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WORK TITLE: The Hedgewitch of Foxhall
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.annabrightbooks.com/
CITY: Washington
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME: SATA 394
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: daughters.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Also works as a bookseller at One More Page Books, Arlington, VA.
AVOCATIONS:“Concerts, roller coasters, and adventures at home and abroad.”
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Anna Bright is a bookseller as well as an author of young-adult novels, including “The Beholder” duology and her standalone 2022 novel, The Song That Moves the Sun. Married with a young daughter, Bright lives with her family in Washington, DC.
In an interview on the Drizzle and Hurricane Books website, Bright commented on her love both of reading and writing: “I’ve always, always been a reader. Books have always been my vacations and my secrets and my best education in empathy. But I wasn’t always a writer! I always wanted to write—I just never had ‘an idea for a story.’ I don’t think I realized ideas were a dime a dozen—that whole literal sites existed to prompt you—that execution was the real thing. But once I got my first idea, it was like someone lit a fire under me.”
Bright’s first novel, The Beholder, is a blend of alternate history, adventure, mythology, and fairy tales. Eighteen-year-old Selah is at the center of action. Set initially in a North America that was not a battlefield for Great Britain, the American continent as well as the world have developed differently from that found in actual history. Selah is the next in line to lead her Potomac nation, an area whose economy is based on agriculture. As part of her duty as the new Seneschal, she must find the perfect mate. However, she is rejected in a very public manner by the young man she loves, and now her stepmother insists that she travel across the wide Atlantic to pay visits to a list of possible suitors. Implicit in her stepmother’s decision: return as an engaged woman or do not return. Thus, Selah sets sail on the ship called The Beholder. Once landing in England, she embarks on a series of adventures straight out of a fairy tale. After various adventures in England, she sails for Norway, where the princes have the names and temperaments of Norse gods. She finds love there with Prince Torden, but she also discovers a quest or mission. She carries with her on the hold of the ship a secret stockpile of weapons for the rebels of the land of Imperiya, where the weapons will be used against the tyrant tsarytsya, Baba Yaga.
Reviewing The Beholder in Voice of Youth Advocates, Lynne Stove noted: “This enchanting adventure tale will appeal to lovers of romances, mythology, folklore, and fairy tales that take place in an alternate history.” A Kirkus Reviews critic termed the novel a “selection box of candy-sweet fairy-tale tropes.” The critic further noted that Selah matures through the course of this narrative from the naive young American to maturity as well as a level of complexity that, “the cliffhanger ending suggests, will be explored more thoroughly in a sequel.”
That sequel, The Boundless, appeared in 2020. Here, Selah must complete her mission to bring weapons to the rebels, though she has finally found true love with Prince Torden. She is no longer the immature girl who set out on this voyage, and now she is committed to seeing her quest through. Reviewing the novel in Booklist, Maggie Reagan felt that readers will “cheer as [Selah] learns to follow her heart and her feet in this darker, but still glittering, second half.” Lacy Baugher, writing in the online Culturess, felt that little of this second novel is “focused on romance—Selah’s previously existing feelings for Price Torden of Norway are generally presented as both real and lasting—and instead is a tale about fighting back, in ways both large and small.”
In an interview with a contributor for the online Wishful Endings, Bright commented on the creation of her female protagonist for this duology: “Selah’s a very emotional character in the larger scheme of a very emotional book. I wrote her that way, because I feel things fully and sometimes it’s a lot for people, but I don’t think anyone should be ashamed by their feelings. I also don’t think being shrewd and hardworking and also a person who feels deeply are mutually exclusive.”
With her 2022 work, The Song That Moves the Sun, Bright offers a novel in which “[a]strology and magic combine in [an] otherworldly fantasy,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. Claudia and Rora are best friends, and while attending a concert, they meet Amir and Major. The two young men tell them they are looking for a song that will bring balance back into the universe. Moreover, they let the two girls know they are not from Earth. Instead, they are from Mars and Mercury; however, they appear as human and not alien. They say that Rora appears to be an amplifier and can help to increase the magic power of music. Both Rora and Claudia have recently had unsettling experiences and are ready to help Amir and Major in their quest. In alternating chapters, Bright presents the first-person experiences of the two young women as they move through portals from their homes in Washington, DC, to various planets and times in search of ways to cure the imbalance. They even travel back in time to the age of Marco Polo and Dante Aligheieri in their search. School Library Journal contributor Ness Shortley called the book a “solid pick for libraries whose readers who enjoy light fantasy and romance.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: “Bright employs poetic prose and a complex magic system to deliver a wildly inventive fantasy adventure.”
