After the Forest – A dark and enchanting fantasy debut (Paperback)

Our summary description

As Independent Scottish booksellers, we write all of our descriptions personally, we hope you enjoy this one.

Long after the witch’s oven has cooled, Greta is still living with the consequences. In After the Forest, twenty years have passed since the gingerbread house, and survival has become harder than any fairy tale promised. War has left the countryside hollowed out, food is scarce, and Hans’s gambling debts threaten what little stability they have left.

Greta’s salvation lies in a secret she has kept since childhood. Hidden away is the witch’s grimoire, a book that whispers as she bakes, and a recipe that produces gingerbread no one can resist. The bread keeps hunger at bay, but it also draws attention. In a village ruled by fear and superstition, Greta’s skill and her past make her an object of suspicion.

As old magic stirs again in the forest, the grimoire’s influence grows stronger. Greta must decide how much of herself she is willing to give to power she barely understands. Dark, intimate, and grounded in aftermath, After the Forest asks what happens once the story ends and survival becomes the real test.