The Daylight Gate

In 1612, Lancashire is a dangerous place for anyone suspected of witchcraft or of Catholic loyalties. Since the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Catholic conspirators have scattered to wild country far from London's courts, and Pendle Hill has become one of their refuges.

On Good Friday, thirteen people gather in the woods of Pendle Hill, among baptismal pools and low, thick fog. The local magistrate breaks up the meeting. Two members of their coven are already in prison awaiting trial for witchcraft.

The rest are saved by the word of Alice Nutter, a wealthy and respected woman with a place in Lancashire society. Her money shields her, and she is shrouded in mystery and keeps an unnaturally youthful beauty. Rumour also links her to a dark, intense love affair with the matriarch of the Demdike clan, a family with a bad name.

As the accused withdraw into darkness, Alice stands alone as a conjurer who crosses between realms. Her powers may destroy her or free her. The novel is a dark historical tale in which politics and religion are bound together, and sex and moral compromise drive its power struggles.