Jo Clifford, a successful journalist, is all set to disprove hypnosis and past-life regression, until she submits to a simple hypnotic session and finds herself reliving the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, the wife of a baron at the time of King John.

Barbara Erskine's amazing first international bestseller
'Barbara Erskine can make us feel the cold, smell the filth, and experience some of the fear of the power of evil men... The author's storytelling talent is undeniable' The Times

Jo Clifford, successful journalist, is all set to debunk the idea of past-life regression in her next magazine series. But when she herself submits to a simple hypnotic session, she suddenly finds herself reliving the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, the wife of a baron at the time of King John.

As she learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her love for the handsome Richard de Clare and the brutal threats of death at the hands of King John, it becomes clear that Jo's past and present are hopelessly entwined and that, eight hundred years on, a story of secret passion and unspeakable treachery is about to begin again...

'Fascinating, absorbing, original - and hypnotic' She

**Look for Barbara Erskine's new bestseller, ON THE EDGE OF DARKNESS, out in paperback.**

Barbara Erskine is the author of the internationally bestselling novel `Lady of Hay', which was translated into a dozen languages and has sold over two million copies world wide. This was followed by another bestseller, `Kingdom of Shadows' and by a collection of short stories, `Encounters', which met with wide popular acclaim.`Child of the Phoenix' is based on the story of one of Barbara Erskine `s own ancestors, and provides a link between some of the characters from `Lady of Hay' and `Kingdom of Shadows', again encapsulating the authors dual themes of the supernatural and of history.In the absorbing world of the historical novel, readers of Barbara Erskine are held in thrall. `Child of the Phoenix' is set in the turbulent 13th century and tells of Eleyne, a Welsh princess whose life becomes inextricably linked with the destinies of the English, Welsh and Scottish crowns. The story is partly based on lore passed down through the author's family - for Eleyne is one of her distant ancestors. But as Barbara Erskine points out: `Eleyne is a composite, based on family legend of the type which converts dingy oil paintings into Rembrandts and Victorian paste beads into aquamarines'.A history graduate, and with one of her two earlier bestsellers set in much the same period, Barbara Erskine is well versed in the brutality of the Middle Ages. It was a time when noblewomen underwent arranged marriages, were traded both for their dowries and to cement the precarious political alliances of their male relatives. Despite their precarious social standing, women did hold power with their husbands away in Parliament or at war. More sinister was the manipulation of those who became involved in illicit romances - the dangerous truth would be concealed until it could be used to advantage.

2008-04-24 Lady of Hay

I wanted to give this three stars as the passages dealing with Matilda's life are excellent,but this is let down by the plot set in the present day. The Heroine Jo despite appearing to be a 'modern' woman is just too wet. She spends the entire book being passed around the male characters and more often than not being abused by them. The irony is that for all the constraints of her time Matilda comes across as the stronger more modern woman. One thing that made me laugh was the amount of coffee the modern day characters drink, every other page someone is either making coffee or drinking it. It's hard to believe they are all so susceptible to hypnosis with the amount of caffeine racing round their systems. Disappointing but the author shows promise.