Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosophers Stone - whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold - but just when the promise of the Stones riches is in their grasp, Theas mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness. While combing through her mothers notes, Thea learns that theres a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesnt know she exists. But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who dont believe Theas warning about the curse - instead, theyll stop at nothing to steal Theas knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die. In her debut novel, Samantha Cohoe weaves a story of magic and danger, where the streets of Oxford and London come to life, and the curse of the Philosophers Stone will haunt you long after the final page.

 

 

There are 352 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2020 by Wednesday Books .