Read more
''Kate Foster is an exceptional writer and masterful storyteller'' - Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal Inspired by an infamous real-life case, The Mourning Necklace is an unforgettable historical novel from the Women''s Prize-longlisted author of The Maiden , Kate Foster. They said I would swing for the crime and I did. I wear the rope-bruise like a necklace. 1724 . In a tavern just outside Edinburgh, Maggie Dickson''s family drown their sorrows, mourning her death yet relieved she is gone. Shame haunts them. Hanged for the murder of her new-born child, passersby avert their eyes from the cheap coffin on a rickety cart. But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door. It is Maggie. She has survived. Did she bribe the hangman? Or was she touched by God? And can she prove her innocence before they try to hang her again? Praise for Kate Foster: ''Exceptional - a tense, thrilling investigation, with a decidedly feminist slant'' - Daily Mail on The Maiden ''Riveting . . . the tension persists until the last page'' - The Times on The Maiden ''Enthralling, compelling and at times chilling . . . An utterly timely tale'' - D. V. Bishop, prize-winning author of Ritual of Fire , on The King''s Witches
About the author
Kate Foster worked as a national newspaper journalist for more than twenty years before becoming an author. Growing up in Edinburgh, she became fascinated by its history and often uses it as inspiration for her stories. Her previous novels include The Maiden, which won the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and The King’s Witches. The Mourning Necklace is her third novel. She lives in Edinburgh with her two children.
Report
Kate Foster can pluck a dark story from the depths of history and bring it to vivid life before your eyes. The Mourning Necklace is her best yet. Inspired by the real-life tale of a woman who survived her own execution, it is moving and masterful, a visceral treat that transports you to 18th-century Scotland and says as much about modern life as it does about those harrowing times. Foster is a class act and an author who, if you haven't read her yet, what are you waiting for? A strong contender for my book of the year Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
