The first shadows fall on a Friday afternoon when a single, dying raven lands on the pavement in front of Diana Bishop, harbinger of an invitation that reads, 'It's time you came home, Diana'. Diana is a witch and scholar; her husband Matthew Clairmont, a vampire.

Their intense love for one another awoke the dark powers within her and dissolved the Covenant between the three species - Witch, Daemon and Vampire - that live alongside humans. Now, the governing Congregation has decided it must test the magical powers of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Becca. Concerned with their safety, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family's future and travels to Ravenswood, the Proctor family home.

There, Diana begins a new era, becoming her great aunt Gwyneth's pupil in higher magic. It's time to confront her family's past - and her own, inescapable desire for greater power. Number One bestselling author Deborah Harkness returns to her beloved All Souls world with a triumphant novel that sweeps back to the Salem Panic and illuminates Diana's family history in new and thrilling ways.

The Black Bird Oracle deftly explores the nexus of memory, history, and parenthood - the magic, pain, and promises mothers pass onto their children.

'Harkness's lush prose makes a fantastical world real enough to touch' JODI PICOULT