I reached a long thin arm to grasp the cup. My fingers tingled, but I gripped the harder. I would not let it go. I would have it. I would master it. I would possess this thing of power I had pulled from the ruins of an English manor house—a loathsome heap of stones that defiled the lands my Welsh ancestors had once ruled. I would use it for my own ends.
Ol’ Teg o’ the Hills, the witch who lives on Black Mountain, has the ancient olivewood cup that Colin Hay brought from Glastonbury Abbey when it was closed by King Henry VIII. Forced to flee her mountain retreat by the spiritual powers she has served all her life, Teg travels to Glastonbury and far beyond to learn more of this thing of power she pulled from the ashes of the fire that killed her daughter. Along the way she meets Colin’s fiancée Alice Thatcher, a group of people willing to risk their lives to read the words of a God she despises, and the Lord of the cup—the only One who can satisfy the thirst of her heart. But can she ever truly be free of her past?
“You’re only a peasant masquerading as a lady,” the vindictive priest of Alice’s old parish tells her when she marries Colin Hay and moves to Honddu Vale. Alice misses her friend “Goody Tegwyn.” She tries to live up to all that is expected of a lady, supporting Colin as he struggles under his father’s debts, and following all her friend Catherine Price’s instructions on manners. But her womb is cursed, and she can’t perform even the most basic duty of a wife—give Colin a child. How far will Alice go to be a mother? When Goody Tegwyn returns to Honddu Vale, can Alice save her from her enemies?
What readers are saying about Black Mountain:
Black Mountain concludes LeAnne Hardy’s Glastonbury Grail series with a powerful pilgrimage, both physical and spiritual. Magic and faith, myth and eternal truth intermingle in this novel of the Holy Grail. With the beauty of an epic poem, it presents an allegory of the grace of God.
--Donna Fletcher Crow, author of Glastonbury; The Novel of Christian England
What a great representation of the life transforming nature of the gospel.
--Joan Nienhuis, Book Reviews from an Avid Reader
Black Mountain is a fascinating read that brings historic Wales and her people to life... Unlike the fun of a modern Renaissance Fair, this was a dangerous time to believe differently than those in power.
--Patricia Gilkerson, author of The Horse Rescuers Series
...excellent research of sixteenth-century England that is both accurate and readable, but what kept me turning the pages was her prose, executed with such beauty and grit that this story of redemption will fuse in my heart and memory for a long while.
--Tamara Schierkolk
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