Fir roșu, fir de foc, păzește-o de deochi.

Red thread, thread of fire, guard her from the evil eye.

D.A. Buhlea

Dark fantasy rooted in Romanian and English folklore. Stories of inherited magic, spoken charms and the romances tangled up in them.

Author of The Witch of Willow Lane

See the Books

The Debut Trilogy

The Witch of Willow Lane

Maria Ionescu is born in Botiza, a small village in the hills of Maramureș, where her grandmother's charms are spoken over cradles and doorways. When she is chosen as one of ten students for the Scholomance, Romania's hidden school of witchcraft, the words she grew up whispering take on a new and dangerous weight.

Years later, a woman tends a garden on Willow Lane in Shere, a village in the Surrey hills. Her neighbours know her as quiet, foreign and kind. They know nothing about her past, or what it cost her to leave it.

For readers of Katherine Arden and Naomi Novik.

The Books

The Willow Lane Trilogy

Book I

The Witch of
Willow Lane

Maria's story begins in Botiza, follows her through her years at the Scholomance, and ends with a new life in the English countryside. The first book of the trilogy.

Coming Soon

Book II

Title to Be Revealed

The second book returns to what Maria left behind in Romania. Title and details coming soon.

Forthcoming

Book III

Title to Be Revealed

The final book of the trilogy. Title and details coming soon.

Forthcoming

D.A. Buhlea, seated in a library

The Author

D.A. Buhlea

D.A. Buhlea was born in Romania and grew up with descântece, the spoken protection charms passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter. She now lives in the United Kingdom, and her books draw on the folklore of both countries.

The Witch of Willow Lane is her debut novel and the first book of the trilogy.

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