Allyson Shaw has worked as a professional writer for the last thirty years. Her writing on folklore and history has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Monster Verse: Poems Human and Inhuman in the Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series, Rituals and Declarations and The Bottle Imp. She spent her formative years in California and now lives on the northeast coast of Scotland. Find her online at www.allysonshaw.com.
Allyson Shaw has built a monument in words to the thousands
persecuted as witches in Scotland. A fascinating and necessary
book.
*Peter Ross*
In Ashes and Stone Shaw has written a compelling and intimate
pilgrimage across Scotland as she visits the sites of notorious
witch trials to connect with and comment on the memorials left
there to the murdered people who perished through greed, misogyny,
and superstition . . . The book is a fascinating exploration of the
search for personal identity, the ever-present dangers of religious
and political extremism, and how we examine and process the
murderous injustices from our past
*Helen Callaghan*
An incantational group biography infused with personal narrative .
. . Shaw pays homage to the hunted while elevating modern
self-identified witches as feminist archetypes
*New York Times*
Beautiful . . . A moving reminder for us all to connect with what's
gone before
*Stylist*
Wonderful . . . Powerful . . . it will make you angry, it will make
you sad, it will make you want to know so much more
*The Scots Whay Hae! Show*
Sometimes the truth behind myths and legends is more fascinating
and terrible than could ever be imagined . . . Ashes & Stones is
its own reminder of a dark period in Scotland's past, but also
carries a warning for the present day . . . This is not the book
you think it is, and it is all the better for it
*Snack*
Allyson Shaw's journey around Scotland in search of witches and
witness is both deeply insightful and profoundly respectful. Shaw's
writing is utterly compelling and her perspective is vital. I was
spellbound from start to finish, Ashes & Stones is a work of
devotion. This is what it means to write with care and with
candour. Ashes & Stones is both genuine memorial and galvanising
activism in book form
*Sally Huband, author of Sea Bean*
Very atmospheric, scholarly - and gripping . . . [Shaw] gives life
to many of the women burned as witches in Scotland. Shocking and
important - it made me realise this hasn't been done before, nor
have I questioned why until now. Recommended.
*Laline Paull*
The past is a treacherous landscape shrouded in the mists of myth
and misogyny, and Shaw is the sun burning through to reveal clear
paths and daunting vistas alike. Profound, personal, and tragically
timely, this is more than an important book - it's a requiem that
rises to a rallying cry
*Jesse Bullington, author of The Folly of the World*
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