by Holly Bell
You can also find me on:
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Holly-Bell-923956481108549/ (Please come and say hello. It makes my day when a reader does that.)
Twitter at https://twitter.com/holly_b_author
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/hollybell2760/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hollybellac
Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18387493.Holly_Bell
and Bookbub at https://www.bookbub.com/profile/holly-bell
See you soon.
About the Author
Cat adorer and chocolate lover, Holly Bell is a photographer, video maker, and student of the Cornish language, when not writing. Whilst being an enthusiastic novel reader, Holly has had a lifetime's experience in writing non-fiction.
Holly devoured all of the Agatha Christie books long before she knew that Miss Marple was the godmother of the Cosy Mystery. Her devotion to JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings meant that her first literary creation in this area would have to be a cosy paranormal. If you would like to read an interview with Holly, you can find one here: Flora Meets Independent British Author Holly Bell
Holly lives in the UK and is a mixture of English, Cornish, Welsh and other ingredients. Her favourite animal is called Bobby. He is a black cat. Purely coincidental. Of course.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Flora Gatehouse, for constant support, keen-eyed and intuitive editing and publicity, to Judes Gerstein, my Canadian gem of an advance reader, for noticing issues and offering ideal solutions, to Katherine Otis for her invaluable fine-tooth-combed proof-reading of the manuscript, to Dana, Mary and other wonderful VIP Readers Group members for their supportive comments and suggestions, and to my dear friend, Katherine DeMoure-Aldrich, for round-the-world inspiration and feedback from wherever her travels take her. Thank you to Joe for his loyal support on Facebook. Thanks also to my mentor Tim Brown for always cheering me on all the way from Wales.
The Cornish language in this book would not have been possible without the assistance of my superb teacher, Kensa Broadhurst, and the abundant encouragement of the Cornish language community. I would like to express my appreciation to Mehmet Murat Ildan for his generosity in allowing me to use the quotation from his work at the beginning of this book.
Thanks are also due to the rector of St Mary the Virgin, Monken Hadley whose fund of information helped me to shape the village of ‘Sunken Madley’, and to Stephen Tatlow, the Director of Music there and the churchwardens for their kind welcome and delight at being fictionalised.
Praise and thanks go out to my outstandingly talented illustrator Daniel Becerril Ureña (Instagram: danbeu) for his beautiful book cover art.
Also due are thanks to Tanja Slijepčević of Books Go Social for her expert advice and unfailing assistance with spreading the word about both this book and the Amanda Cadabra series.
Thank you, in fact, to all those without whose support this book would not have been possible.
Finally, in whatever dimension they are currently inhabiting, thanks go out to my cat who inspired Tempest, and to my grandfather and brother for Perran and Trelawney. Your magic endures.
About the Language Used in the Story
Please note that to enhance the reader’s experience of Amanda's world, this British-set story, by a British author, uses British English spelling, vocabulary, grammar and usage, and includes local and foreign accents, dialects and a magical language that vary from different versions of English as it is written and spoken in other parts of our wonderful, diverse world.
Questions for Reading Clubs
What did you like best about the book?
Which character did you like best? Is there one with whom you especially identified?
Whom would you like to know more about and why?
If you made a movie of the book, whom would you cast and in what parts? Have you chosen any recasting over the first three books in the series? Would you still have the same actress play, Amanda, for example, as you did in Book 1?
Did the book remind you of any others you have read, apart from the others in the series, either in the same or another genre?
Did you think the cover fitted the story? If not, how would you redesign it?
How unique is this story?
Which characters grew and changed over the course of this book, and over the series, and which remained the same?
What feelings did the book evoke?
What place in the book would you most like to visit, and why? Any additional ones to Books 1, 2, 3, and/or 4?
Was the setting one that felt familiar or relatable to you? Why or why not? If you have read any of the first three books, how at home did you feel revisiting the locations?
What did you think of the continuity between the first book or Book 4 and this sequel?
Was the book the right length? If too long, what would you leave out? If too short, what would you add?
How well do you think the title conveyed what the book is about?
If you could ask Holly Bell just one question, what would it be?