(open new)Another standalone fantasy novel, The Hedgewitch of Foxhall stars a hedgewitch named Ffion, who lives in the kingdom of Powys, in Wales. Ffion has been shunned by her coven, Foxhall, for deriving her magic from an unauthorized source. The Foxhall hedgewitches destroy to gain magic, while Ffion obtains hers from natural elements. Magic has been disappearing in Wales because of a wall that the evil King Offa built, so Ffion decides she must find a way to bring it down. Her mission is aligned with that of Prince Taliesin, whose father, King Cadell, has tasked him and his brother, Prince Dafydd, individually to bring down the wall. The prince who destroys the wall first will be the heir to the throne. Taliesin initially asks the hedgewitches of Foxhall for help, but when they decline, he turns to Ffion. As they pursue their mission, Ffion develops romantic feelings for Taliesin, as well as Dafydd, and the two princes reckon with their divergent feelings about magic. “Bright draws a complex political story from this cozy fantasy,” asserted a Publishers Weekly critic. A writer in Kirkus Reviews commented: “It’s an atmospheric jewel box with sympathetic characters readers will root for from the first page.” The same writer described the book as “sparkling and lush; a gem.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 1, 2020, Maggie Reagan, review of The Boundless, p. 118.
Kirkus Reviews April 1, 2019, review of The Beholder; April 15, 2022, review of The Song That Moves the Sun; January 15, 2024, review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall.
Publishers Weekly, December 18, 2023), review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall, p. 97.
School Library Journal, July, 2022, Ness Shortley, review of The Song That Moves the Sun, p. 62; April, 2024, Aliza Mangefrida, review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall, p. 136.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2019, Lynne Stover, review of The Beholder, p. 71.
ONLINE
Anna Bright website, https://www.annabrightbooks.com (November 4, 2024).
Culturess, https://culturess.com/ (June 9, 202o), Lucy Baugher, review of The Boundless.
Drizzle and Hurricane Books, https://drizzleandhurricanebooks.com/(May 30, 2019), “A Talk with Anna Bright on ‘The Beholder’.”
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (June 30, 2022), review of The Song That Moves the Sun.
Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club, http://theunofficialaddictionbookfanclub.blogspot.com/ (June 2, 2020), “Interview with Anna Bright for The Boundless.”
VoyageBaltimore, https://voyagebaltimore.com/ (February 19, 2024), author interview.
Wishful Endings, https://www.wishfulendings.com/ (June 1, 2019), “Check out a Q&A for The Beholder by Anna Bright.”*
Anna Bright
Anna Bright is an indie bookseller by day and an author by night who still gets in trouble for reading when she's supposed to be doing other things. When not hiding out among books, she loves concerts, roller coasters, and adventures at home and abroad. Anna lives with her husband and cat in a charming cobblestoned neighborhood in Washington, DC, but you can find her online at www.annabrightbooks.com and on Twitter and Instagram at @brightlyanna.
Genres: Young Adult Fantasy
Series
Beholder
1. The Beholder (2019)
2. The Boundless (2020)
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Novels
The Song That Moves the Sun (2022)
The Hedgewitch of Foxhall (2024)
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About
Photo credit: Rosalinda Dauval
I believe in woods, mountains, highways, cobblestones, roller coasters, dancing, concerts, cherry Pop Tarts, books, and magic.
When I'm not reading or writing on my couch, I'm dragging my husband off on an adventure, playing with my daughters, communing with Salem (my kitten/spiritual familiar), or causing trouble at One More Page Books, where I work.
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(And here's that third-person bio, kind bookseller scrambling around before an event:)
Anna Bright is the author of YA novels The Beholder, The Boundless, The Song That Moves the Sun, and The Hedgewitch of Foxhall. When not writing or working as an indie bookseller, she loves concerts, roller coasters, and adventures at home and abroad. Anna lives with her family in a charming corner of Washington, DC, but you can find her online at www.annabrightbooks.com and on Instagram at @brightlyanna.
Local StoriesFebruary 19, 2024Meet Anna Bright
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Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Bright.
Hi Anna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started writing in 2013, during NaNoWriMo.
I’d thought I wanted to go to grad school and get an MA in English, but the more I looked at why I was applying, the more I realized what I was doing was looking for someone to tell me I’d learned enough, that I could start telling my own stories. Well. After I got into a few schools, I decided I’d skip the degree and start doing what I wanted to do.
I spent 2013 to 2015 writing my debut novel. I tried querying agents in 2015 but met with no luck, and dug back into my novel. In the fall of 2016, I got a revise and resubmit from my current agent– so I dug back in *again.* And in the spring of 2017, I signed with her and we sold my first duology to HarperTeen.
Seven years and four books later, here I am!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve met challenges along the way– most of them the same kind of challenges other writers (and professionals in other fields) have had to confront. The pandemic affected my 2020 release and threw a real wrench in my work routines.
I also have two young daughters, ages two and a half years and two and a half months, and learning to work without endless unbroken swathes of time has taught me how to be faster nimbler, and more focused than ever.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an author of young adult fantasy romance (~romantasy~, as it’s becoming known on BookTok) novels The Beholder (2019), The Boundless (2020), The Song That Moves the Sun (2022), and the forthcoming The Hedgewitch of Foxhall.
I enjoy riffing on history–fleshing out fairy tales into real stories and wrapping historical places and figures in fantasy. I firmly believe that romance and fantasy can be both fun AND meaningful– a story can be enjoyable AND have something true and important to say.
