Hex — Jenni Fagan

<p><strong>A powerfully poignant tale of one of the most turbulent moments in Scotland's history: the North Berwick Witch Trials.</strong></p> <p><strong>IT'S THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591.</strong></p> <p>On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh's High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor â€" Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still persecuted for who they are and what they believe.</p> <p>As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession and trial, while Iris offers support, solace â€" and the tantalising prospect of escape.</p> <p><em>Hex</em> is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.</p> <p><strong>'This series has already produced two works of note and distinction. It raises the question â€" if a country cannot re-tell its history, will it be stuck forever in aspic and condemned to be nothing more than a shortbread tin illustration? <em>Hex</em> and <em>Rizzio</em> are showing the way towards a reckoning, and about time too' â€" Stuart Kelly, <em>Scotland on Sunday</em></strong></p>