Warner Bros. has acquired the film rights to Deborah Harkness’ best-selling novel “A Discovery of Witches.” Denise Di Novi and Allison Greenspan will produce the adaptation.
Publisher The Penguin Group describes the title as follows:
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches.
When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxfords Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her familys legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.
For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witchs discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.
Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscripts secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humansand will certainly transform Dianas world as well.
Harkness is writing the story as a trilogy and the second book, “Shadow of Night,” is expected to hit stores next summer.
