Shortlisted for The Encore Award 2026

Shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2025

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A captivating reimagining of Shakespeare's most powerful witch

Born of the sun and moon, shaped by fire and malady, comes a young woman whose story has never been told...

They call her Sycorax. Seer. Sage. Sorceress.

Outcast by society and all alone in the world, Sycorax must find a way to understand her true nature. But as her powers begin to grow, so too do the suspicions of the local townspeople. For knowledge can be dangerous, and a woman's knowledge is the most dangerous of all...

With a great storm brewing on the horizon, Sycorax finds herself in increasing peril - but will her powers save her, or will they spell the end for them all? A beautifully written and deeply moving imagining of what came before Shakespeare's The Tempest from the author of A Girl Made of Air.

Praise for Sycorax:

A beautiful written exploration of one of literature's most famous and misunderstood women . . . clever and immersive ~ Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City

A vividly drawn imagining [of] Sycorax, mother of Caliban in The Tempest. Heartbreakingly poignant, it's the tale of a young woman living with physical pain, social isolation and terrible loneliness but who never gives up trying to find a life where she can be useful. So imaginative and original, and beautifully written ~ Frances Quinn, author of The Lost Passenger

Sycorax is a bold and luminous reimagining of the “blue-eyed hag” from The Tempest by William Shakespeare, transforming a marginalised figure into the commanding centre of a richly realised narrative. This remarkable shortlisted novel offers a spellbinding origin story—at once folkloric, mythic, and poetic—tracing Sycorax’s lineage as “born of the sun and moon and shaped by fire and malady,” and her life as an outcast on the fringes of a coastal world. Through evocative, lyrically immersive prose, Hetherington crafts a deeply sensory reading experience while exploring identity, power, and loneliness. . . .With thematic depth and narrative sophistication, the novel interrogates exile, colonialism, and erasure. In reclaiming and restoring Sycorax’s voice, Hetherington delivers a striking work of historical and literary reimagining—nuanced, resonant, and profoundly deserving of its place on the shortlist ~ The Encore Award 2026 Judges

What a wonderful, witchy delight it was. So evocative and raw. Full of darkness and magic and wonder. Truly extraordinary ~ Louise Beech, author of This is How We Are Human

Magnificent - a beautifully-written, poignant tour de force blending myth, realism, magic, loneliness and the reality of living with chronic pain ~ Penny Batchelor, author of The Reunion Party

A beautifully tragic story told with heartbreaking poignancy. The tale of Sycorax lingers long after the last page. Magnificent! ~ Victoria Dowd, author of Murder Most Cold

Sycorax is a poignant portrayal of a woman struggling to find her place in the face of physical challenges and social otherness. This is a book that resonates with current issues and will keep the reader gripped throughout ~ Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women

A beautifully written tale of otherness and becoming, which charms and beguiles in equal measure ~ Nikki Marmery, author of Lilith

With Sycorax living constantly in pain, trying to help people but always feared and shunned, the reader rages and hopes for her while always knowing where this story is going to end. It's a fascinating exploration of an obscure character ~ SFX Magazine

P.S. is beyond excited about this wonderful new take on Sycorax, the unseen, much maligned and misunderstood, yet important "blue-eyed hag" in Shakespeare's The Tempest ~ P.S. Magazine, The Sunday Post

Sycorax is an impressive novel, a vital contribution both to feminist retellings of female characters in canonical literature and to disability literature ~ Ciadish Magazine

Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781529431070
Number of pages: 400
Dimensions: 240 x 156 mm

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