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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Karen Brooks
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. EXPLANATORY NOTE
  7. PART ONE
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. PART TWO
  37. Twenty-Nine
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. Thirty-Three
  42. Thirty-Four
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. PART THREE
  45. Thirty-Six
  46. Thirty-Seven
  47. Thirty-Eight
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Forty-Eight
  58. Forty-Nine
  59. Fifty
  60. Fifty-One
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. PART FOUR
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Epilogue: Autumn 1706
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. GLOSSARY
  75. LIST OF CHARACTERS
  76. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AUTHOR’S NOTE

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Fishing villages, in general, seem also to have contributed more than their fair share of witches.

— Lizanne Henderson, Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment: Scotland, 1670–1740

This is the part where I get to reveal to you, dear reader, what led to this novel’s creation and how and where history and fiction meet and where they go their separate ways. As it says on the cover of this book, The Darkest Shore is based on a true story. But like many true stories, the truth is not only stranger than fiction, but much crueller as well. When I first read about the Pittenweem witches, I thought I had to tell their tale as it happened. But then, in a stroke of good fortune, I read something the wonderful historical novelist Susanna Kearlsey wrote regarding her book A Desperate Fortune. She noted:

Writers can’t truly change history, but we can decide… where a story should end. Not being fond of the beginning of Mary’s tale [the heroine of A Desperate Fortune], I wrote a different one. A better one.

I not only wrote a new beginning for the Pittenweem witches by introducing the fictional character of Sorcha McIntyre and her family, but also gave many of the real women the role of fishwives and placed them at the heart of the story in every way. I also altered the real ending. In doing that, I gave these women and, indeed, Pittenweem of that era, the conclusion I felt they and it deserved.

But to really honour all the actual people involved in this story, in particular the accused women and Thomas Brown, I feel I have to tell you how their story actually concluded according to documented history.

But before I do that, let me explain how and why I wrote about fishwives.

The idea was first touted by my very good friend Mark Nicholson. When Mark discovered I was travelling to Scotland for the wedding of two beloved friends (as he was as well), he told me about the Herring Lasses who used to roam the coasts of Scotland during the height of the fishing season, sorting, gutting and selling the catch, repairing nets and lines and so much more. As Mark spoke, my skin goosed and my mind was transported. At one point, I could no longer hear what he was saying, I was already lost in a story. When Mark’s great mate (and mine too) Bill Lark also started telling me I had to look into these lasses, I was hooked (forgive the pun). But when Mark whispered, ‘You know some of the fishwives were associated with witchcraft as well?’ that was it.

I began to do some research from Hobart, but in no way was I equipped for what I would discover when I finally reached, not just Scotland, but more specifically, East Neuk and the Fife coast.