A Discovery of Witches

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Headline, 2011 - Fiction - 690 pages
When Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript, it's an intrusion of magic into her life. Though she is a witch of impeccable lineage, the death of her parents while she was a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than witchcraft. Now Diana has exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years. *Now a major Sky original production*THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. A Discovery of Witches is the first in the must-have, must-read ALL SOULS trilogy. It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the stunning first volume of the No.1 internationally bestselling ALL SOULS trilogy. A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...Five reasons to read A Discovery of Witches and the All Souls Trilogy 'Rich, thrilling ... A captivating and romantic ripping yarn' E L James'Intelligent and off-the-wall ... irrestistible to Twilight fans' Sunday Times'I could lose myself in here and never want to come out ... Utterly enchanting on every level' Manda Scott'Exciting amounts of spells, kisses and battles, and is recounted with enchanting, page-turning panache' Marie Claire'A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire ... an assured saga that blends romance with fantasy' Daily Mail.

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About the author (2011)

Deborah Harkness was born in 1965. She received a B. A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1986, a M. A. from Northwestern University in 1990, and a Ph. D. from the University of California at Davis in 1994. She is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. Harkness is a well-regarded historian of science and medicine, specializing in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Her first novel, A Discovery of Witches, was published in 2011. She is the author of the All Souls Trilogy. In 2006, she began a wine blog entitled, Good Wine Under $20. It provides an online record of her search for the best, most affordable wines. She made The New York Times Bestseller List with The Book of Life and Shadow of Night.

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