Tag: Rebecca Kightlinger

Folklore and Legacy in Medieval Cornwall: A Review of ‘Megge of Bury Down’

‘Megge of Bury Down: Book One of the Bury Down Chronicles’ by Rebecca Kightlinger. Photo: Amazon

Megge of Bury Down: The Bury Down Chronicles, Book One

By Rebecca Kightlinger

📖 Synopsis

Bury Down Grove, 1275

A thousand years have passed since Murga, the Seer of Bury Down, was put to the stake.

It had taken the elderly seer a lifetime to harness into two volumes—The Book of Time and The Book of Seasons—the power to sustain the human spirit in perpetuity and summon the spirits of scholars, seers, astronomers, and healers she called the Mentors. These guides were summoned back to the living world to impart knowledge and wisdom to protect the people of her settlement.

That power cost Murga her life.

For centuries, her books have been passed down to her successors—healers and seers of Bury Down—who used Murga’s spells to counsel rulers, foresee disasters, and heal the sick. Each heir vowed to face flames rather than fail to protect her book or pass it to her daughter.

Now, in the grove at midnight, the healer’s young daughter, Megge, is asked to accept her mother’s Book of Seasons. But wary of the rites and haunted by an accusing whisper only she can hear, Megge hesitates. Refusal could cost her mother’s life—and alter the future of Bury Down. (Barnes & Noble, 2025)

🌿 Review

Rebecca Kightlinger’s Megge of Bury Down, the first installment in The Bury Down Chronicles, is a spellbinding tale steeped in folklore, family, and the burden of legacy.

Set in medieval Cornwall, the novel follows young Megge, daughter of a respected healer and keeper of the Book of Seasons. When the time comes for her to inherit this sacred role, Megge is torn between fear of mysterious rites and the haunting whispers only she can hear. Her reluctance carries weighty consequences, for refusing her calling may endanger her mother—and the lineage of healers.

Kightlinger masterfully blends historical detail with mysticism, weaving a story that feels both grounded and otherworldly. Megge is a relatable heroine—curious, vulnerable, and caught in the tension of duty versus self. The prose is lyrical and atmospheric, capturing both the beauty and the shadow of Cornwall. “Two masts. Two tall masts have pierced the horizon, their sails crimson with the setting sun.” Readers will find themselves gripped by the suspense of whether Megge will embrace her destiny.

✨ Why You Should Read This Book

More than a tale of magic, Megge of Bury Down is a meditation on courage, identity, and sacrifice. It’s a story about the weight of legacy, the fear of failure, and the courage to choose one’s path—even when it means stepping into fire.

If you love:

  • Historical fantasy with rich, immersive settings
  • Folklore and mysticism woven into everyday life
  • Strong female characters facing impossible choices

…then this book deserves a place on your reading list.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

👩‍💻 About the Author

Rebecca Kightlinger, a former physician turned novelist, infuses her writing with an appreciation for healing, tradition, and women’s resilience across history. Megge of Bury Down is the first book in her acclaimed Bury Down Chronicles series.

*Thank you to Smith Publicity and NetGalley for my copy for review consideration. I have not been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

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New release: ‘Megge of Bury Down’ by Rebecca Kightlinger

Author Q & A with Rebecca Kightlinger

Author Q & A with Rebecca Kightlinger

Kightlingerphoto
Rebecca Kightlinger, author of ‘Megge of Bury Down.’  Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Megge of Bury Down’ and how did the story come about?
A: It took roughly seven years from concept to publication. Like many of my narrators, Megge just appeared in my mind’s eye one day when I was ready to write and started showing me around her home and telling me the story of her family and her life.

When she described a river that ran alongside a circular castle and emptied into an estuary along a southern coast, somewhere west of Holland, I got out a globe and opened Google Earth, and realized that the river was the Fowey. Megge’s story was set in Cornwall.

I then had to research medieval Cornwall, medieval medicine and midwifery, and ancient grimoires and herbcraft. Then I had to turn this story into a novel. Never having written one before, I knew I would have to seriously study writing craft. That was when I learned about low-residency MFA programs.

I looked at all of them from Pennsylvania to the east coast and felt most strongly attracted to the University of Southern Maine. It was there, at Stonecoast, among the talented students and faculty, that I learned how to take Megge’s story from mostly summary narrative to a scene-driven novel.

Q: Fans of which authors/books do you think would enjoy this title and why?
A: I think fans of novels featuring strong female characters will enjoy this book. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon comes to mind: iconic mystical and mythical fiction set in Dark-Age Cornwall. Bradley’s characters are depicted as real people in a world in which the mystical plays an integral part and the protagonist is often at odds with her family: wanting to belong but often rejecting the core tenets of her family’s beliefs. The Mists of Avalon features strong women who are outside the bounds of traditional society, and I think this resonates with readers of all ages.

