Author: Fagan, Jenni Fiction & related itemsPublished on 6 October 2022 by Birlinn General (Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited) in the United Kingdom as part of the Darkland Tales series.Paperback | 112 pages129 x 195 x 15 | 114g A powerfully poignant tale of one of the most turbulent moments in Scotlands history: the North Berwick Witch Trials.ITS THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591.On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburghs High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor - Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still persecuted for who they are and what they believe.As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession and trial, while Iris offers support, solace - and the tantalising prospect of escape.Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a kings violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.This series has already produced two works of note and distinction. It raises the question - if a country cannot re-tell its history, will it be stuck forever in aspic and condemned to be nothing more than a shortbread tin illustration? Hex and Rizzio are showing the way towards a reckoning, and about time too - Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday
