Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages
Pendle Fire
What you need to know before your trail
Two fourteen-year-old girls are found wandering Aitken Wood on the slopes of Pendle Hill, claiming to have been raped by a gang of men. With no female social workers available, Johnny is assigned to their case. But what, at first, looks like yet another incident of child exploitation takes a sinister turn when the girls start speaking of a forthcoming apocalypse.
When Johnny interviews one of the girls, Jenna Dunham, her story starts to unravel. His investigation draws him into a tight-knit village community in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages.
One name recurs, The Hobbledy Man. Is he responsible for the outbreaks of violence sweeping across the country?
Travel Guide
Pendle
The story of the Pendle Witches is well known but this supernatural and dark historical story is the background for a much darker story of abuse and sex trafficking.
The areas of the Black Waters Resevoirs and Aitken Woods are real as is the nearby village of Barrowford. In reality, these are lovely places to visit and at the heart of rural England. You won’t recognise them from this book given the fact that the Woods are where some girls are found, distraught and distressed. However, Pendle Hill casts a huge, dark and disturbing shadow over everything in its path. The witchery links are not strong however but provide a dark and mysterious background to the serious crimes and themes in the book.
In the real world, Pendle is the gateway to Lancashire and there is a lot to see and do in the area, witchery finds or not.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Pendle Fire
Destination : Pendle Hill, Lancashire Author/Guide: Paul Southern Departure Time: 2000s
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