THE much-anticipated debut novel by a Wye Valley woman is being launched next week.

Cari Thomas, who was raised in Devauden and educated at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, has signed a four-book deal with HarperCollins.

Ms Thomas' debut novel, Threadneedle, is the first book in The Language of Magic series and will be out in print on Thursday, May 27.

Waterstones has got behind the book with a signed, red sprayed-edge special edition.

The retailer originally ordered 2,000 copies but has increased this to 4,000 and is also running a prize draw.

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There is also a special London-themed edition planned with Goldsboro books in Covent Garden.

Ms Thomas says she has drawn inspiration from her upbringing among the woods and myths of the Wye Valley.

Her mother, Liz Thomas, was headteacher of Monmouth Schools Pre-Prep and Nursery (then Agincourt School and Nursery) for 11 years.

A journalist and marketing professional, who previously ran teen magazine Sugar’s book club, Ms Thomas wrote Threadneedle while living in London, wandering the city and weaving it with all the magic she wished it contained.

Told through spells created with knots and threads, Threadneedle is "set in contemporary London and a story that is both innovative and based in traditional witchcraft".

After joining Monmouth School for Girls in Year 7 and taking her A levels in the Sixth Form, she achieved a first-class degree in English literature and creative writing at Warwick University. She then gained a distinction in Magazine Journalism at The Cardiff School of Journalism.

She worked in consumer publishing and as a digital strategist at a creative agency, spending her spare time researching magic and accumulating an unusual collection of occult books. The writer now lives in Bristol with her husband James Williams and son, Taliesin.