The Snow Witch by Kirsty Ferry

Close to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, there’s a stream known as Meggie’s Dene Burn. According to legend it’s named after Old Meg, a witch who lived in the area in the 17th century and whose burial site is said to be marked by a pink thorn tree. When Violet Marsh, the modern day heroine of Kirsty Ferry’s The Snow Witch, comes to Hadrian’s Wall to research her new book on the Newcastle Witch Trials, it’s Meg’s story that she finds most captivating. Basing herself near the village of Newbrough, Violet sets out to discover the truth about Meg, who she was and how she died. The story of Meg Noble unfolds alongside Violet’s and the first thing we learn is that she isn’t old. When we first meet her in 1650, she’s a young woman who has inherited her grandmother’s gift of creating herbal remedies which she uses to help the people of Newbrough. She’s aware that fifteen people have been executed in the recent witch trials just a short journey away in Newcastle and, although she doesn’t…