A haunting love story of two ill-starred lovers, set against the backdrop of the religious upheaval of Henry VIII’s time. Hazel, a peasant girl marked by the witches’ brand and a dangerous beauty, loves Black John, an outlaw and aristocrat, whom she rescues from the gallows. Together they struggle to survive a world in which brutal death awaits at every corner, and stumble along a fateful collision course towards a harrowing climax.  Rhona Martin’s remarkable first novel won the Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize  in 1977.
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“Extremely accomplished by any standard, but astonishing as a debut. . . Extraordinarily gripping.”
Philippa Toomey —The Times
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“Extraordinarily good… so well written and paced that it continually grips one’s most ardent attention.”
Hampstead & Highgate Express
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The violent reign of Henry VIII . . . the dissolution of the monasteries, the sinister threat of the witch hunters, and a time of fear and danger for his people.
 ‘’A Chilling blend…the story line is good…a nice ear for dialogue’’
Daily Telegraph