Six Black Candles

About the Book: 

"Where's Stacie Gracie's head?" ... sharing space with the sweetcorn and two-for-one lemon meringue pies... in the freezer.

Caroline's husband abandons her (bad move) for Stacie Gracie, his assistant at the meat counter, and incurs more wrath than he anticipated. Caroline, her five sisters, mother and granny, all with a penchant for witchery, invoke the lethal spell of the Six Black Candles. A natural reaction to the break up of a marriage? The spell does kill. You only have to look at the evidence. Mess with these sisters, or Maw or Oul Mary and they might do the Six Black Candles on you. But will Caroline's home ever be at peace for long enough to do the spell and will Caroline really let them do it?

Set in present day Irish Catholic Coatbridge, Six Black Candles is bound together by the ropes of traditional storytelling and the strength of female familial relationships. Bubbling under the cauldron of superstition, witchcraft and religion is the heat of revenge; and the love and venom of sisterhood.

Reviews: 

A darkly humorous and satanic fictional brew... written in vivid demonic style... with punchy directness and enormous brio. SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

Hilarious. THE MIRROR

The author's humanity and the sense of real hardship are what make the novel. THE BIG ISSUE

Entertaining and thought-provoking. TIME OUT MOSCOW

A bitingly witty, funny novel from Des Dillon. COSMOPOLITAN (RUSSIA)

About the Author:

DES DILLON was born and brought up in Coatbridge. He has written poetry and fiction, including Me and Ma Gal, (which won the 2003 World Book Day ‘We Are What We Read’ poll for the novel that best describes Scotland today) and has had several of his books adapted for film and television. He has worked as a teacher of English, a creative writing tutor and as a scriptwriter for High Road and River City. He is the Artistic Director of Goldfish Theatre which has staged productions of Singin’ I’m No a Billy He’s a Tim – the most performed play in Scotland in the last decade – at the SECC and many other venues. He lives in Galloway.