Lady of Hay: An enduring classic – gripping, atmospheric and utterly compelling

Lady of Hay: An enduring classic – gripping, atmospheric and utterly compelling
Barbara Erskine

A story spanning centuries. A long awaited revenge.In London, journalist Jo Clifford plans to debunk the belief in past-lives in a hard-hitting magazine piece. But her scepticism is shaken when a hypnotist forces her to relive the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, a noblewoman during the reign of King John.She learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her love for the handsome Richard de Clare, and the brutal death threats handed out by King John, before it becomes clear that Jo’s past and present are inevitably entwined. She realises that eight hundred years on, Matilda’s story of secret passion and unspeakable treachery is about to repeat itself…Barbara Erskine’s iconic debut novel still delights generations of readers thirty years after its first publication.

Copyright (#ulink_a056f5b6-e589-5578-88b1-140af89c015c)

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd 1986

Published by Sphere Books Ltd 1987 Published by Warner Books 1992 Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 1996

Copyright © Barbara Erskine 1986

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Cover images © Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com)

Barbara Erskine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007250868

Ebook Edition © MAY 2011 ISBN: 9780007368822

Version: 2017-09-06

Praise for Lady of Hay: (#ulink_dc8d3502-5f92-50af-b796-f3dd90184c0a)

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

‘Convincing and extremely colourful.’ The Mail

Contents

Cover (#u87d78766-c838-5544-8350-42caf0e63b54)

Title Page (#u078071a4-0878-5465-b667-98085ae128a5)

Copyright (#u31ad7bf5-e92f-5f1f-90a7-1fb4cb3ae998)

Praise (#ue77a17af-8faa-5894-b564-a8d024d22c18)

Prologue: Edinburgh 1970 (#u3515a668-8fe7-5c84-85d8-e89c2c702db6)

Chapter 1: London: 1985 (#ue56ce87b-ba5c-5689-9b19-5f6100c764b1)

Chapter 2 (#u8390f755-4cd4-5fa9-a26d-ce531ce39248)

Chapter 3 (#u7532755a-3d37-56a5-b755-e07e94a72d7c)

Chapter 4 (#u4fc984ff-6ece-5b25-8113-f7a4a8233bbc)

Chapter 5 (#ude6feafc-e8fc-5519-9557-60076f341d6d)

Chapter 6 (#ude5241e8-da93-53ee-9982-af924f987f20)

Chapter 7 (#u21e2bd41-7ec5-5c06-af44-acde14529bf4)

Chapter 8 (#uf60e08e0-680f-5440-a244-64e95e3dc9fa)

Chapter 9 (#u78d41c02-d4c9-5fe7-8716-9c28e0419b21)

Chapter 10 (#u2adc0721-9a21-59b0-81c8-94389b551a91)

Chapter 11 (#u3809fae4-c898-577a-8a00-21de98dc7cfe)

Chapter 12 (#u6971e670-5d52-53ba-83af-2d9f03ae90d4)

Chapter 13 (#u79bf9000-e6c1-5c02-a85b-48b9c81654fb)

Chapter 14 (#u2c018c2c-299a-5e0a-891a-580f213e5b50)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)