The Mourning Necklace (Hardback)
Kate Foster (author)Published: 29/05/2025
'Kate Foster is an exceptional writer and masterful storyteller' – Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
Inspired by the infamous real-life case of Maggie Dickson, The Mourning Necklace is an unforgettable historical novel from Women's Prize-longlisted author, Kate Foster.
They said I would swing for the crime and I did . . . Surely, they can't hang me twice?
1724. In a village tavern on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Maggie Dickson’s family drown their sorrows, mourning her death yet relieved she is gone. Shame haunts them. Passers-by avert their eyes from the cheap-looking coffin on the rickety cart. Despite protesting her innocence, Maggie was hanged that morning for the murder of her new-born child. But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door. It is Maggie. She has survived her execution.
Whether Maggie bribed the hangman or has been touched by God matters little now. What matters is proving her innocence before she is hanged 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
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781035052059
Number of pages: 320
Dimensions: 216 x 135 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
The Maiden is a masterpiece. A thrilling historical murder tale but so much more. Vivid, evocative and full of humanity - Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal, on The Maiden
Riveting . . . The tension persists until the last page - The Times on The Maiden
Kate Foster expands the slender facts of the case into something exceptional - a tense, thrilling investigation, with a decidedly feminist slant - Daily Mail on The Maiden
Threat hangs over every page like the awaiting guillotine, but the women in this book gleam sharper. Witty, gritty and full of heart, their voices rise through the brutality and hardship of seventeenth-century Edinburgh, battling to be heard - Cari Thomas, bestselling author of Threadneedle
Historical fiction at its finest. A true-life murder tale told thrillingly through the eyes of two very different women - D. V. Bishop, author of City of Vengeance, on The Maiden
A masterpiece of the historical fiction genre - I literally didn’t look up from first page to last - Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal, on The King's Witches
A beautifully written tale of love and duty, fear and courage - Jenny Ashcroft, bestselling author of The Echoes of Love, on The King's Witches
Enthralling, compelling and at times chilling . . . An utterly timely tale - D. V. Bishop, award-winning author of Ritual of Fire, on The King's Witches
A gripping, poignant novel that gives voice to those so often unheard in historical accounts - Elizabeth Lee, bestselling author of Cunning Women, on The King's Witches
A rich, compelling story of three women and their intersecting lives - Katie Lumsden, author of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, on The King's Witches
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