📖 Blog Tour ~ Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Life of Plants by Fez Inkwright

 

📖 Delighted to host a stop on this blog tour today 📖 

Liminal 11
11 February 2021

My thanks to the author, publisher and Random Things Tours for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Poisonings are among the most memorable deaths in history, from the Roman Empire to the Medieval era and beyond. Concealed and deliberate, it’s a crime that must be planned in advance. And yet there is a fine line between healing and poisoning – Paracelsus argued that only the dosage matters! In Botanical Curses and Poisons, illustrator, author, and folklorist Fez Inkwright returns to archives to uncover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and untold stories behind deadly plants, witching herbs and fungi. Filled with beautiful illustrations, this treasury of folklore is packed with insight, lore, and the revealed mysteries of everyday flora!

📖 My thoughts..

First off I have to start by saying that this book about botanical curses and poisons is really quite stunning. It has a tactile cover which makes you want to stroke it before you open to reveal end papers which are filled with dramatic images of skulls, bones, berries and pretty cup shaped flowers, all of which I am sure have deadly portents.

The book is beautifully illustrated by simple mono line drawings which stir the imagination and which give, along with the text, a comprehensive guide to the A-Z of Plants which could potentially do great harm. There is a disclaimer at the start of the book to not try any of these as the book is for information and entertainment only and not a medicinal guide to try plant based medicine at home.

Botanical Curses and Poisons is a book to savour and even dipping into and out of it at whim reveals something quite special which the author describes in a such a magical way that even the most deadly of poisons seems strangely beautiful. It's filled with the awesome charisma which drew our ancestors to search the undergrowth for both cures and poisons and the book reminds us that good and harm often walk side by side. The author demonstrates that not all poisons are deadly, we only have to look at the dramatic use of Foxglove: Digitalis purpurea  which contains the poison digitoxin which slows the heart. We still use Digitalis in certain heart conditions today, in fact it was one of the first drugs I had to learn the use of in my student nurse days.

The book is a fascinating cornucopia, filled with a wealth of knowledge both botanical and historical so that reading it becomes more of a journey through the history of both herblore and folklore. Alongside the intricate descriptions of plants and their uses, I have loved reading the references to poets and writers which help to bring the book alive in such a glorious way.

When we are not in lockdown I enjoy walking in woodland and countryside and have a healthy respect for plants and their uses having grown up in a family who made potent brews from nettles, rhubarb and elderberries, and who always had comfrey leaves steeping in a stone pot by the door to use as a compress over bumps and bruises, although here in the North West comfrey was more commonly called the more archaic nip or knit bone. 

Botanical Curses and Poisons:The Shadow Life of Plants has been a fascinating book to read. I've enjoyed the wealth and knowledge which the author has included and which gives the impression that producing this has been a real labour of love for her. It has certainly paid off in a book which will sit proudly on my bookshelf and act as an aide memoir should I ever need a curse, or a poison, or simply a lovely, informative read about the shadow lives of those plants I have seen and never knew what power they have, in the right hands, to do both harm...and good 💮

Folk Magic and Healing

An Unusual History of Everyday Plants

Liminal 11
2019

My thanks to the author, publisher and Random Things Tours for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Throughout history, plants have played a key and vital role to our existence. Many of the old wives’ tales about plants were created to spread knowledge of their medicinal and nutritional properties, and many have become entwined with stories of local spirits, deities, and more ancient legends. Folk Magic and Healing is, ultimately, a collection of many of these beliefs, aiming to inspire a greater appreciation of our wild plants and countrysides. This stunningly illustrated treasury of the folklore of flora is packed with insight, lore and the revealed mysteries of everyday plants – perfect for gardeners, writers, folklorists, witches and general knowledge buffs alike!

📖 My Thoughts..

