Janna Mysteries Book 4 - Willows for Weeping

Spies, treachery, a dangerously attractive pilgrim and a murder at Stonehenge test Janna's courageJanna Mysteries Book 4 - Willows for Weeping and ingenuity to the limit as she continues the search for her father in the company of pilgrims and jongleurs. She learns the meaning of betrayal, treachery and heartbreak, while her quest brings her ever closer to the royal court and the dangers of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. Due out in March 2008.

Read the 'Janna Mysteries' reviews.

Published by:
Random House Australia, Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060. Website: www.randomhouse.com.au

ISBN: 978 1741 662 504

"My research for Willows took me to Stonehenge. I was there in June, in time for the festival for the summer solstice. This is celebrated by thousands of people every year. They camp out under the stars and watch the first rays of sunlight shine down 'the Avenue' to the Heel Stone and into the heart of the stone circle.

I also spent several weeks in Winchester, one of my favourite places. I used to walk beside the River Itchen and watch the swans, just as Janna does almost a thousand years ago in my novel. I stayed at a B & B which looked down onto the ruins of Wolvesey Palace, which was the bishop's stronghold during the civil war.

I wandered among the ruins hoping the stones would speak to me - but they stayed obstinately silent! So what I've written comes either from my imagination or from the old chronicles I use as a reference base: the Gesta Stephani (Life of Stephen, author unknown) and William of Malmesbury's Historia Novella.

The authors were eye-witnesses to what was going on at that time. I just wish they'd thought to write their accounts in a bit more detail! It would have made my task so much easier and I could also be sure that what I was writing was absolutely accurate".

Laurine Croasdale launches Willows for Weeping at the SCBWI conference. (Photograph taken by Bob Holm)
Flick talks about Stonehenge and the inspiration for her new book (Photograph taken by Bob Holm)
Zoe Walton from Random House introduces the new-look Janna Mysteries
Laurine Croasdale launches Willows for Weeping at the SCBWI conference. (Photograph taken by Bob Holm)
Flick talks about Stonehenge and the inspiration for her new book (Photograph taken by Bob Holm)
Zoe Walton from Random House introduces the new-look Janna Mysteries
Laurine Croasdale shares a joke with Flick while launching Willows for Weeping
Laurine Croasdale launches Willows for Weeping at the SCBWI conference
Laurine Croasdale shares a joke with Flick while launching Willows for Weeping
Laurine Croasdale launches Willows for Weeping at the SCBWI conference

Other books in the series:

  • Rosemary for Remembrance - Janna lives at the edge of a forest in medieval England. Her whole world turns upside down following the death of her mother.
  • Rue for Repentance - Driven from her home and disguised as a youth, Janna seeks refuge at a manor farm only to find her heart and her safety under threat following a series of 'accidents'.
  • Lilies for Love - Lilies for Love takes Janna to Wiltune Abbey in the next step on her quest to find her unknown father and seek justice for the death of her mother.

Download and read the Random House reading guides.

Mysterious Stonehenge is this an ancient solar (or lunar) "calendar"? Did the magician Merlin really magic these stones across from Ireland to form "the Giants' Dance"?
Swans on the River Itchen, Winchester.
Ruins of Wolvesey Palace in Winchester, stronghold of Henry, Bishop of Winchester and brother of King Stephen.
Mysterious Stonehenge is this an ancient solar (or lunar) "calendar"? Did the magician Merlin really magic these stones across from Ireland to form "the Giants' Dance"?
Swans on the River Itchen, Winchester.
Ruins of Wolvesey Palace in Winchester, stronghold of Henry, Bishop of Winchester and brother of King Stephen.

 

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