‘Makes skilful use of the tropes of Victorian gothic fiction… a story of society’s outsiders seeking acceptance and redemption´ ‘An inventive slice of gothic fiction, big-hearted and full of strangeness´ ‘A dazzling kaleidoscope of darkness and light´ ‘A magical, macabre masterpiece´ ‘Brimming with Victorian wonders!´ ________________________________ Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn't grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father's quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’ . Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name. Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts. But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know… Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath… ‘Fascinating and immersive´ ‘It had me spellbound´ ‘A wonderful, captivating carnival of a novel´ ‘Essie Fox’s best novel to date – weaves terrors with triumphs, heartache with hope´ ‘A scintillating cabinet of curiosities´ ‘A cast of characters Dickens would be proud of´ ‘Rich, dark and heady … a glorious gothic carnival´ ‘Magnificent ... a triumph´ ‘A tender, beautifully written meditation on what it meant in Victorian times to be an outsider´ ‘Darkly gothic, but surprisingly tender ... rendered with such magical and often terrifying authenticity. A marvel´ ‘Filled with gothic darkness and glorious hope´ ‘Full of horrors and delights´ ‘An opium trance of a novel, a vivid fantasmagoria´ ‘Deliciously dark, full of twists and surprises´ ‘What a triumph!´ ‘Very fine historical fiction´ ‘Truly unexpected and original´ ‘A dizzying potion of a novel´ ‘A sumptuous, gothic treat´ ‘Exceptional storytelling´ ‘I loved this group of wonderful “others” ´ ‘An exquisite novel´ ‘Haunting and emotive´