Overview

1535, Oxfordshire. Lady Maude Shaftsberry has it all sorted. She will marry the well-connected lord, ascend the ranks of the Tudor court, and be mother to a small battalion of boys. But Maude has a secret that she carries everywhere: a birthmark that stretches over her stomach and between her legs. Is it a mark of fertility? Did her mother rub her pregnant belly too vigorously on the full moon? Or is it the sign of a witch? Her new husband is certain it's the latter. Maude, faced with annulment and the nunnery, must make her own way. The witches in town are the only ones who will give her refuge, but staying in the apothecary comes at a price. She must help and assist the witches. Surrounded by potions, star charts, a fairy, who appears to be a very large and handsome man who helps around the house, Maude begins to realise there is a strange and seductive power in being outcast. Regrettably, I am About to Cause Trouble is a tale about being ostracised, and finding our power and family in unusual places.