When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.

'I've saved the best for last. The prolific, erudite and consistently brilliant Celia Rees is justly renowned for her dizzyingly inventive plots, redolent of everyone from Angela Carter to Shakespeare. Sovay and Witch Child are two of her best-known books in the younger market, but she has written countless more, all equally breathtaking' Guardian 'This is a powerful, absorbing and unusual novel' The Bookseller 'The sort of historial novel eleven and twelve year olds will gobble up at a sitting' Nina Bawden 'A gripping, thrilling novel that transports you to a time of paranoia and witch hunts. Witch Child and the sequel Sorceress are historical fiction at its very best' Waterstone's Guide to Kid's Books

Celia Rees is one of Britain's foremost writers for teenagers and her titles for Bloomsbury have enjoyed huge success. Witch Child has been adopted by educational boards up and down the country and is required reading in secondary schools in the UK, with life sales of over 180,000, and has been translated into 25 languages. Celia has a degree in history, a strong interest in which is evident in her brilliantly researched books. Sorceress, Pirates! and Sovay have all met similar critical acclaim and are loved fro their strong characters and skillfully plotted adventures. Celia Rees lives in Leamington Spa, with her husband.