Cover Reveal: Widdershins by Helen Steadman

Title: Widdershins

Author: Helen Steadman
Publication: July 1st 2017 by Impress Books

Genre: Historial Fiction

‘Widdershins was inspired by the seventeenth-century witch trials in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Although fifteen people were executed on the same day for alleged witchcraft, the trials aren’t widely known about outside the north east of England. So, I’m pleased that the story of this travesty will now reach a much wider audience.’ (Helen Steadman, Author)
‘I’m thrilled that we are publishing Helen Steadman’s engrossing novel, Widdershins. I loved following the interplay of John and Jane’s stories in this vividly evoked and fascinating period of history.’ (Laura Christopher, Commissioning Editor)
‘Her writing reminds me of Hannah Kent’s bestselling novel, Burial Rites, which follows the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. Helen’s writing has a similar persuasive and empathetic force, weaving together historical fact with modern concerns about the treatment of women.’ (Helen Marshall, Award winning author)
‘Did all women have something of the witch about them?’
Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane will soon learn that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world.
From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft.
Inspired by true events, Widdershins tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them.