Hex: Darkland Tales

Hex is a powerful and poignant tale of the North Berwick Witch Trials, exploring how a society consumed by fear and superstition can still feel the force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 112 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: Birlinn General

A deeply moving and evocative account of one of Scotland's most turbulent periods in history, the North Berwick Witch Trials.

IT'S THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591.

On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh's High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor—Iris, who claims to come from a future where women continue to face persecution for their identity and beliefs.

As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession, and trial, while Iris offers support, solace, and the tantalizing prospect of escape.

Hex is a visceral portrayal of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.

This series has already produced two works of note and distinction. It raises the question: if a country cannot retell its history, will it be stuck forever in aspic and condemned to be nothing more than a shortbread tin illustration?

Hex and Rizzio are showing the way toward a reckoning, and about time too—Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Weight: 112g
Dimension: 129 x 195 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781846976223
Edition number: New in Paperback