Folk Magic and Healing; An Unusual History of Everyday Plants is an altogether lighter book than its opposite, Botanical Curses, and yet is no less powerful for containing stories of magic and healing. With its lighter cover of pretty flowers and busy birds and bees the impression is one of mystical protection rather than deadly harm.

The book contains a wealth of knowledge about the simple plants we see both in our gardens or in the fields and hedgerows of our countryside, many of them steeped in history and with uses long forgotten. The stunning black and white drawings are beautifully placed within the text and the author's sumptuous description of the plants and their uses bring the whole thing to life in such a special way.

I've enjoyed reading the A-Z of plants not only to discover and learn about the flora we take for granted but also to  discover the history of herblore and to find out more about the history of plants and their uses. In between the history of plants the author cleverly intersperses tasters of lovely verse, there's even a verse from one of my favourite poems, The Choice by Katherine Tynan and runs these snippets alongside historical references. I was particularly charmed by the inclusion of a version of the Ogham Calender and its Druidic focus on the spiritual association of tree worship.

Folk Magic and Healing; An Unusual History of Everyday Plants is a fascinating book to read by an author who clearly loves botany and folklore and who brings the whole thing alive so that everyone can enjoy the beauty of nature in all its glory.

About the Author

Fez Inkwright is an illustrator, author and folklorist. Her greatest passions are botany, nature, primitive religions, and folklore, which flavour most of her work. For the past eight years she has produced work for children’s books, hand-drawn maps and tattoo design and now spends her time indulging in conservation work and writing. She lives in Bristol with two cats and several hundred bees.

Twitter @Rosdottir

@Liminal_11

@RandomTTours

Blog Tour ~ Foxfire, Wolfskin and other stories of Shapeshifting women by Sharon Blackie

Delighted to be taking part in this Blog Tour

September Publishing
2 October 2019

My thanks to the publishers, Ruth Killick Publicity and Random Things Tours for my copy of this book
and the invitation to be part of his blog tour

Charged with drama and beauty, this memorable collection by a master storyteller weaves a magical world of possibility and power from female myths of physical renewal, creation and change. It is an extraordinary immersion into the bodies and voices, mindscapes and landscapes, of the shape-shifting women of our native folklore. We meet the Water Horse of the Isle of Lewis, the huldra, the Scandinavian supernatural forest-dweller, and Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore (but will she help you or kill you?) Here too is the Snow Queen; the wild bird-woman of the Sliabh Mis Mountains; Blodeuedd, the Welsh ‘flower-faced’ woman.

Illustrations by Helen Nicholson

Drawing on myth and fairy tales found across Europe – from Croatia to Sweden, Ireland to Russia – Sharon Blackie brings to life women’s remarkable ability to transform themselves in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. These stories are about coming to terms with our animal natures, exploring the ways in which we might renegotiate our fractured relationship with the natural world, and uncovering the wildness – and wilderness – within.

What did I think about it..

There’s something quite special about the myths and legends which give a country its identity. Stories which reach through the mists of time, soaking into our subconscious, so that whilst we don’t always know where they originated, we remain emotionally connected to the haunting quality of their particular brand of magic.

In this extraordinary collection we allow our imagination full reign in stories which set fire the soul, which are in turn both mournful and uplifting, hauntingly beautiful and inherently dangerous. Beautifully written and highly original in their delivery, the author’s natural story-telling ability shines through with every well written word, capturing the very essence of our long forgotten myths and folklore.

Every reimagined story has its own unique strength and yet there is something distinctly fascinating to be found in all of them. The thirteen stories vary in length, some are quite short, just a couple of pages, whilst others are a little longer, however, collectively, they form a wonderfully diverse mixture which are supported by stunning black and white illustrations. I have several favourites amongst the thirteen and in particular I would like to mention Wolfskin, Foxfire and Snow Queen as being stand out stories for me. At the back of the book is a fascinating notes section where the author explains the origins, placing the stories in their historical and geographical context.

