Philip Paris

Highland-based Philip Paris is the bestselling author of The Last Witch of Scotland, an historical fiction inspired by the case of Janet Horne, the last person in Britain to be executed for witchcraft (Dornoch, 1727). The book was published in 2023 and in 2024 Waterstones made the title its ‘Scottish Book of the Year’. 

Philip’s work is extremely varied, ranging from historical to contemporary fiction, as well as non-fiction and memoir. His books are often inspired by important events or issues that have not previously been covered in the form of a novel. Men Cry Alone broke new ground in highlighting domestic abuse against men when it was published in 2012, and the novel later won the Scottish Association of Writers Barbara Hammond Trophy. His 2009 debut novel, The Italian Chapel, told for the first time the story of the creation of Orkney’s famous chapel, built by Italian prisoners or war during WW2. Philip’s non-fiction book, Orkney’s Italian Chapel: The True Story of an Icon, is recognised as the authoritative work on the building’s history.

Philip’s latest historical fiction, A Fire in Their Hearts (published August 2025), was inspired by the extraordinary story of the 17th century Scottish Covenanters. Today, this violent period of Scotland’s past is largely unknown, yet a brutal civil war raged for decades as ordinary people fought the Royalist army under various monarchs over who should be the head of the Church of Scotland – Jesus Christ or the king. A Fire in Their Hearts also explores the little-known events of how captured Covenanters were often transported to the plantations in America or the West Indies as forced indentured servants. This banishment of Covenanters is the tragic story behind the sinking of the Crown of London off Deerness in December 1679, with the loss of around 200 lives. About a third of the historical fiction follows the traumatic experiences of the book’s protagonist as she endures life on a sugar plantation in Barbados.

Website: Philip Paris