Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours Presents…
Shakespeare’s Witch
By Samantha Grosser
Love,
Witchcraft, Sorcery, Madness.
A
fortune told …
When Sarah Stone foresees Will Shakespeare’s latest play has opened doors to evil, she begs the playwright to abandon it. But Will refuses, aware the play is one of his best. And so rehearsals for Macbeth begin.
Forbidden
desires …
After her vision, Sarah fears for her life – she has never known the shewstone to lie, and she turns to her brother Tom for comfort. A strange darkness seems to haunt the playhouse, and when Tom sets out to seduce John Upton, the boy actor who plays Lady Macbeth, the boy sees the hand of witchcraft in his own forbidden desires for men. Then Sarah weaves a spell to win the love of the new lead actor, and John, terrified for the safety of his soul, begins to make his accusations.
The
Spirits have spoken …
As rehearsals continue, Sarah and Tom must struggle to convince John he is mistaken and that his sins are his own – their lives and the fortune of the play are at stake. But the Spirits have spoken – will the fate that Sarah foresaw come to pass or is their destiny their own to decide?
Set against the first production of Macbeth
in 1606, Shakespeare’s Witch is a seductive tale of the origins of the curse of
the Scottish Play.
Excerpt
Inside the theatre, Will touched his torch to the others in their sconces,
and the shadows bobbed and danced as the small party made their way across the
broad yard and up onto the stage.
‘Here?’ Will asked Sarah’s mother.
Elizabeth nodded. It was a good place to scry
– quiet and dark and open to the
sky.
Sarah stepped away
from the others to the edge of the stage and looked out into the empty
darkness, allowing the activity behind her to ebb into the background of her
thoughts. Above her the painted heavens marked the positions of the stars in
hues of gold and blue, and beyond the roof that covered the stage, the night
sky hovered velvet black, pinpricked with the first real stars of silver. Even
in the shadows she knew every detail of the playhouse – the wide yard before
the apron and the three tiers
of wooden galleries that circled it, the sweep of the stage to the tiring house
behind with its three floors of dressing rooms and storerooms, and at the top,
the wardrobe where she worked with her brother to sew the actors’ costumes.
She was aware of it
all, a place of magic even in the silent evening dark, and she allowed her
breathing to soften, opening herself up to the promise of the night. Then, when
she sensed that the others were ready behind her, she turned around to face
them. A single candle flickered lightly on the small table they had placed
centre stage, and the shewstone lay on a linen cloth before it, its surface
smooth and dark and inviting. Her brother gestured to the stool he had set
before it, and though she was aware of the eyes of the others watching her as
she took her seat, she took time to make herself comfortable, straightening her
skirts, tucking back stray hair from her face. Her own gaze never left the
surface of the stone. When, finally, she was settled, her mother and brother
took their places just behind her and placed a hand on her shoulders: she could
feel the strength of their connection as the shewstone beckoned, insistent,
demanding her attention. The candle flitted and danced at the edges of her
vision, and the blackness of the stone seemed to deepen. Behind it, across the
table, she saw Will take his seat, nervous hands smoothing back the thinning
hair and a sheen of sweat across the unnatural pallor of his forehead. She had
never known him so unnerved.
His gaze travelled to her mother. ‘Sarah will scry?’ he asked.
‘She has a greater gift than I,’ Elizabeth answered.
He gave a quick nod and Sarah lifted a small smile of reassurance towards him. But
as the shewstone began to shimmer its offer of foreknowledge, the weight of the
hands on her shoulders began to seem a heavier burden. With a sudden rush of
apprehension, she wished he hadn’t asked for this; she sensed already she would
see only pain, and sometimes it was better not to know.
‘What would you like to ask of the spirits?’ she said. Her voice sounded strong and even, no trace
of the tremor of her fear.
‘I want to know,’ he replied, and his voice was equally calm, ‘if the
play I am writing now will have good fortune.’
‘The name of the play?’
‘Macbeth.’
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour,
we will be giving away one eBook and one paperback copy of Shakespeare’s Witch!
You can enter:
Giveaway Rules
• Giveaway ends at
11:59pm EST on April 17th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to residents in the US & UK only.
• Only one entry per household.
• No sweepstakes accounts please.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner will be chosen.
• Giveaway is open to residents in the US & UK only.
• Only one entry per household.
• No sweepstakes accounts please.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner will be chosen.
AMAZON US • AMAZON UK • BARNES AND
NOBLE
Samantha Grosser
Historical fiction author Samantha Grosser
originally hails from England, but now lives on the sunny Northern Beaches of
Sydney with her husband, son and a very small dog called Livvy.
Combining a lifelong
love of history with a compulsion to write that dates from childhood, Samantha
is now bringing her passion for telling compelling stories to the world.
Samantha has an
Honours Degree in English Literature and taught English for many years in Asia
and Australia. She is the author of wartime dramas Another Time and Place and
The Officer’s Affair, and The King James Men, set during the turbulent early
years of 17th Century.
Connect with
Samantha:
What a beautiful cover, Samantha. Your book sounds very interesting indeed.
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