The Trial Of Magdalena Overmorrow

Magdalena Overmorrow is the magician that women go to when they need illegal abortions in the kingdom of Astoleyn. When she is betrayed and arrested, she is banished to the realm’s northernmost city to await her trial where she will be watched over by the pious Lord Proctor of Cair Gramora. With one word he could sentence her to death at the stake.

But when Magda arrives, she is surprised to find that the Lord Proctor isn’t the grizzled old priest she expected, but a man barely older than her; as cold and mysterious as the mountains that surround the cair’s northern border.

Magda knows she must simply stay out of trouble long enough to earn a pardon, but she finds herself drawn to the intrigues plaguing the cair, and to the mysterious Lord Proctor himself, who now holds her life in his hands…

Caitríona Moran was born and raised in Western New York and studied English and writing at Boston College. After ten years in academic publishing, she now works as an editor at a nonprofit and lives in New York City. THE TRIAL OF MAGDALENA OVERMORROW is her debut novel.

the feminist dark fantasy debut of 2026

the feminist dark fantasy debut of 2026

-A confident, voicey debut from newcomer Caitriona Moran
-Perfect for readers of Katherine Arden, Naomi Novik, and Hannah Kaner, with the feminist urgency of THE HANDMAID’S TALE
-A dark fantasy with a strong enemies-to-lovers romance

Competition: Handmaid’s Tale;Uprooted; Spinning Silver;Bear and the Nightingale;One Dark Window;Study in Drowning;Alchemised;Godkiller;The Second Death of Locke;The Everlasting;The Familiar. Katherine Arden;Naomi Novik;Rachel Gillig;Ava Reid;Hannah Kaner;Samantha Shannon;Naomi Alderman