Lamp Black, Wolf Grey
A Novel
-
-
3.9 • 24 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
Artist Laura Matthews finds her new home in the Welsh mountains to be a place so charged with tales and legends that she is able to reach through the gossamer-fine veil that separates her own world from that of myth and fable.
She and her husband Dan have given up their city life and moved to Blaencwm, an ancient longhouse high in the hills. Here she hopes that the wild beauty will inspire her to produce her best art and will give her the baby they have longed for. But this high valley is also home to others, such as Rhys the charismatic loner who pursues Laura with fervor. And Anwen, the wise old woman from the neighboring farm who seems to know so much but talks in riddles. And then there is Merlin.
Lamp Black, Wolf Grey tells both Laura's story and Merlin's. For once he too walked these hills, with his faithful grey wolf at his heel. It was here he fell in love with Megan, nurse-maid to the children of the hated local noble, Lord Geraint. Merlin was young, at the start of his renowned career as a magician, but when he refuses to help Lord Geraint it is Megan who may pay the price.
From New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston, Lamp Black, Wolf Grey is an enchanting tale of love and magic featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, an intriguing historical backdrop, and a relatable heroine that readers are sure to fall in love with.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brackston (The Midnight Witch) shifts across time to tell the stories of two women separated by centuries but linked to the same man. When Londoners Laura and Dan Matthews relocate to a quaint mountain village in Wales, they hope to restore intimacy to their failing marriage. Instead, Laura's attention is drawn to the local legends surrounding onetime resident Merlin and to the man she keeps seeing walking through the woods, for whom she feels an overwhelming connection. Eight hundred years earlier, Megan, nursemaid to the village's malevolent lord, meets Merlin himself in those same woods and the two fall passionately in love. But when the wizard refuses to be complicit in the lord's warmongering plans, he places Megan in mortal danger, and the reverberations of that decision reach through the ages to touch Laura's life. Braxton's characters possess intriguing and ambiguous true natures, and her lush prose imbues the Welsh landscape with an enchantment all its own.
Customer Reviews
Intriguing Book
Lamp Black, Wolf Grey is an interesting book with a very intriguing Welsh setting. There are two storylines, a historical one and a contemporary one. The main character in the contemporary setting, Laura, is likable, yet flawed. I enjoyed things about both storylines, but there were also aspects that I didn't find appealing. I didn't like Laura's relationship with Rhys, but I did like the writing style and the way that Brackston tells a story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.