Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths

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 hollybell@amandacadabra.com 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 hollybell@amandacadabra.com