The Corn Bride: The witchiest, ghostliest, most hilarious folk-horror wartime romance you'll read this year . . . or ever

‘A rural Ben Aaronovitch!’ C. K. McDonnell ‘Fast-paced, entertainingly creepy, laugh-out-loud funny, and genuinely moving’ Michelle Paver Dear reader, you are cordially invited to the strangest wedding of the year . . . It’s May 1941, and the war is in full swing. Yet in the quiet village of Woodville in rural Kent a happy event is on the horizon, as Faye Bright interrupts her training with the British Secret Service to return home and marry her true love, Bertie. But as preparations get underway, a ghostly premonition throws a spanner in the works. Who is the Corn Bride, and is her burning visage a warning, or a threat to the happiest day of Faye’s life? As Faye and the witches investigate, it’s soon apparent that there’s much more on the line than dress fittings, cake and Bertie’s stag do. For an old enemy is stirring in the shadows, bent on vengeance. And he’s not above crashing a wedding to get it. Will the happy couple make it to the church on time? Or, after all she’s survived, could it be getting hitched that finally spells Faye’s doom?

Embark upon an adventure that weaves together romance, undead Nazis, pensioner spies, spectral schoolchildren and a talking budgerigar, and still somehow manages to prove that love is the most powerful magic of all.

For fans of Lev Grossman and Terry Pratchett comes the fifth novel in this delightful series of war, mystery and a little bit of magic . . .

Don’t miss the other magical books in the WITCHES OF WOODVILLE series! #1 The Crow Folk #2 Babes in the Wood #3 The Ghost of Ivy Barn #4 The Holly King

© 2025 Simon & Schuster Audio UK (Audiobook): 9781398520844

Release date

Audiobook: 13 March 2025