Cailleach

by Louise Maskill

Where the Cailleach bestows her gift, there is always a debt to be paid.When the enigmatic and magical Cailleach arrives in Aillean’s village in the last days of winter, the women gather to display their season’s needlework. They all want the old woman to choose their piece of patchwork, winding it onto her ancient quilting frame so that she can work her magic into its stitches.All except Aillean. She knows her effort is clumsy, with uneven stitches and wonky seams, and she is ashamed even to show it alongside all the others.But the Cailleach chooses for her own reasons, and there is always a price.Cailleach is a short novel steeped in magic, the story of a girl who finds herself the reluctant recipient of a gift from a mysterious and powerful old woman. With themes of family, growing up, birthrights, and a strong sense of heritage and place, this will be the first in a series of stories set in the same fantasy world.

126 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2024

About the author

Louise Maskill lives and works in Derbyshire, UK, surrounded by books, cats and apple trees. She is, among other things, a writer, a reader, an editor, a runner, an historian, a psychologist, a musician, a stitcher and a knitter.

She self-publishes fiction under her own imprint, Hagthorn Press - the latest is her new fantasy novel Cailleach, along with a growing collection of short stories.

She edits other people’s words for a (partial) living, and has written or contributed to fifteen short non-fiction books on local dialect, history and walking for Bradwell Books and Curlew Press.