Published By: HarperCollins
Pages: 400
Released On: 22/10/2026
Three women. Seven centuries. One unbreakable blood curse…
It began in fire…
Paris, 1307. When eleven-year-old Princess Isabella of France watches four men burn at the stake, a dying knight curses her bloodline: love will destroy everything she holds dear.
It was forged in madness…
Bedlam, 1865. Lois wakes in Bedlam Asylum with no memory of who she is – only a precious red stone and the growing certainty that something ancient is hunting her.
Can it end before blood is spilled?
Present day. Artist Emma Harris arrives at a crumbling French château for her wedding and the exhibition of her life. But the walls remember everything, and something has followed her here.
Seven centuries of destruction. One woman left to fight.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve only read two of Cooke’s books before (this makes 3) and I own one other, but she’s already become a must-read author.
Maybe it wasn’t the ideal book to choose to read at night when you’re alone in the house and your dog keeps making noises that sound like someone’s trying to break down your door but hey! I mean, it’s not a horror, but there are some pretty freaky scenes.
It reminded me slightly of Emilia Hart’s Weyward (which was a brilliant book) in regards to following different generations of women caught up in some sort of magic.
I like multiple timeline/POV stories, especially if they’re characters who are related or linked in some way, which is what this is, and I loved that. And she’s chosen three very different periods – 1300s, 1800s, and 2026.
It’s slow to get going, but that’s not a negative. It allows you time to get to trips with the multiple timelines, the different characters, the emotions that are coming through. And then it gets more fast paced as it goes through.
I might be wrong but from what I’ve googled, it appears that Princess Isabella was actually a real person, although not everything in this book is true to face. I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the story.
I thought I’d prefer the 1300s scenes more because I like that ancient history stuff and I suppose I did to a degree, but I found myself enjoying the 2026 scenes more than I expected to. And the 1800s scenes gives me the best of both worlds – something that feels ancient but also has a certain level of familiarity.
I wasn’t very well when I was reading this and was struggling to focus (I even went one day without reading at all and the last time I did that was before I was born), so it took me a little longer to read than normal but I was glad in a way because it meant I got to savour it.
It’s a story told by three women. It’s rare to get a novel (that isn’t a rom-com) from the POV of women. But it never felt like a gimmick or something to tick a box. It felt natural and right.
There was history, romance, friendships, mother/child family, dysfunctional families, peril, chaos, murder, fear, curses, drama, thrill – it just had everything and it’s her expertise in storytelling that ensure it doesn’t feel too overwhelming.
I think it’s her best one yet.
Books By Your Bedside 