Q: What do you want readers to remember about your story or characters long after they have finished reading?
A: I hope they will hold on to the feeling of togetherness and protectiveness that exists in Megge’s family through generations, even after family members have passed. In this family, there is such a strong bond that they are willing to return to the living world after death, and even die horrific deaths, rather than allow wisdom and knowledge to be lost. There is an abiding sense of love, trust, and dedication that transcends death.

Q: Is the book based on events in your life or related to your background or expertise/experiences?
A: Not consciously. But since Megge’s mother and aunt were healers in a rural setting where there were no physicians handy, I might have drawn on some of my experiences in Guyana, where non-physician clinicians provide medical care very skillfully. The birth scenes did come naturally given my work as an OB/GYN, and I enjoyed writing them.

Q: What is your favorite genre to write?
A: Historical fiction. Most of my stories are from a distinct time in the past. My first novel, which I haven’t published, was set in the 1930s and involved the struggle to organize the Steelworker’s union.

Megge’s story is set in the thirteenth century, but I’ve already written drafts of some of the future installments in this series, and they are set in every century from the fourth century to the present day. Researching each era and location is fascinating and a great pleasure.

New release: ‘Megge of Bury Down’ by Rebecca Kightlinger

meggeofburydownbook
‘Megge of Bury Down’ is the new release by Rebecca Kightlinger.  Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Rebecca Kightlinger is a novelist,  book critic for Historical Novels Review, fiction- submissions reader for New England Review and Stonecoast Review and a copy editor for Stonecoast Review. Earning an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program and a copyediting certificate from UCSD, she turned her Masters thesis into her debut novel. Kightlinger and her husband reside in northwestern Pennsylvania. (Smith Publicity, 2018)

Confused, unsure, and trying to avoid a twist of fate, a vow that she fears will lead to murder, a young woman makes a decision that places her family in unimaginable danger. A story intertwining destiny with reckoning, and tradition with dreams, the debut coming-of-age novel ‘Megge of Bury Down: Book One of the Bury Down Chronicles’, by Rebecca Kightlinger, radiates feelings of togetherness and protectiveness as seen through the eyes of a young girl embroiled in a mystical struggle that threatens to tear her family apart.

Set in thirteenth-century Cornwall, on a sheep farm in the shadow of Bury Down, known for a thousand years as the land of the second sight, a healer has vowed to face flames rather than fail in her one task in this life: to bring her young daughter to vow to protect The Book of Seasons, an ancient grimoire whose power sustains the spirits of all their ancestors.

On the night of her vow-taking, wanting only to become a woman of Bury Down like her mother and aunts and drawn by an inexplicable yearning to possess her mother’s book, Megge reaches for it. But when she touches its cover, it burns her fingers and she hears it whisper, “Murderer.” Fearing that the book will make her harm those she loves, she rejects it and renounces her birthright.

To what lengths will Megge’s mother go to help the child find the courage to take that vow? And how far will Megge go to elude a terrifying destiny?

This newly released title, ‘Megge of Bury Down’, addresses family issues prevalent in today’s world in a tender yet cryptic setting, creating a story readers of all ages will want to visit again and again.

In this magical and suspenseful chronicle, ‘Megge of Bury Down’ depicts:

  • An unimaginable bond of family. Through generations, even after family members have passed, togetherness and protectiveness are ever-present in Megge’s family.
  • Powerful female characters and how their strength, wisdom, and compassion allow them to defy all odds.
  • The intense conflict between the yearning to belong and the need to find your own path.
  • Tolerance—understanding that the life you must lead to hone your skills may make you an outsider, even to those you serve.
  • A real-life setting—Bury Down is an ancient hill fort whose ruins can still be seen on a hilltop just outside of Lanreath, Cornwall.

‘Megge of Bury Down: Book One of the Bury Down Chronicles’ is available for purchase in paperback and e-book via Amazon and all major booksellers.

“Creating powerful female characters, combining magic and medicine, Rebecca Kightlinger tells a compelling tale of what it takes to walk the ‘path of the protector.’ In a timeless yet also timely story, Kightlinger’s heroine rallies supernatural strength and all matter of healing arts to find her path toward protecting books, the land, and most of all her fellow women. Readers will not forget the women of Bury Down.” —Elizabeth Searle, author We Got Him and librettist for Tonya and Nancy: The Rock Opera