The Book of Shadows: A Novel

By James Reese

Book Overview

An extraordinary new literary voice makes a stunning debut in a darkly sensual, powerfully told tale of strange destiny and miraculous reawakening.

Herculine is only six-years-old when she watches her mother die horribly and inexplicably. A child alone in the nineteenth-century French countryside, she makes her way to the secluded convent, where she is taken in as a foundling orphan and raised by nuns who teach the children of the privileged to fear a wrathful God. But shy, unworldly Herculine is not like the others in this cold, forebidding place. And when she is led down a dark path by a rebellious fellow student, she soon finds herself convicted of crimesunimaginable.

But death at the hands of the ignorant and falsely pious is not to be Herculine's lot. Held captive in the convent library, she is visited by four unexpected saviors with timeless needs of their own: the incubus priest Father Louis; the tragic, damned beauty Madeleine; the demonic Asmodei; and Sebastiana d'Azur, a witch. By dawn, Herculine is free yet forever changed as she follows her liberators into a world of sensuous pleasures and great mysteries both wondrous and strange.

Secreted away in Sebastiana's once-grand manor high above the Breton sands, Herculine sets out to find out why she has been "chosen" and for what purpose. Her quest--ripe with erotic discovery, dark magic, heresy, and blood--propels her headlong through the perils of the age, across borders between the living and the dead, and back through a time when hysteria and madness reigned, when noble heads were impaled and paraded through the streets of Paris. For only when her mysterious mission is completed--and the terrible otherworldly roots of a gruesome Revolution are finally revealed--can she understand who and what she truly is. Until then, she must simply trust ... and learn.

A work of stunning originality, gorgeous terror, and lush, disturbing beauty, James Reese's The Book of Shadows is a miraculous achievement -- a richly atmospheric, superbly rendered novel that brings to life epochs as colorful as they are chaotic. Rich with unforgettable characters and startling events, it is a masterwork of the imagination that will stand with the novels of A. S. Byatt and Anne Rice, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and other classic literature of shadowy sensuality.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0066210151
• ISBN13: 9780066210155
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Length: 468 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.4" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Great book, 3 seperate stories

After reading the other reviews, I felt compelled to write this review. This is one of my favorite books. The people who are "searching for a storyline" don't seem to get the book. There are basically 3 seperate stories within, each unique and enjoyable.

A wonderfully written, historical gothic fiction novel

Most books on Witchcraft today (be they fiction or non) tend to stick to either the actual Wiccan/Pagan religions, or rely on the most characteristic 'Hollywood Witch'- the beautiful woman with a broomstick who flies, is instantly powerful, etc. This book surprised me in many ways- most of all the main character's...interesting state. That and the authors' identification of a 'true Witch' by a certain mark in the eyes. This book is written with a very historical idea of Witches in mind- the wild sex of a Sabbat (which Reese terms an esbat, but I'm not complaining, fiction has a certain amount of allowance for poetic changes), the accompaniment of an incubus and succubus, the shape changing familiar, and most of all, the superstitions and spells/charms that were passed between the sisters were all of historical note. =) Take this from a modern day, real Witch- this is an excellent fictional read, and may educate you into France's, and some of Witchcraft's more bloody side of history. My hat's off to James Reese. I want a sequel, now, please....

Pleasantly surprise by how good it was.

I bought this book for my wife thinking that this book was about the TV show Charmed because she is a closet fan, but I found out at the last minute that it was not at all conected to the show. So out of gratitude for me, my wife read it, and enjoyed it tremulously. She then wanted me to read the book as well. So I finally got around to it, and I was pleasantly surprise by how good it was. James Reese creates a daring fantasy on the same leave as Anne Rice does for her Vampire tales that is daunting, erotic, and horrifying all at once, and the book takes you though a passage of self discovery and rebellion all while you are turn the page in record speed. This is the first novel I have read by James Reese, and for certain, it will not be the last.I hope he writes a sequel.

Rich, rewarding, I've read it twice--so far

When I read, I do so for the oppportunity to "get away", to go someplace in my imagination that -- but for the book I am reading--would be inaccessible to me. That was The Book of Shadows -- I relished the utter richness of the language that James Reese has such facility with and vividly visualized the imagery that he creates. The story is evocative, disturbing, and challenging. The Book of Shadows is a novel well-worth reading, by a young novelist at the beginning of what promises to be a promising career.

Wonderful Read - More, Please!

I love this novel and Mr. Reese's writing style. The vocabulary and imagery here was exquisite. Everything is not laid out for you nor always explained, which I find refreshing. At times, I felt like I was reading a travelogue of France, and since I've always wanted to go, that was great. More from Reese, please!