Hello everyone,
It is time to showcase another of Victoria Williamson’s books as I take my turn on this blog tour for her Gothic novella Red Runs The Witch’s Thread.
If you love atmospheric historical fiction with an unreliable narrator, then this is definitely something you might want to consider picking up! In addition, it is not even 150 pages long, so if you have the time you can read it in just a matter of hours.
Thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and everyone else who made the tour possible, along with Noly for her resplendent tour banner. I would also like to thank the publisher for my free copy, which came in a lovely pack with an assortment of gifts which included a feathered quill and a culinary recipe.
I read the book recently and it is pure vibes. It is dark with a hint of horror and the paranormal, with some clever misdirection. With two timelines, Victoria uses repetition and an intriguing choice of words to maximise the tension and create some powerful imagery. Some sections almost demand to be read aloud. Also, it is inspired by a true story that involves witchcraft – another thing that drew me towards it.
Pages: 147
Published: 11th April 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction/Horror
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.
As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?
Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
Stephen Reads Books 