Shadow of Night, the sequel to A Discovery of Witches, takes us back to Elizabethan England, where Matthew’s circle includes not only Elizabeth I but such notable figures as Sir Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlow, and Will Shakespeare.  Matthew’s presence there is couched in historical possibility; I Googled often and found amazing accuracy with regard to secret societies, witch trials, and the like.

Having loved A Discovery of Witches, I read Shadow of Night as soon as it came out.  But I’d forgotten enough of the first to go back and reread it.  Deborah Harkness has to be every bit as talented as Matthew and Diana to have crafted so many twists and turns, and then kept straight the wealth of details accompanying them.  You have to think when you read these, and neither of them is short.  But I’ve now read both twice, and with great pleasure, which tells you something about their readability.