The Witch & Her Soul: A Novel

Jane Southworth. Bastard daughter of Sir Richard Shireburn, great knight of the realm. Outspoken wife of nobleman John Southworth of Samlesbury Hall. Friend of Alice Nutter, farmer, humanitarian and alleged witch of Pendle. At her dying husband’s bedside, Jane’s extraordinary diary is born. Confessional, raw, evocative, her soul-deep writings reveal her world, her forbidden beliefs and desires. Around her, in a time of treachery, suspicion and vicious persecution, begins the frenzied pursuit of innocents accused of witchcraft, culminating in a terrible trial that is to pull Jane right into its heart.

REVIEWS

"What a wonderful novel by a debut author! One of the best novels I have read this year!"
Historical Novels Review

"The Witch and Her Soul, a stunning debut novel from a writer on the threshold of her 80th birthday, is a fascinating and utterly compelling fictionalised but fact-based account of the ‘witch hunt’ that gripped the county in the summer of 1612... Middleton’s writing is elegant and richly descriptive, enabling the past to spring to life with startling authenticity and compelling drama."
Lancashire Evening Post