First published 2025
Anne Bolton faces accusations of witchcraft in her village. As a healer, she knows the danger these charges bring. She strikes a bargain with a dark entity, trading for protection against her persecutors. The fire she calls forth will burn across generations. Centuries later, Mary Shephard lives as the ideal wife in a restrictive community. When she meets Sharon, everything changes. Their forbidden relationship threatens to destroy both women and expose secrets their world cannot accept. In another era, Camilla Burson rebels against her preacher father's rigid expectations. As his congregation descends into chaos, she searches for answers in ancient powers her family tried to bury. The curse Anne unleashed continues to shape the lives of women who dare to claim their own strength. Three women separated by time discover they share more than defiance. A legacy of fury and love connects them across the centuries, demanding a price that each must choose to pay.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, horror, adult-fiction, dark-fantasy, lesbian-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, haunting, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: curse-legacy, forbidden-romance, found-family, multi-timeline-narrative
Setting: village
Period: centuries-spanning, colonial-era, 20th-century, 21st-century
326 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: abuse, death, homophobia