Deborah Harkness’ debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, is the story of Diana Bishop who was born to Rebecca Bishop and Stephen Proctor, both extremely powerful witches. From a very early age, she displayed signs of extraordinary power and ability, notably time-walking at the age of three. At the young age of seven, she was orphaned when both of her parents were killed while in Africa. Subsequently, she was raised by her aunt Sarah Bishop and Emily Mather, Sarah's partner. This terrible loss of her parents caused Diana to reject her magic altogether. Diana went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from a college in Maine and a graduate degree from Oxford. After she obtained her PhD, she became a professor of history at Yale.