The Honey and the Sting is part gothic revenge thriller, part mystery. Set in 1628 it tells of three sisters, outsiders, who are forced into hiding, and also the man sent to hunt them down. Focusing on the corrupting effects of power, transgressive love and the treachery of secrets, the novel works as a fantasy of female agency at a time when women lived under a crushing patriarchy
‘A wonderfully inventive reimagining of the most dramatic murder of early Stuart England, but a novel whose power taps into something older and deeper. The interwoven story of the three sisters resonates with myth, as does the darkly ambivalent child who links the two strands of the novel and adds a satisfyingly astringent flavour to its resolution.’ Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London