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Overcoming obstacles as a teenage mother and proving enemies wrong are among the inspirations for the first roller coaster chase novel by a North Devon author, set in a world where witches are real – and persecuted.
Settling in with Lizzie Fry’s ‘The Coven’ in September is the perfect antidote to dispelling gloomy fall evenings with an action-packed, quirky tale that will captivate a wide audience.
“Lizzie†is Lucy Hay from Devon, a successful mystery writer, screenwriter, screenwriter and online blogger who has overcome much more than a little adversity to find her way around the world.
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She was pregnant at 18, faced contempt and prejudice at every turn, but worked hard to lift herself out of poverty and make a living for her son.
Lucy, 40, grew up in North Devon and began her writing career as a teenager at the North Devon Journal, while working as a screenwriter for film and television.
Today, 20 years later, married with three children, she has published several novels, is a cancer survivor and is the author of the online blog www.bang2write.com.
The Coven is set in 2020 in an alternate version of our world. Witchcraft is real, but only women are born as witches, and they are vilified, pursued, incarcerated and executed by a fanatical US government that has spread its mark of hatred across the world.
North Devon readers will recognize many local settings as well as nearby locations such as Exeter and Boscastle.
Devon teenager Chloe Su unexpectedly enters her unknown power when she blows up her own house and what follows is a breathtaking chase as she and her father Daniel flee The Sentinel, an agency similar to the CIA that travels the world and hunts witches.
They are joined by the witch Adelita and the rogue Sentinel Agent Ethan on a dazzling adventure across the West Country and then the world. Because Chloe is a witch like never before.
In fact, she’s The One, a witch who can potentially free all of her sisters… It’s up to her to remake the world. Or break it.
Writing under the name Lizzie, Lucy has used her background in the film industry to create a well-constructed action thriller that is simply good read for adults of all ages.
For those who care to dig deeper, the dysfunctions, misogynistic attitudes and injustice of our own society are reflected as well. But so do hope, love, and compassion.
Lucy said: “I hope the book will appeal to different tastes. You can think of it as a chase thriller, full of action and epic battle scenes, in the vein of Marvel or Mad Max: Fury Road, but it’s also deeper than that.
“I have always been fascinated by witches. I think they are the epitome of oppression and the empowerment of women, which are weapons against women because they are seen as dangerous.
“It is no accident that throughout history women have been oppressed as witches whether they were or not, and it takes so little for a woman to fall out of favor as well. .
“It’s not just men who do this; there are many women who are invested in the patriarchal idea. When I was a teenage parent, I was considered infected and many women treated me badly.
“I get hateful messages all the time from people saying I’m a bad role model, even now. I had one recently saying I was promoting teenage pregnancy. What does it mean?”
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The Coven will resonate with West Country readers as it begins with a bang in Exeter before making its way through North Devon and into the dark heart of witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall.
Lucy was inspired by the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, as well as its atmospheric harbor set in a rugged, rugged valley.
She said: “It’s very dramatic there and I’ve been going since I was a teenager myself. The museum was also very useful, with images of witchcraft and historical research.
No book on witchcraft would be complete without Salem, Massachusetts, the scene of the infamous Salem Witch Trials which saw 14 women and five men executed.
Lucy said: “I wanted two witch-related places and while the average person might not know Boscastle, they will definitely know Salem.
“One thing I found with the hardcover version is that real witches really like the book, they find it to be genuine. Witches have even contacted me online to tell me that they have it. had bought for their own clan.
Today, the married mother of three runs various writing workshops and hopes to inspire others to do something for themselves like she has. She said: “When I was a teenager I started writing to earn money because I was trained in journalism then.
“Writing was first of all my escape and a way out of extreme poverty and problems to support my son.
“If you are a young parent and are self-sufficient, if you know how to use technology and generate audiences for websites, you can make money.”
The Coven is slated for release in all bookstores on September 2, and Lizzie Fry’s next book is in the works for 2022.
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