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A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches AuthorDeborah HarknessCover artistCountryUSALanguageEnglishSeriesAll Souls TrilogyGenreContemporary fantasy, romance, vampire, witchcraft, alchemyPublished2011 (Penguin Books)Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback)ISBN978-0-670-02241-0Followed byShadow of Night
A Discovery of Witches is a 2011 historical-fantasy novel and the debut novel by American scholar Deborah Harkness. It follows the story of Diana Bishop, a history of science professor at Yale University who, after accidentally finding an elusive, long-thought-lost manuscript, is compelled to embrace the magic in her blood that she has sought to keep out of her life and engage in a forbidden romance with charming vampire Matthew Clairmont.

A Discovery of Witches was first published in hardcover on February 8, 2011, by Penguin Books, becoming a New York Times Best Seller upon its release. It has since been released in paperback and also as an ebook. The novel has been translated into more than 36 languages. The book received mostly positive feedback from literary critics. It was praised for its intelligence and the mixture of history and fantasy, although some critics felt the plot was trite and the pacing was slow. Comparisons were made between other popular fantasy series, namely Twilight and Harry Potter. The novel began as a "thought experiment" for Harkness, who had previously only published works of historical non-fiction. She drew upon her academic background as a historian and her studies of alchemy, magic, and the occult.

A Discovery of Witches is the first installment in the All Souls trilogy, followed by Shadow of Night (2012) and completed with the third novel in the series, The Book of Life (2014). In June 2019 Harkness released a novella to the trilogy "Time's Convert." This novel followed the early lives of Matthew de Clermont and his soon to be son, Marcus MacNeil during the American Revolution. Two seasons of a television adaptation of the book were acquired by Sky One and broadcast in 2018 and 2021. Filming on a third season was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]

Plot
When Diana Bishop returns to Oxford University, her life is flipped upside down. While researching in the library, Diana requests a book called Ashmole 782. This manuscript, also known as the Book of Life, has been missing for over 150 years. As soon as Diana touches the ancient manuscript, her powers are activated. Frightened by her clear cosmic connection to Ashmole 782, Diana returns the book. It appears, however, that her discovery had already caught the attention of other creatures, which results in a series of events that slowly brings her witch heritage, and family, back into her life.

Matthew Clairmont is a vampire who has spent at least 150 years looking for that book. When word travels that the book is in Oxford, he races over expecting to see the book but instead he encounters Diana Bishop. Matthew's vampiric protective instincts set in and he makes it his responsibility to ensure Diana's safety. As the story progresses, a forbidden romance starts to bloom between the vampire and the witch.

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