Authors: F. E. Higgins
The Bone Magician
Praise for
The Black Book of Secrets
:
‘This clever, atmospheric debut, about kindness and cruelty, with its richly drawn and
sometimes grotesque characters, its mysteries, its magic and its surprising climax, is a piece of perfectly constructed, old-fashioned storytelling of the most compelling kind’
Sunday Times
Children’s Book of the Week
‘A deliciously rich mix of Gothic nastiness . . . and black humour . . . Higgins’s
prose has terrific verve, with glittering descriptive flashes . . . It’s a bravura debut’
Guardian
‘You are in for a terrific read . . .The fierce yet sophisticated denouement of this
excellent debut leaves you longing for a sequel’
The Times
‘Beautifully written . . . this imaginative extravaganza also offers food for
thought’
Times Educational Supplement
Also by F. E. Higgins
The Black Book of Secrets
F. E. HIGGINS
M
ACMILLAN
C
HILDREN
’
S
B
OOKS
First published 2008 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2008 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-230-71401-4 in Adobe Reader format
ISBN 978-0-230-71400-7 in Adobe Digital Editions format
Copyright © F. E. Higgins 2008
The right of F. E. Higgins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that
you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
To Andy
– Anon.
‘And none could rival the Beast in its ugliness’
Anon., ‘The Tale of the Hideous Beast’, from
Houndsecker’s Tales of Faeries and
Blythe Spirits
Boane magycke – anciente praktise of raiysing deade bodyies
Jonsen’s dictionary
, c. 1625
A Note from F. E. Higgins | |
Prologue | |
Chapter One | |
Chapter Two | |
Chapter Three | |
Chapter Four | |
Chapter Five | |
Chapter Six | |
Chapter Seven | |
Chapter Eight | |
Chapter Nine | |
Chapter Ten | |
Chapter Eleven | |
Chapter Twelve | |
Chapter Thirteen | |
Chapter Fourteen | |
Chapter Fifteen | |
Chapter Sixteen | |
Chapter Seventeen | |
Chapter Eighteen | |
Chapter Nineteen | |
Chapter Twenty | |
Chapter Twenty-One | |
Chapter Twenty-Two | |
Chapter Twenty-Three | |
Chapter Twenty-Four | |
Chapter Twenty-Five | |
Chapter Twenty-Six | |
Chapter Twenty-Seven | |
Chapter Twenty-Eight | |
Chapter Twenty-Nine | |
Chapter Thirty | |
Chapter Thirty-One | |
Chapter Thirty-Two | |
Chapter Thirty-Three | |
Chapter Thirty-Four | |
Chapter Thirty-Five | |
Chapter Thirty-Six | |
Chapter Thirty-Seven | |
Chapter Thirty-Eight | |
Chapter Thirty-Nine | |
Chapter Forty | |
Chapter Forty-One | |
Chapter Forty-Two | |
Appendix I | |
Appendix II | |