The White Mare — Jules Watson

Vividly atmospheric and evocative of the rituals and magic of Celtic culture, The White Mare enchants readers with the gripping saga of a defiant struggle for freedom.

It is 79 A.D., and the tribes of Scotland are among the last holdouts to Roman conquest. Embroiled in internecine squabbles, they will soon be faced with a grave choice: band together or become slaves. Rhiann, a Scottish priestess and princess, is forced into a political marriage arranged to promote a strategic affiance. Scarred by a horrific past, she desperately looks for a way out, but sees only the Romans closing in. Into this volatile situation sails an Irish prince, Eremon, exiled from his home by familial treachery. His aim is to win renown and regain his throne, but first he has to deal with an unexpected alliance, prove himself a military leader, and unite the feuding tribes of his adopted country.

The White Mare is an astonishingly bold debut. Jules Watson evokes the magical and forbidding atmosphere of a historical period shrouded in romantic myth, capturing readers with an epic of tantalizing depth and suspense, and announcing her arrival as a writer to follow.