Sally Magnusson

Loch Katrine waterworks, 1856. A Highland wilderness fast becoming an industrial wasteland is no place for a lady.

Inspired by the mysterious death of the real-life seventeenth-century minister Robert Kirke, and set in a pivotal era two centuries later when engineering innovation flourished but women did not, The Ninth Child blends folklore with historical realism in a spell-binding narrative.

Young doctor’s wife Isabel Aird, grieving the loss of her many unborn children, finds unexpected freedoms among hills echoing with gunpowder blasts day and night. With new life quickening within her again, Isabel can only wait/ But a darker presence has also emerged from the gunpowder smoke. And he is waiting too.

Published in 2020, The Ninth Child is Sally Magnusson’s second novel.

‘An engaging mix of folklore and Victorian history’ (Sunday Times)

‘Pacy and accomplished, with a supernatural chill’ (The Herald)

‘An accomplished piece of writing, cementing Magnusson’s place as one of Scotland’s leading writers of historical fiction’ (Scotland on Sunday)

‘Extraordinarily vivid. Few books have this impact on me’ (Michelle Gallen, author of Big Girl Small Town)

‘An absolute triumph. I love the lively intelligent heroine and the brooding sense of menace throughout. (Sarah Haywood , author of The Cactus)

‘Wonderful. One never messes with the faeries’ (Melanie Reid, The Times)

‘A dramatic and magical novel, told with enormous zest and wit’ (Les Wilson, author of The Drowned and the Saved)

‘A very impressive piece of writing, drawing on a strong sense of place and a rich seam of history and folklore for its power’ (Donald Murray, author of As the Women Lay Dreaming)