Published By: Mantle
Pages: 304
Released On: 29/05/2025
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 newborn child, passers-by avert their eyes from her cheap coffin on its rickety cart.
But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door.
It is Maggie. She is alive.
Bruised and dazed, Maggie has little time for her family’s questions. All that matters to her is answering this one: will they hang her twice?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Mantle for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I LOVE Kate’s books – The Maiden and The King’s Witches – and so I was hoping this would be no different.
Historical is one of my most read genres and whilst I don’t pretend to have read every book out there, for me, Kate is the best for writing historical novels today, especially historical novels that feel so contemporary.
I’d not heard of Maggie Dickson before this, but having looked her up it’s clear that Kate has done her research. And you can tell history is her passion. Most people could write a half decent piece of work once they had all the facts, but it takes a special writer to put the meaning and emotion into that research.
This book took me a little longer to get into than her previous two. Not that that’s a negative, just an observation. But once I was in, you couldn’t get me our, and I read the last 80% or so in a day.
I love Kate’s storytelling and character creation. But what shines most is just Kate’s basic writing ability. I don’t mean ‘basic’ as in bad. But I mean her ability to just write, to describe the mundane and the thrilling, is perfect.
I think I’d have preferred more character than plot. I loved it and everything about it, but I’m quite vocal in my preference for character development that plot. To begin with, I wanted a bit more depth to Maggie, but once it got going, it really picked up in that area. But either way, it is still a very impressive read.
Kate has become a go-to author for historical novels and I really hope she has plans to keep releasing them because she has a committed reader her.
Oh and if you’re reading this Kate, I just have a quick question. How do you come up with these stories? They’re based on real events…do you just search for interesting historical figures and create a story around them? Or do you have more of a personal connection to them? Are you specific about who you choose, or what to write about? I’m fascinated in these lesser-known historical stories you find.
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