for entertainment and often had a sensitivity about them that was rare in the apprentices and artisans who made up their audience.
‘ ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore,’ the player said, and Mary laughed.
‘So it’s about me, then?’
He laughed and squeezed her leg. ‘Come see it tomorrow,’ he said. ‘We play for three more days.’
‘Perhaps I shall,’ she replied. She liked the playhouse, and though most of the girls went there only to pick up trade, Mary loved it for the magic of the drama, an escape from the drudgery of her life. She ran the tips of her fingers across the muscles of his arm. He was strong, and the muscles were hard and taut. Sometimes, she thought, being a whore was not so bad. Then, ‘Does it end well for the whore?’
He shook his head.
‘So it’s true to life.’ It was not a question.
‘Truer than you can imagine,’ he answered, and slid his eyes away in some kind of sadness she could not know.
Trapped in a spreading web of darkness, the power of an ancient book might be their only hope.
Mary Sparrow was cursed at birth, and the bawdy house is the only home she’s ever known. Like most of the girls, she dreams of escape. But when an old man drives her friend to madness, she swears she will have her revenge.
Toby Chyrche also hopes for a better future, away from the tailor’s shop where his fate seems set in stone. Then afateful meeting seems to promise freedom, until an ancient book of magic reveals chilling truths.
Ensnared in the spreading web of darkness, they turn to magic to protect themselves. But shadowy forces crave a sacrifice, and the spectre of death is beckoning. Can they wield the power of the book to protect those they love? Or will they pay for their courage with their lives?
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S.G. Slade was born and raised in the historic city of Bristol in England, and now lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, son, and a very small dog called Livvy. She has worked variously as a secretary, a teacher, a shop assistant and a nurse, but lifelong obsessions with books, history, and magic have never waned. When she isn’t reading or writing (which isn’t often), you can find her either doing yoga, going for long walks, or watching old movies. Touch of a Witch is her first historical fantasy book.
She uses the pen name S.G. Slade for her fantasy books, and also writes Historical Fiction under the name Samantha Grosser.
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