Goodreads asked Marsali Taylor:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Marsali Taylor My most recent book, A Handful of Ash, was linked to the history of witches in Scalloway - it was the last place in Scotland to burn witches. It was sparked off by a friend mentioning that the burning site on Gallow Hill was still visible - a great circle of ash. It's since been ploughed over. The other inspiration was 'The Confessions of Isobel Gowdie', extraordinary documents detailing her devil worship. Since Cass was moving to Scalloway to go to college, I thought it would be exciting to mix her up with a modern coven. As far as I know that's completely my imagination - there are practising pagans, but I've never heard of witchcraft in Shetland nowadays.

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