A Falcon for a Witch

Falcon Saga #1

by Catherine Darby

8vo. A nice copy faded spine

Genres: Gothic, Historical, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature, Witches

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Pseudonym for Maureen Peters

Maureen Peters was born in Caernarvon, Wales, on March 3, 1935, and was married and divorced twice; she has two sons and two daughters. In addition to biographical fiction, historical romances, and mystery novels written under her own name, other noms de plume include Veronica Black, Catherine Darby, Levanah Lloyd, Belinda Grey, Elizabeth Law, Judith Rothman, and Sharon Whitby.

As Catherine Darby, Maureen Peters wrote books that were sold as Gothics, such as the 12 books in the Falcon Saga, but were really what Sarah calls "dark family sagas." Or more precisely, she describes their plot lines this way: "Themes of illicit passion, family rivalry, witchcraft, revenge, and even reincarnation permeated the novels…"

Reviews

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

At last! It took me three agonizingly long days to get a chance to read the new series I picked up. I had to finish another book first - grrr.

This sadly wasn't what I expected, though. Maybe the writing style wouldn't have worn thin if I enjoyed the story better. I thought of the traditional gothic stories with big, looming castles, davishingly handsome men, and a smidge of romance that makes the heart melt. Instead the main protagonist isn't a very friendly wench. Being in her head would be similar to being in the head of a sociopath, or at least it felt like that at the time. Sure, the girl HAD feelings, they were just oddly spread out. When her grandfather died, as an example, she looked about it so logically and without too much emotion. WTF?? He was all the family she had! I suppose Darby was setting up the whole witch thing, but really, she's the main protagonist and she got on my nerves.

In fact, my favorite character was her beloved Harry, who despite his flaws at least was more likeable. He did the 'wrong' thing in the end, but he suffered mentally rolling over the decision. It doesn't matter which way he decided, he still showed more emotion that she. Margred's love for him doesn't make much sense to me either. I understand there's something special about him that attracts her, and her eventual seeking of revenge is adumbrated at the beginning by a rude man, but why him of all people? How could she so instantly fall in love? And I wanted one last confrontation between them, damnit!

This is one of those depressing novels a bit reminiscent of the original V.C. Andrews - almost every damn person dies! And each time the knife in the heart twists even deeper. Argh! I liked this in Andrews' books but here it just pissed me off further. Not that many of the characters deserved falling in love with, but still.

Another irritating side note is that the front excerpt doesn't seem to have happened in the book. When did that scene ever occur? It didn't go down like that at all. ????

That isn't to say this book didn't have it's good points. Cool cover. It's short with relatively slow pacing, but because of its length the pacing sort of matches. The ending is bittersweet as hell and is easily remembered. It's not boring. The whole witch thing was semi-cool. And I did love the dancing bear :) Oh, and even if this is psychically guessed on my part - it sets up the mode for an excellent series to come. (Please God, please God...I have at least five more of these on my shelf to read!)

I have a hard decision to make - the next book I own is book four, not book 2. I either wait out till I get the second and follow in order, or just start at four and see if I like that one better, reading in order from there up. I just don't know yet.

[Teresa Sandner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series about 42 years ago and I just loved it. I love any kind of story that has witches in it. This one is particularly fun because it spans centuries and involves a curse that the first Margred puts on all the men in the Falcon family because the first Harry Falcon deserted her after he got her pregnant. I still have the whole series and read it whenever I get a chance.

[August · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is everything I love about old-school gothic books. Young, naïve Margred journeys from her home in Wales following her grandfather's death to London, where she meets Harry Falcon. Swept away to his estate and hidden away from his wife in the dower cottage, Margred has a few idyllic years with her love before fate intervenes, setting off a chain of events that will echo long into the future.

I loved the writing style of this book, and I sincerely wish more books were still written like this. A Falcon for a Witch is the first in a series that follows the Falcon family from Elizabethan England all the way up to the mid-19th century. I love family sagas, and the gothic elements in this story truly make it the best of both worlds. The characters are interesting, and the author is excellent at summing up their personalities in a few deft sentences.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

[Aceti_wonders]

I know I shouldn't judge a book written in 1974 (not sure about this) with today's standards but the protagonist is 15 and someone already wants to fxxk her. I'm just not comfortable with it

[Lise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discovered this series of books quite by accident. In my teens I was getting a weekly allowance from my parents which I used to go to the movies (the price of a ticket was quite cheap back in the 60ies and 70ies) and for buying books. Some spend all their money on shoes, designer clothes and cosmetics, I spent mine on books though I did buy a lot of cosmetics and clothes. Shoes not so much as the very expensive high heel pumps left me in pain all the time so I found instead a brand of shoes though fashionable and pretty which were affordable and comfortable, Naturalizer.

I was browsing for new books to read at Classic Book Stores in Place Ville Marie (now long closed the book stores I mean) when I found this book.

The character of Margred was soon taking me into quite the adventure. I totally became fascinated by her and sad at some point that though the man she loves and to whom she bears a child would abandon her.

Then we kind of find out that she's a witch. Now we're talking! The falcon women as we will find out are all born with a certain birth mark and all of them will be either good or evil. Margred is evil: what a shocker!

I enjoyed reading that first novel so much I went back to get all the others and to my surprise couldn't find them. I actually had to write to the publisher and order them from the UK. Books were unexpensive back then as you could get one for $0.95 and I do believe the whole collection costs me less than $20.00 Another favorite in the collection is the story of Regina Falcon.

[Betty]

I read this series of books back when they were new in the 70's and I loved them then. I'm afraid if I found them again and reread them this many years later, I wouldn't enjoy them and it would spoil the childhood memory. If I run across a copy, I might give it a reread.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series. Although they were definitely hard to find, they were worth the search. My mom loved these books when she was my age and they were a fun, historical read. I know I'll keep these and reread them when I need something familiar and historical!

[Mindex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a well written story that sets up a series. A look at the lengths a woman will go to to enact revenge on her lover. A little creepy in parts but worth reading.