Against the Grain
It’s bad enough when your own body tries to attack you, but when dark powers want to as well, running is the only option. Until you can’t.
After another casual fling goes horribly wrong, coeliac witch Trinity moves down New Zealand to start over, yet again, in the bush-clad suburb of Karori. On the surface, it seems like the perfect place: from the local bistro below her flat with its gluten-free baking (and its handsome owner) to the mountain bike trails she can escape to.
But her fresh start takes a dark turn when she discovers something is trapping her familiar, Saifa, in the suburb. He might take the shape of a pūriri moth as a passive-aggressive joke, but whatever power can hold the ancient demon captive is no laughing matter. If Trinity can’t find and break the anchors of his invisible cage, she could lose everything—her power, her freedom, and her only friend in the world.
Title: Against the Grain
Length: 36,000 words (Novella)
Date Published: 7 June 2021
Available from: [RRP $25NZD]
If you’re in NZ, consider supporting an Indie bookstore by ordering from somewhere like Good Books or Schrödinger’s Books, or you can email me directly for a signed copy: melanie.hardingshaw@gmail.com.
In stock in Wellington (and online): Good Books, Schrödinger’s Books, Marsden Books, Arty Bees, Book Haven, Gluten Free 4 U Panama Bakery
Available online: Amazon, Fishpond, Wheelers, Barnes and Noble, Target, Blackwells, UK/EU retailers
In the USA: Bookshop.org
Or ask your local Indie bookstore or library to order it in.
Available at these libraries: Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch
“Ultimately, this is a book about finding your home (whatever that might look like for you), being forced to face your past trauma, and finding new ways to operate in the world, even when it's hard, while being wrapped up in the warmth and safety of friends who know you better than you know yourself.”
Review by Cassie Hart in Pantograph Punch