This is a really special collection of haunting stories which I’m sure will appeal to anyone who has an interest in the old tales of myth and folklore.

About the Author

Dr Sharon Blackie is a writer, mythologist and psychologist, and an internationally recognised teacher of the mythic imagination. Her bestselling book, If Women Rose Rooted, won a 2016 Nautilus award, and laid out a haunting heroine’s journey for every woman who finds power, inspiration and solace in the natural world. She has an international following through her online communities, and the courses and workshops she offers through ‘The Hedge School’. Her first novel, The Long Delirious Blue, was described by the Independent on Sunday as ‘hugely potent’. She lives in Connemara, Ireland. 

Twitter  #FoxfireWolfskin

@septemberbooks

@RKbookpublicist

#RandomThingsTours

Blog Tour ~ Help the Witch by Tom Cox

🐱 Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be hosting today's stop on the Help the Witch Blog Tour 🐱

A collection of folk ghost stories from the Sunday Times bestselling author Tom Cox

Unbound
18 October 2018

My thanks to the publishers and Random Things Tours for my copy of the book and the invitation to be part of this tour

What's it all about...

Inspired by our native landscapes, saturated by the shadows beneath trees and behind doors, listening to the run of water and half-heard voices, Tom Cox’s first collection of short stories is a series of evocative and unsettling trips into worlds previously visited by the likes of M. R. James and E. F. Benson. 

Railway tunnels, the lanes and hills of the Peak District, family homes, old stones, shreds fluttering on barbed wire, night drawing in, something that might be an animal shifting on the other side of a hedge: Tom has drawn on his life-long love of weird fiction, folklore and nature’s unregarded corners to write a collection of stories that will delight fans old and new, and leave them very uneasy about turning the reading lamp off.

My thoughts about it...

The ten short stories which make up this imaginative collection of short stories are a mixture of strange little tales which are perfect reading for this autumnal season. Some, like the opener, Help the Witch, make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, whilst others, like Listings, are so quirky that you can't help but be intrigued by the message they convey. All are written with a keen eye for the unusual and more than once I was reminded of those ghost tales of a distant past when the cunning folk would gather around a shadowy fire on a cold winter evening and tell dark tales of countryside and hearthside.

Help the Witch is one of those short story collections which made reading them such a joy. A different hidden gem every 30 or so pages which are all so different that it's really difficult to explain their effect, except to say that collectively they're deliciously quirky, some are a little bit scary and others are so genuinely astute that even the most mundane of observations are suddenly changed into something quite special.

There is no doubt that the author has a keen eye for observation and a real skill with words. Help the Witch, from its glorious cover, to its enigmatic concluding story kept me entertained from start to finish.

About the Author

Tom Cox and Bear

Tom Cox has 70k followers on Twitter and 25k on Instagram. He is also the man behind the enormously popular Why My Cat is Sad account, which has 300k followers.  He is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Good, The Bad and The Furry. Help the Witch was Unbound fastest-funding fiction title, reaching its target in little over a day.

Website

Facebook

Twitter @cox_tom #HelpTheWitch

@unbounders

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Review ~ The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

Tinder Press

26th July 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

What's it all about..

Audrey Hart is on Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the people around her. The crofters, facing dire poverty after the clearances, are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories. But then the body of a young girl is washed up on the beach, and the crofters reveal it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They are sure the girls are the victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds.

My thoughts about it..

The folklore of our British Isles is in the fabric of our bones and in the call of the wind. And clustered around our firesides we hear, in the crackle of the wood, the whisper of the old folk and of the customs and traditions which shape our past, and which, if not for the teller of tales would have been lost a long time ago.

Audrey Hart takes up employment on the Isle of Skye, with Miss Buchanan, an enigmatic woman who is collecting the ancient folklore before the island stories are forgotten and in her search for the old tales, Audrey discovers that the islanders, whilst bound by their own sense of superstition, also hide dark secrets.

