Fay Sampson

Wise Woman's Telling

Morgan Le Fay 1

Grieving the loss of wife and mother, Aidan and Melangell visit the renowned spiritual retreat center on the British island of Lindisfarne so Aidan can share with bright eight-year-old Melangell one of the places that inspired Jenny to write her books. There they meet up with Jenny’s friend Lucy, a Methodist minister, who is teaching a course on the local Northumbrian saints. Lucy has brought Rachel, a troubled teenager, to the Holy Island in hopes that the remoteness and peace of the location will help her. But when Rachel is found dead on the beach, everyone on the island is under suspicion. As investigators and Rachel’s “friends” come to the island, Aidan and Lucy learn more about Rachel, and Lucy’s past as a policewoman is revealed. And so Aidan is drawn into his second mystery. Masterfully told by award-winning author Fay Sampson, Death on Lindisfarne explores the complicated motivations of fallen people against the backdrop of ancient holiness.

The Aidan Mysteries

Death on Lindisfarne

How did heathen warriors of the one-eyed god Woden become founders of the English Church? Did their inspiration come from Augustine's Roman mission at Canterbury or Aidan's Celtic abbey on Lindisfarne? And how did we come to have Viking archbishops at Canterbury and York? Fay Sampson traces our Anglo-Saxon heritage, from mercenaries serving in the Roman army to the last obstinate English bishop under William the Conqueror. The story takes in the artistic glories of the Lindisfarne Gospels. It finds the hero Christ in a riddling poem carved in runes on a stone cross. It tells of influential abbesses, like Hild of Whitby, and of hermits in demon-haunted fens, like Guthlac of Crowland. These were violent times. While the Anglo-Saxons were conquering their Celtic neighbours, they themselves were invaded by the Vikings. Out of the darkness rose Alfred the Great to protect and inspire. Runes on the Cross does more than tell a stirring story. It unfolds the Anglo-Saxon vision of Christ: the valiant warrior surrounded by faithful companions, the generous lord who commands loyalty beyond family ties, the teacher who cares for each pupil individually, the sacred king crowned in glory.

The Story of Our Anglo-Saxon Heritage

Runes on the Cross

The lives of two top-level scientists involved in nuclear waste disposal and their two teenage children are drastically altered by wide-spread public concern for nuclear safety.

The Watch on Patterick Fell

Alarma En Patterick Fell/the Watch on Patterick Fell

The Wounded Snake

A retired teacher and her friend are caught up in a mystery when they visit Glastonbury, one of Britain’s most fascinating historical sites . . . Hilary is a recently retired teacher, and with time on her hands—and her husband away doing volunteer work in war-torn Gaza—she needs a distraction. So she invites her good friend Veronica, a recent widow, to accompany her on a trip to Glastonbury, to see the ancient sights. The pair is saddened to discover that the sacred Glastonbury Thorn tree has been severely damaged, and they wonder whether other local historic sites are under threat too. But they are unprepared for the shocking discovery Hilary makes at the Chalice Well: an abandoned bag, containing a bomb . . . Who is to blame? A foreign tourist? An eccentric pagan author? Or an angry local who resents that a Christian place has been “overrun” by other beliefs? Hilary and Veronica just want to enjoy their holiday, but they’re about to be pulled into a mystery . . .

The Wounded Thorn

Teilo is a Cumbrian blacksmith, high in the secret Old Religion. When his young king Urien marries an unknown princess from Cornwall, he sees that Morgan is another of his kind. He forms an ambition to link her power to his. But he fatally misunderstands Morgan's desire to hold the balance between male and female, pagan and Christian, death and life. His life is irrevocably shattered by that mistake. Running wild in the forest, he comes upon Merlyn and young Arthur. Yet Morgan's power is summoning him back. Will this put Arthur in danger at the very outset of his career?

Morgan Le Fay 3: Blacksmith's Telling

Suzie Fewings is a keen family history researcher. She's delighted when she discovers an ancestor with the same name as her teenage son. But what she finds out about the seventeenth-century Thomas casts a darker shadow than she expected. When her own Tom's girlfriend is found dead in mysterious circumstances, Suzie finds it hard to suppress her growing fears that Tom has inherited more than a name from his predecessor.--From publisher's description.

In the blood

This simple book offers Bible verses and poems of hope and comfort, and short items of information, support and advice about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Each is accompanied by a suggested prayer. It is divided into three sections. The first group is for the use of those with OCD. The second is for carers. And the final prayers are for the use of family, friends and the wider community. But you can use any of them with, or on behalf of, someone else.

