candace robb
walking the Mean Streets of Medieval York
New in Trade Paperback & a Preview of Owen Archer 14
Trade Paperback Release!
The trade paperback of THE RIVERWOMAN’S DRAGON is out now in the UK, and will be released in the US & Canada on 28 June (although you might want to check your local bookshop or favorite online store earlier in the month).
It’s received many 5 star reviews, many from readers on Goodreads:
“If possible, I loved this book even more than the earlier Owen Archer books. here the worldview shifts…to look more closely from the eyes of Magda, witch, healer, pagan…. Wonderful to see something of her magic & a little more of her family origins.” Susan Rowland
“I loved this 13th Owen Archer mystery. It’s another fascinating trip back to Medieval York, where the events and concerns of the past have remarkable echoes in our present: the pestilence is spreading, people are living in fear, seeking false cures, and turning on true healers and each other. When the wise woman, Magda Digby, is not only denounced but suspected of murder, Owen has to find the true solution.” Alice Boatwright
“Candace Robb manages to create real tension in this 13th book in Owen Archer series. She has created a series of characters true to their time and their humanity. Characters who live, and die, according to their place in history, John Thoresby (who I actually came to like) or their time in the story line, Lucie’s father (who also grew on me.) My favorite character, though, is Magda Digby, who has been an anchor to many of the characters through most of the books. This story gave me insight into Magda’s history and has strengthened my liking of the character.
“This tale takes place during a time of pestilence, a matter of coincidence according to Robb, who started the book pre-Coronavirus. Her portrayal of the response to the pestilence by the folks in [York], informed by reports of those times, collided with my observations of people’s response to the epidemic today, and confirmed my view that our technology may differ, but that people haven’t changed much.
“I recommend this book (and every other book in the series). I got so engrossed I had to fight the urge to skip to the end and make sure every one was all right. It’s a good story told well that makes you do that. (I didn’t cheat. )” Cea
Coming 4 October 2022, Owen Archer 14, A Fox in the Fold
I am delighted to announce that there will be no delay between the UK publication and the US & Canada publications of the next Owen Archer, A FOX IN THE FOLD! Severn House will publish it in the US, UK, & Canada in hardcover & ebook on the same day–4 October!
Cover copy: October, 1376. Owen Archer is summoned by sheriff Sir Ralph Hastings regarding a stripped and bloodied body discovered on the road north to York. Could it be connected to an attack on a carter and his laborers who were transporting stone destined for St Clement’s Priory? The carter fled, but his men stayed to fight and are now missing. Is the victim one of them?
At first Owen believes the catalyst for murder and menace in York is the arrival of the political pariah William Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester. But he soon suspects that a formidable and skillful adversary from his past has arrived in the city, thrusting him and his family into grave danger, and his investigation becomes a race to uncover the truth before his old nemesis destroys all he holds dear.
I am so excited for you to read this book, which is, in some ways, a return to the origin story. No, not a prequel. You’ll see what I mean.
It’s already available for preorder–check with your favorite bookstores!
candace robb 
i can’t wait!!! October seems so far away!
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I love your enthusiasm!
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Looking forward to reading Owen again.Have already pre-ordered.Thanks again.
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Thank you, Moira!
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Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
By the way, there is one thing I was wondering about: I know that Magda had a number of romantic relationships in her life, so I wonder how did her lovers and her children feel about her always speaking in the third person? (I remember that Asa expressed annoyance about it at the beginning of Riverwoman’s Dragon)
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I’m so glad you’re excited to read it!
Great question about Magda and her romantic relationships. It was later in her life that she began to speak in third person, so Digby would likely have been the only husband to witness the shift; now that you mention it, this might have contributed to their separation. You’ve given me food for thought. Thank you!
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I’m really happy to hear that I was able to contribute to the creative process of one of my favourite authors!
And thanks a lot for the fascinating new piece of information. Interestingly, I always thought it was the opposite, that she switched to third person very early in her life because she is so natural with third person that it seems like she spoke like that for a very large part of her life (this peculiar speech pattern doesn’t seem easy to adopt, in order to consistently use “Magda” and “she” and not throw in an occasional “I” and “me”, she would have needed to start THINKING in the third person as well, and that’s not easy for the brain IMO, because it implies a completely different way of perceiving the world). Also, her reason for doing that (not helping someone because she thought them unworthy) sounds like something a person can do in their youthful high spirits when they’re more impulsive and uncompromising.
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This was a deep, deep transformation. I do need to write that story one of these days. I absolutely do see her shifting her way of perceiving the world, a moment of enlightenment. I love this conversation. Thank you!
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Thank you for the kind words!
Hmm, I recall reading about exactly this kind of transformative experience in “Journey of the Heart”, the autobiography by Osho’s secretary Ma Yoga Laxmi. At one point, she had a sort of enlightenment during which she saw herself from an outside perspective, and ever since then, she always referred to herself only in the third person till the end of her life.
“The next morning Laxmi was joyous. She witnessed Laxmi’s activities through the day. Laxmi getting up, eating, talking and so on. This witnessing lasted through the day. The identity with “I” was broken. “I” did not overtake/overpower Laxmi. It was indeed fun to see Laxmi engrossed in activities in the third person. Recalling Osho narrate the story of Swami Ramteerth who witnessed a break with identity and referred to himself in third person and never as self, Laxmi laughed to herself”.
Click to access The_Journey_of_the_Heart.pdf
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