What makes you happy?
My husband and children. A tall stack of novels on my bedside table. Muddy boots and tired legs at the end of a long hike. Concerts, roller coasters, cross stitching, baking cookies, traveling, thrifting.
I love a lot of things.
Contact Info:
Website: www.annabrightbooks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightlyanna/
QUOTED: "Bright draws a complex political story from this cozy fantasy."
The Hedgewitch of Foxhall
Anna Bright. HarperTeen, $19.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06308-357-8
Ffion vch Catrin is the only witch who has yet to join Foxhall's coven, disgusted by the group's propensity for granting favors to the powerful and wealthy while ignoring the downtrodden. Taliesin and Dafydd ap Cadell are the two princes of a Welsh kingdom, though the true future king is yet to be determined. Their father, the current king, tasks the princes with figuring out how to break the magicsuppressing wall between Wales and the enchanted kingdom of Mercia and restore magic to Wales; the winner will be named his successor. Dafydd, who desires a quiet life over a kingly one, is uneasy about returning magic to Wales. Meanwhile, Taliesin seeks out Foxhall for help. When the coven refuses, the only witch left to turn to is Ffion. Together with Dafydd and Taliesin, Ffion becomes embroiled in an adventure that will determine the future of Wales, its magic, and the teens' own hearts. Bright (The Song That Moves the Sun) revitalizes the traditional love triangle in this evocative tale; through a mixture of witchery and real-world history, Bright draws a complex political story from this cozy fantasy. Ages 14-up. Agent: Elana Roth Parker, Laura Dail Literary. (Mar.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"The Hedgewitch of Foxhall." Publishers Weekly, vol. 270, no. 51, 18 Dec. 2023, p. 97. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A779652580/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ef4bc8f2. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.
BRIGHT, Anna. The Hedgewitch of Foxhall. 400p. HarperTeen. Mar. 2024. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780063083578.
Gr 9 Up--Ffion lives her life as a Hedgewitch, fueling her magic by gathering from nature, unlike the Foxhall coven who destroy for their gains. All magic is fading within Wales, and neighboring kingdoms are on the brink of war. King Cadell tasks his two sons with destroying the enemy King Offa's wall, believing that this could bring back magic and aid their cause. Whichever son completes this mission first will become his heir to the throne. Prince Taliesin, who would prefer magic not return, finds himself teaming up with Ffion to bring down the wall. Prince Dafydd, the favored son, half-heartedly makes an attempt as he wants to live simply and not as King. Bright's writing weaves together multiple aspects of Welsh folklore, which provides a distinctive setting. Readers may struggle however with some of the character, creature, and location names, even with the provided pronunciation guide. The magic system is well thought out and described; however, the same cannot be said for the overall arc of the plot. The characters' relationships with one another fuel the story, but there is little depth given to each individual. The multiple points of view make it challenging to really get to know them beyond the surface level. VERDICT Fans of Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle or Catherine Bakewell's Flowerheart may enjoy this one, but it's not recommended for general fantasy readers.--Aliza Mangefrida
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Mangefrida, Aliza. "BRIGHT, Anna. The Hedgewitch of Foxhall." School Library Journal, vol. 70, no. 4, Apr. 2024, p. 136. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A790645139/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=158a8bb3. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "It's an atmospheric jewel box with sympathetic characters readers will root for from the first page."
"sparkling and lush; a gem."
Bright, Anna THE HEDGEWITCH OF FOXHALL HarperTeen (Teen None) $19.99 3, 12 ISBN: 9780063083578
A witch and two princes are brought together in an adventure to save 8th-century Wales.
When Ffion, a hedgewitch estranged from her powerful magical family, members of the Foxhall coven, suffers a terrible loss, she finds herself in the position to team up on a quest with Taliesin, the "bastard prince" of her kingdom of Powys. Ffion sets out to walk the length of Offa's Dyke, determined to use her own magic to destroy it in order to return the disappearing magic to Wales. Meanwhile, Tal and his brother, Dafydd, have been pitted against one another in a challenge from their father, King Cadell, to destroy the dyke: Whoever succeeds will inherit the throne. While clever, opportunistic Tal hates magic, he's desperate to become king. Dafydd would rather spend his days working at his forge as a blacksmith, but he's coerced by Cadell into competing. Throughout the journey to destroy the dyke and thwart their enemies, the brothers are thrown together with Ffion in ways they couldn't have predicted. This comforting and cozy fantastical romance bursting with Welsh mythology is told from Ffion's, Tal's, and Dafydd's compelling points of view. It's an atmospheric jewel box with sympathetic characters readers will root for from the first page; they'll only be disappointed to learn it's a stand-alone novel and not a series opener. Ffion in particular shines as a thoughtful, brave hero with a compelling backstory.
Sparkling and lush; a gem. (pronunciation guide, author's note) (Fantasy. 14-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Bright, Anna: THE HEDGEWITCH OF FOXHALL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A779191134/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f0d2201c. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.