Hilda Lewis – författare

PENGUIN HORROR: A celebration of the very best literary horror, a series of terrifying novels and tales that for generations have thrilled, captivated and kept readers wide awake at night.Joan Flower is long dead when she first appears to Samuel Fleming, a priest plagued by doubts about her and her daughters’ execution for witchcraft. Did he do all he could to rescue them from damnation? From beyond the grave, Joan reveals to him the spine-chilling tale of her seduction by Satan, her temptation of her own daughters to the Devil’s coven, her murderous sacrifices, and her final rejection by both Heaven and Hell – yet Samuel still strives for a way to redeem her sins. Over their terrifying conversations, Samuel learns the way of the witches’ sabbath and comes to the dark realisation that Joan’s soul may not be the only one in need of saving. . . Based on real seventeenth-century witch trials in Lincolnshire, The Witch and the Priest is a masterpiece of historical atmosphere and psychological horror.‘Strange terror fills this tale of seventeenth-century witchcraft … horrific and written with much skill.’ - Daily Telegraph

Tells the story of Catherine of Braganza, Charles II's Portuguese Queen set against the background of injustice and tragedy. Politics, sex, lies, religion and misunderstanding meant that their marriage was never going to be what she hoped. A wonderful story making you feel for Catherine, but understand Charles. A really good read if you're into Restoration history, and even if you're not.

Matilda of Flanders, queen to William the Conqueror was beautiful, exquisitely small, clever, with a perfect courtesy trained in the rigid school of medieval manners. But within lay a root of darkness - inheritance, perhaps, of Viking ancestors. Twice, at least, in her lifetime the Viking streak broke through, in vengeance on a faithless lover, in fury wreaked on a rival of the marriage bed. The marriage, though fruitful of so many children, was on her side no match of love. But a passionate loyalty to her husband, an equally passionate ambition, together with her own sense of justice, gave her the will and the skill to dissemble her feelings and to make her the praise of Christendom. No Queen ever wielded so much power as she in the long years she ruled Normandy; before her no woman in England was ever crowned or was known as Queen.

Isabella of France was proud to be wed to the handsome Edward II of England, but her joy soon turned to rancour, for Piers Gaveston, an egotistical and mercenary courtier, usurped her husband's bed. No woman could compete with her beauty, but another man? What could she do at the age of fourteen? Wait, only wait. And so she waited, nursing her anger, rejection, and disgust. She grew in beauty and wiles; the king, in weakness, as other men, worse men, took Gaveston's place. Weary of waiting, Isabella turned to Mortimer of Wigmore. In his bed, she found comfort and love and cared little that people called her a harlot. But even the presence of Mortimer could not quench her thirst for vengeance, once she had tasted blood. Like an unleashed fury, she pursued the king's paramours. She would tear England in half to quench her rage; if she failed, her son would avenge her honour. The contest that ensued decided the fate of England. In this historically accurate and thrilling story of power and passion, Hilda Lewis has created an unforgettable account of how the fate of nations has often been forged in royal bedrooms.