And How to Live Well with It

Prayers for OCD

The young bard Taliesin comes to the court of King Urien and Queen Morgan. His dream is to make an immortal song about the deeds of King Arthur. His fear is that he was born too late. Arthur is ageing. He uncovers the dark secret of the birth of Morgan's foster-son, Modred. He aches for both, as Morgan tries to bring Arthur and Modred together. But treachery has already been done. The song Taliesin sings may be of Arthur's last battle.

Taliesin's Telling

Morgan Le Fay 4

'I am Morgan the Fay. The wicked witch, the embodiment of evil. And yet. I am the queen who takes Arthur in my arms for healing. Some editing of the story will clearly be necessary.' Morgan stands by Dozmary Pool after the Battle of Camlann, pleading with the dying Arthur to trust her. Only she can heal him. Is her price too high? As she retraces the bitterness and misunderstanding between them, she throws new light on the tales which the first four narrators have told. But that's not all. There have been countless other versions of her story, from prehistoric myths to contemporary novels. With scornful irony Morgan show us how their authors have changed her from a wise and healing ruler to a malignant sorceress and derided temptress. Can Arthur see the truth in time?

Herself

Morgan Le Fay 5

Blacksmith's Telling

Morgan Le Fay 3

The teenage Luned left her farm with the dream of becoming a scholar-nun on Tintagel. Her hard-won success is now thrown into danger by the arrival of a bitter nine-year-old. Accused of trying to kill her baby brother Arthur, Morgan is imprisoned on this island nunnery. Luned is appointed her guardian. The Abbess Bryvyth battles for Morgan's soul. But Tintagel is visited secretly by Morgan's nurse Gwennol, a wise woman of the Old Religion. Luned herself is endangered as she is caught up in the struggle between them. She is coming ever more surely under Morgan's power. As she grows towards womanhood, Morgan must decide how to use that power.

Nun's Telling

Morgan Le Fay 2

Princess Bertha of Paris is shocked to learn of her impending marriage to the heathen king of Kent. But their barbaric world is dramatically changed by the coming of Augustine from Rome, on a mission to impress his hero, Pope Gregory the Great. As the new arrivals face hostility and murder, the powerful king sees a way of using Augustine to further his ambition. However, Bertha's eldest son is in league with the banished priests and she knows her husband's vengeance will be terrifying should he find out. In this Anglo-Saxon world on the threshold between pagan beliefs and Christianity, the feisty Bertha and the timorous Augustine form an unlikely alliance.

The Land of Angels

Sarba, a daughter of Lord Cozuman, the High Sorcerer of the Yadu, hates and fears the Xerappan people whose land the Yadu have taken, but after meeting Yaduians who are sympathetic to the Xerappans, she begins to question her allegiances.

The Sorcerer's Daughter

The Naming of Pangur Bán

Shape-shifter

Josh meets a young woman claiming to be on the trail of a giant wild cat. For a joke, he makes a large clay paw print. His parents believe his model is real and soon the whole village is buzzing with stories.

Josh's Panther

The hamlet of Pennant Melangell consists of a church and a few cottages and lies in a mountainous part of North Wales that is so remote that it is, even today, only barely accessible to cars. It is the ancient pilgrimage site for the medieval Saint Melangell and is still visited by those seeking healing. The Davison family has come to Pennant Melangell seeking spiritual refuge as their family faces the reality of Jenny Davison's terminal cancer. Jenny and Aidan have visited before, but this is the first time they have brought their daughter, seven-year-old Melangell, to the place which inspired her name. New since their last visit is a lavish hotel--The House of the Hare--a grand project conceived and financed by local businessman Thaddeus Brown. The Davisons are impressed by the extensive facilities developed with the needs of the sick, weak, and disabled in mind. Jenny is particularly excited by the archery range with modifications that will enable her to shoot arrows even in her extremely weakened state. But instead of a place of healing, this sacred location becomes a place of doom when Thaddeus Brown is found dead, an arrow in his eye. Suspicion falls on those who have used the archery range, including Jenny along with Brown's vulnerable young niece Lorna. As Aidan works to clear his wife's name, young Melangell goes missing. Is the murderer also a kidnapper? Or does The House of the Hare harbor more mysteries? And who might be the next victim? The first of a series of new mysteries featuring Aidan Davison and set in what celebrated fantasy novelist Fay Sampson describes as the "thin" places of the Celtic world.

The Hunted Hare

When Novan and his people are conquered by the Yadu and forced into exile, Novan decides to undertake a dangerous mission which leads him into the heart of the enemy's fortress and a chance to fight for his people's freedom.

Fay Sampson

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