This over-sized limited edition is truly one for the archives. The volume is 8.5 x 11 inches large with a sewn binding, acid-free paper and a bonded leather cover foil stamped with the Westermead insignia.
It is limited to only 150 copies, each signed and numbered by the author. Just as the lore in Westermead has been handed down from generation to generation, so can this book be passed down between generations.
Extra Material
This Historian's Compendium contains the complete collection of Westermead tales sprinkled throughout with countless extra tidbits from anecdotes and historical information to songs, lullabies, recipes, customs and descriptions of the people and ways of this mysterious island.
Lushly illustrated with vegetation and creatures native to Westermead this volume even includes some drawings by the author himself as well as a rare map of the territory.
The rushes rasp in ghost-fed breezes as seed-hungry finches chance the thistle's fangs. The bracken has gone gold and brown, the brambles heavy with plump berries. The days, warm as brewed barley, are etched with frost beneath a rusty moon. Eerie effigies are set about to honor the dead, whom, as the year decays, are wont to roam the countryside.
The ways of old merge with the magical and fantastic in this wondrous world. Experience Westermead’s thaw and awakening season by season, the lush heat of summer's passion and the retreat into winter’s desolate embrace. Come celebrate and mourn with the people of Westermead as they make their way through a world steeped both in beauty and dread.
More than just a collection of tales, Westermead brings to life an enchanted country where the supernatural is as natural as the sunrise. Follow the intrepid documentarians, Purdy and Beech, on their hunt for the fearsome Frost Mare. Learn the secret of the stranger whose life little Melly saved in Four Bronze Sisters. Face The Mask of Black Tears alongside Mullein Wick while he fights for his sister's release from servitude.
This new mythology is ripe with unique characters, spiced with folkways and mixed throughout with a deep respect for all things natural. Given storytelling this vibrant, it is both easy and thrilling to get lost in Thomas’ unique landscape.
Contents:
Spring:
The Green Boy
Calling the Water
Four Bronze Sisters
Lore of Northern Stones
Summer:
The Frost Mare
Rare Creatures of Westermead
The Powder Men
The Thatcher's Cat
Radley Birchcroft's Decapitation
Autumn:
Memories of Balance-Tide
Recipes for Warm Keep
Spider Hill
The Soldier and the Cryptie
The Mask of Black Tears
Some Famous Hauntings
Winter:
The Winter Women
The Woman Who Cried Birds
The Crow Tree
Home to Broomwood
