Celia Rees

Ellen's just sixteen, but she's dying-and nobody knows why. So when she's sent to her gran's house she's relieved to find a distraction in the form of her great-grandmother's diaries, written when she was Ellen's age. As Ellen reads, she becomes increasingly embroiled in the fascinating story of her life. Who is the enigmatic and seductive Count her great-grandmother was supposed to marry? And why is it that Ellen and her great-grandmother resemble each other so much that they could be twins? But Ellen's condition is worsening, and it's becoming more and more difficult for her to distinguish her own life from the nightmarish events recorded in the diaries. Is the past destroying her, or do the diaries hold the key to Ellen's survival...?

ISBN: 9781407105260

Finn hates water. She's haunted by terrifying nightmares in which she is running before a huge wave that threatens to engulf her in watery darkness for ever. And the dreams have been worse since she, her mum and her two younger brothers arrived in Cornwall. Then she discovers the strange curse that was laid upon the cottage years ago, and she's sure vengeful Griffiths has something to do with it. She's seen him, endlessly tying and retying a length of rope, creating the knots that - superstition has it - can conjure storms. Finn knows that she's in mortal danger if she can't find a way to break the curse...

When two young women meet under extraordinary circumstances in eighteenth century West Indies they are unified in their desire to escape their oppressive lives. The first is a slave, forced to work in a plantation mansion and subjected to terrible cruelty at the hands of the plantation manager. The second is a spirited and rebellious English girl, sent to the West Indies to marry well and combine the wealth of two respectable families. But Fate ensures that one night the two young women have to save each other and run away to a life no less dangerous but certainly a lot more free. As pirates they roam the seas, fight pitched battles against their foes and become embroiled in many a heart-quickening adventure. Written in brilliant and sparkling first-person narrative, this is a wonderful novel in which Celia Rees has brought the past vividly and intimately to life.

When two young women meet under extraordinary circumstances in eighteenth century West Indies, they are unified in their desire to escape their oppressive lives. The first is a slave, forced to work in a plantation mansion and subjected to terrible cruelty at the hands of the plantation manager. The second is a spirited and rebellious English girl, sent to the West Indies to marry well and combine the wealth of two respectable families. But Fate ensures that one night the two young women have to save each other and run away to a life no less dangerous but certainly a lot more free. As pirates, they roam the seas, fight pitched battles against their foes and become embroiled in many a heart-quickening adventure. Written in brilliant and sparkling first-person narrative, this is a wonderful novel in which Celia Rees has brought the past vividly and intimately to life. COVER PRICE £12.99

ISBN: 9780747559504

As "Witch Child" ends so "Sorceress" begins. Alison Ellman is still searching for information about the wonderful Mary Newbury, she has a diary and some scattered information about other people in Mary's life, but Mary has disappeared into the forests and Alison has no way of following her. But when she meets Agnes Herne, Alison encounters the person who is going to tell her all about Mary's life after she leaves Beulah. Agnes is a descendent of Mary's and has a special skill which allows her to be in touch with Mary in the spirit world. And Mary has a story to tell. This is a story of love and friendship, sadness and loss. A story that takes her across the new world in an epic search for a home. We fell under the spell of Mary in Witch Child and now at last we find out what happened to her after her ill-fated time in Beulah. Just as Mary's story has to be told to Agnes it has to be read by us for it is passionate, compelling and utterly wonderful.

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution and its impact on British politics, this action-driven novel shows once again that Celia Rees is one of our very best writers for teenage readers. Wild and beautiful, spoilt and wilful, Sovay finds that her cosseted life in rural England has not prepared her for life as a highway robber, for defending the honor of her family or for trying to save herself from corruption and evil. As Sovay becomes more and more embroiled in adventures she could scarcely have imagined, a story of dark intrigue, thwarted passions and sinister intentions is revealed to her. Will she be able to survive, and if she does so, at what cost?

A powerful novel of tremendous scope from the best-selling author of Witch Child - a literary thriller with all the mystery Celia's fans love. The whole history of the human race is in Adam and Zillah's hands...

In the summer of 1976, on holiday in South Wales, fifteen-year-old Richard is shocked and fascinated to meet the tenants of the historic Wish House. Jay Dalton is a well-known artist, and his large, bohemian family - casually stripping naked on the beach, smoking dope, ignoring convention - seem astonishingly glamorous. Richard falls under the spell of beautiful, free-spirited Clio, Jay's daughter. She seduces him in a secret forest grotto, where they spend idyllic days playing out her favourite Celtic myths of brave grail knights and powerful enchantresses. But, why does Jay paint so many nudes of Clio? Why is he obsessed with the need to paint Richard? Why does his wife grow poisonous plants in her Witch's Garden? The Daltons' dark secrets draw Richard into a world of disturbing relationships, where he discovers, too late, that his innocent arrival at the Wish House was no accident...

"This is a powerful, absorbing and unusual novel" - "The Bookseller". "The sort of historial novel eleven and twelve year olds will gobble up at a sitting" - Nina Bawden. When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hung for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity and once more she finds herself having to make important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees, that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.