Superstition Corner

by Sheila Kaye-Smith

In the England of 1588, the Armada had fanned the flames of ant-Catholic feeling. The drive to wipe out the Church was intensified, and Catholics in growing numbers were renouncing their Faith. Everyone at the Alard estate had conformed to the new religion except Kate, who, because of her tomboy ways, was still unmarried at twenty-eight, whom handsome Kit had spurned to pursue--her mother! Yet, in the face of growing pressures at home, Kate still clung to the old Faith. But she had not heard Mass for a year. A priest must come soon!

Then old Tom Harman, who had conformed and joined the national church, told Kate he wanted to receive the Sacraments and Mass once more before he died. Kate, elated, went to the Tuktones, last Catholic family in the area, to ask if Tom could come next time they had Mass. Everyone welcomed the idea--except Mistress Tuktone. "It will hang us all," she warned. "He might be a spy. It will hang us all."

But the others overruled her--starting a chain of action that will grip every reader to the last absorbing page. Heroism and betrayal, martyrdom and violence, sublime and profane love--these are the ingredients of this fast-moving story.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

The daughter of a country doctor, Shelia Kaye-Smith was born in St Leonards-on-Sea near Hastings. Her first novel, The Tramping Methodist was published when she was 21. In 1923 her book, The End of the House of Alard became a best-seller and gave her national prominence. She went on to write over 40 books.

Kaye-Smith's early novels were chiefly pre-occupied with rural life in Sussex and Kent. They focused on farming, land inheritance, agricultural mechanisation and changing women's roles in rural life. Joanna Godden, arguably her most famous novel, was adapted into a film in 1947.

Her later books focused on her religious pre-occupations, and her conversion to catholicism. She was also a passionate scholar of Jane Austen and with her friend, G.B. Stern wrote Speaking of Jane Austen and More About Jane Austen.