Solstice

by Hilary Boyd

December 21, 2012 was not only the date on which the Mayan calendar ended. In astrological terms the Solstice, at exactly 11:12 am that day, was also the moment when the sun was aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years. A moment at which the sun's energy streamed towards Earth, focused precisely on Stonehenge. Solstice follows the stories of seven characters, three women and four men, who are initially unaware of their mystical powers or of their past lives in the legendary city of Atlantis. They must come together to perform a vital ceremony at Stonehenge to rebalance the planet. December 21, 2012 is the only date for thousands of years when it can take place successfully. It's a race against time and a terrifying adversary from their shared past. Beneath the gripping, fast-paced story Hilary Boyd and Barbara Roddam deliver a serious parable for our times. Solstice explores the unequal balance between male and female energy—the Sun and Moon energy that Stonehenge was built to honor equally—that pervades our time. Men dominate the world, women are oppressed, technology (male energy) is supreme and our planet is violent and failing. New Age wisdom holds that only a rebalancing of these energies can save us.

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2012

About the author

Boyd was born and spent the first six months of her life in Prestatyn, North Wales, where her father, an army major, was stationed after the war. She was later educated in London, then at the boarding school Roedean. She trained as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and subsequently as a marriage guidance counsellor with Relate before reading English Literature at London University in her late 30s.

After college, Boyd became a health journalist, writing about depression, step-parenting and pregnancy. She began writing fiction as a hobby whilst raising three children and working at various day jobs including running a cancer charity, Survive Cancer, working for an engineering company, and an online vitamin site.