As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
Ffion is willing to literally sleep under hedges to maintain her integrity. She refuses to become a part of the powerful coven Foxhall with her mother and sister, both former hedge witches themselves. But Wales is becoming less and less magical. Ever since the kingdom of Mercia built Offa’s Dyke, effectively sealing off the small country between the dyke and the sea, magic has been dwindling. No longer are dragons seen, or the sighted ravens, or the Mari Lwyd. There’s a sickness on the land, and Ffion is furious that Foxhall uses up what magic is left to increase their own coffers, rather than help people.
Meanwhile Prince Taliesen is fed up himself. He’s King Bran’s second son and technically illegitimate, but he is sure he should be king, if for no other reason than to protect his mother. His older brother Dafydd is too weak and mild! So when his father challenges each son to a quest to save the remaining magic, Taliesen heads to the south, in search of a hedgewitch who’ll help him. He and Ffion form a most unlikely duo, but nonetheless they team up to walk the length of the dyke in an attempt to return magic to the land.
The Hedgewitch of Fox Hall is in some ways a coming of age story as Taliesen learns to accept his limitations and accept his brother’s strengths and his father’s limitations, and as Ffion grows in self confidence and knowledge. I enjoyed the tautly-drawn familial relationships that both of the duo have to deal with, as well as their own developing relationship. The fate of their country rests on them both, and they do not disappoint!