Nightshade and Oak [Paperback]

An Iron Age goddess must grapple with becoming human in this delightful historical fantasy of myth and magic from the author of the instant hit Greenteeth.

★ "Yet another excellent story rooted in the folklore of the British isles, this one charged with queer love." – Booklist(starred review)
 
When Malt, the goddess of death, is accidentally turned human by a wayward spell, she finds she's ill-equipped to deal with the trials of a mortal life. After all, why would a goddess need to know how to gather food or light a fire?
 
Unable to fend for herself, she teams up with warrior Bellis on a perilous journey to the afterlife to try to restore her powers. Frustrated by her frail human body and beset with blisters, Malt might not make the best travelling companion.

But as animosity slowly turns to attraction, these two very different women must learn to work together if they are to have any hope of surviving their quest.Molly O'Neill was born in the UK and moved to Australia in 2019. She works as a geologist, building roads and rail tracks, and she also runs Book Fair Australia, a literature festival in Sydney."O'Neill has delivered yet another excellent story rooted in the folklore of the British isles, this one charged with a slow-burn queer love story and two characters who have to confront their deepest selves to help save the world of the dead and those they care for most."Booklist (Starred Review) on Nightshade and Oak"This combination of historical fantasy, mythic retelling, and tragic sapphic romance with a world-shaking quest is sure to appeal to readers who loved O’Neill’s debut,Greenteeth, as well as fans of Grace Curtis’sIdolfire, mythic retellings of Orpheus and Eurydice, and other reinterpretations of classic mythology and hidden history from underrepresented perspectives, lÃ.