Imaginatively written, and so beautifully descriptive of nineteenth century life on the island, that the shrieking of the birds, and the drift of the copper brown dulse that litters the shoreline, comes gloriously to life. There's also a deliciously, creeping menace to the story which really draws you into this rather dark and dour place, and there is also a very strong impression that times are changing for these remote islanders. Over the 18th and 19th centuries the Scottish clearances decimated isolated communities, making the islanders who have remained on Skye, cautious and distrustful of strangers and averse to giving up their secrets easily.

The Story Keeper is a real tribute to the power of storytelling. It’s a generous nod towards the old keepers of our tales and customs who have for generations passed on cautionary tales of little men who wait in the woods and of fairies and spirits who seek retribution for our misdeeds.

Hauntingly beautiful from start to finish, The Story Keeper stays with you long after the last page of this story is turned and the book, with its beautiful cover, is gently placed down.

About the Author

Credit: Lou Abercrombie

Anna Mazzola's first novel, THE UNSEEING, was published to critical acclaim in 2016. She is a criminal justice solicitor and lives in London with her husband and two children.

Website

Twitter @Anna_Mazz #TheStoryKeeper

@TinderPress

Review ~ Sandlands by Rosy Thornton

Sandstone Press
July 2016

A bit of blurb..

This beautifully written short story collection is inspired by coastal England, by the landscape and its flora and fauna, as well as by its folklore and historical and cultural heritage. Several of the stories focus on a bird, animal, wildflower, or insect characteristic of the locality, from barn owl to butterfly. The book might be described as a collection of ghost stories; in fact, while one or two stories involve a more or less supernatural element, each of them deals in various ways with the tug of the past upon the present, and explores how past and present can intersect in unexpected ways.

My thoughts about the stories..

You know that feeling when you reach out and open a storybook, that indefinable something which tells you that this is going to be something special, well, that happened when I opened Sandlands. I think partly, it was due to the glory of its cover as I can never resist an owl, but mainly it was down to the content, which drew me in from the beginning.

When it comes to short story reading, I am a bit of a butterfly; I flit and fly from story to story, never in sequential order, choosing stories at random simply because I like the sound of the title. So true to form, I was first drawn, in this collection, to the short story, The Watcher of Souls, as it spoke to me of the heart shaped faces of barn owls, a bird forever shrouded in mystery and all too often the harbinger of doom. I wasn't disappointed, far from it,  in fact, I was enthralled by a story that had me on the edge of my seat. Neither was I disappointed with my next choice which was The Witch Bottle, a dark little tale about the power of witchcraft and the threat of superstition.  I was so engrossed in The Witch Bottle that, by the end, I really wanted to go back in time to the Suffolk of 1656 to meet with Daniell Parmenter.

There’s a lovely lyrical quality to each of the stories and the author captures time and place so beautifully that it really is difficult to single out one story above another as each are perfectly complete. And yet, what's so wonderful about Sandlands is that even though each tale is beautifully complete within itself, such is the power of storytelling, that any single one of them, and there are 16 in total, could easily become a gloriously, descriptive novel.

Sandlands is, in that age old tradition of storytelling, a tantalising glimpse of times past which irrevocably connect with the future. It is a collection of short stories which could be woven into the fabric of our being, stories which deserve to settle like the folktales and legends of old, and which I am sure, will delight and enthral readers.

 "You dig up secrets and they cannot be put back "

Best Read with.. A glass of strong Suffolk ale and freshly caught Dabs, charred over a driftwood fire..

About the Author..

Rosy Thornton is a Fellow and Tutor of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge, with specialisms in housing law, charitable trusts and feminist legal studies. She has published five novels, including Ninepins (Sandstone Press, 2012) and this is her first short story collection. She divides her time between Cambridge and the Suffolk sandlings.

Discover more about Rosy on her website click here
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Amazon UK

My thanks to Rosy for sharing this delightful collection of stories with me.