How well do you think the author created the world of the story?
Which quotes or scenes did you like the best, and why?
Was the author just telling an entertaining story or trying as well to communicate any other ideas? If so, what do think they were?
Did the book change how you think or feel about any thing, person or place? Did it help you to understand someone or yourself better?
What do you think the characters will do after the end of the book? Would you want to read the sequel?
Glossary
As the story is set in an English village, and written by a British author, some spellings or words may be unfamiliar to some readers living in other parts of the English-speaking world. Please find here a list of terms used in the book. If you notice any that are missing, please let me know on [email protected] so the can be included in a future edition.
British English
American English
Spelling conventions
—ise for words like surprise, realise
—ize for words like surprize, realize
—or for words like colour, honour
—our for words like color, honor
—tre for words like centre, theatre
—ter for words like center, theater
Mr Mrs Dr
Mr. Mrs. Dr.
Double consonants for words
like traveller, counsellor
M3
Highway going South West from London
Basmati
Long-grained, aromatic rice from
India and Pakistan
Battenberg
Cake made of pink and yellow
diagonal squares, wrapped in
marzipan
Biscuit
Cookie
Boiler suit
Coveralls
Boot
Trunk
Car Park
Parking lot
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken cooked in yoghurt and spices,
served with rice. Britain's unofficial
national dish.
Chips (food)
French fries
Corner shop
Small grocery store
Cornish Clotted
Cornish clotted cream - thick cream
Cornish pasty
Disk of puff pastry filled with meat
and vegetables then folded and
sealed at the edges.
Crumpet
Cake with holes in, served toasted
with butter
Cuppa
Cup of tea
Curtains
Drapes
Different from
Different than
Eyrie
Aerie
Fridge
Refrigerator
Garden
Yard
Gingernut
Hard (like a nut but not containing
any) ginger biscuit
Grey
Gray
Headmaster
Principal
Jam roly-poly
A flat layer of suet pudding, spread
with jam and rolled up
Jewellery
Jewelry
Lamb Rogan Josh
Rich, spicy curry with Kashmiri chillis
Luvvy
Term of affection
Met, the
The Metropolitan Police Service,
policing London
Minibus
Van, minicoach seating 8 - 30 people
Mobile phone
Cell phone
Momentarily
For a moment
M4
M class road - Expressway, Highway
Ninepence
Nine old pennies UK pre-decimal currency
Ninepence to the shilling
Stupid
Practise
Practice
Pavement
Sidewalk
Pub
Quiet, family friendly, coffee-shop
style bar
Saffron cake
Traditional Cornish cake made with
fruit, saffron and warm spices.
Scone
Smaller, lighter and fluffier than
the US scone, served with
cream and jam
Shepherd's Pie
Minced lamb with mashed potato
topping
Shilling
Twelve old pennies UK
pre-decimal currency
Shortcake
Crunchy sweet cookie
Solicitor
Lawyer
Tin
Can
Torch
Flashlight
Van
Delivery truck
Victoria sandwich
Sponge cake with jam and cream filling
Walnut Whip
A whirl-shaped milk chocolate cone
with a whipped vanilla fondant filling,
topped with a half a walnut.
Cornish Accent and Dialect
Awright?
Hello
Dreckly
At some point
Emmet
Tourist
I'llItellywot
I will tell you what
Me ’andsome
Unisex term of endearment
Me luvver
Unisex term of endearment
Up North
North of the Tamar River
Zackly
Exactly
Cornish
Bian
Baby, small
Pur deg
Very pretty
A Note About Accents and Wicc’yeth
One or two of the villagers have a Cockney accent indicated by the missing ‘h’ at the beginning of words such as ‘hello’ becoming ‘’ello’. There are also Cornish characters whose accents have been rendered as closely as possible using English spelling conventions.
Wicc’yeth, is a magical language peculiar to the world of Amanda Cadabra. If you are curious about the meaning of individual spell words, you will find a glossary at http://amandacadabra.com/wiccyeth/ and Amelia’s Glossary with Pronunciation.
Any questions? Ask Holly on [email protected]
