The Book of Shadows

Alone among the young girls taught by nuns at a convent school in nineteenth-century France, orphaned Herculine has neither wealth nor social connections. When she's accused of being a witch, the shy student is locked up with no hope of escape ... until her rescue by a real witch, the beautiful, mysterious Sebastiana. Swept away to the witch's manor, Herculine will enter a fantastic, erotic world to discover her true nature -- and her destiny -- in this breathtaking, darkly sensual first novel.

Anne Rice

“It’s marvelous to have one so eloquent exploring and transcending the gothic genre.”

Caleb Carr

“A novelist of immense talent and promise, and a story that seeps into the mind like a potion.”

Diana Gabaldon

“Expertly researched, lavishly detailed and lushly written...an atmosphere so vivid you can smell it, and remarkably striking characters.”

Publishers Weekly

“Distinguishes Reese as a star pupil in the Anne Rice school of dark sensuality.”

Kelley Armstrong, author of Bitten

“A spellbinding tale with a truly enchanting heroine.”

Orlando Sentinel

“Meticulously crafted and thoroughly enchanting. . . .A work of imaginative wizardry.”

Booklist

“Dark, mysterious, sumptuous, lusty, and other worldly...rich in style and allusion, both literary and historical.”

Tampa Tribune

“Darkly erotic...lavishly told...Prepare to put your life on hold for 468 pages and immerse yourself.”

New Orleans Times-Picayune

“[A] very enjoyable debut...lush prose...sensual description, vivid sex scenes.”

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger

“A sweeping narrative of period and peril [that] transports the reader into an undiscovered realm of erotica...”

Washington Post Book World

“Vivid characters...painstaking research...delectable.”

From the Back Cover

Alone among the young girls taught by nuns at a convent school in nineteenth-century France, orphaned Herculine has neither wealth nor social connections. When she's accused of being a witch, the shy student is locked up with no hope of escape ... until her rescue by a real witch, the beautiful, mysterious Sebastiana. Swept away to the witch's manor, Herculine will enter a fantastic, erotic world to discover her true nature -- and her destiny -- in this breathtaking, darkly sensual first novel.

About the Author

James Reese is the author of The Witchery, The Book of Spirits, and The Book of Shadows. He lives in South Florida and Paris, France.

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