Thalia

'This is historical fiction at its best - it is absolutely steeped in atmosphere, and so vividly recreates the interregnum era that I felt as though I'd been transported there. Stacia's prose has a beautiful originality; and her characters come alive with authenticity and humanity. They are loveable and infuriating by turns, but the reader always believes in them, and invests hopes and fears with them. The story kept me gripped from the very first page; by turns desperately sad, funny and heart warming. I have genuinely enjoyed this book far more than anything else I have read for several months. I loved it!' Katherine Webb, author of The Legacy and The Unseen 'A 17th century heroine for our times...[A] delightfully seditious heroine...Brown introduces a wonderful cast of supporting characters-one comically crotchety prosecutor, Rachel's Huguenot (read: not to be totally trusted) boss at the glove factory, and a friend who tries to defend Rachel even after Rachel has stopped defending herself....For all its period detail, this debut seems remarkably modern in its depiction of love and politics--proof that a historical novel can be educational and entertaining, and nothing like homework.' O, The Oprah Magazine 'Brown's first novel is a heart-poundingly vivid, intellectually provocative account of the legal case against a fictional woman condemned to death for secretly burying her dead, illegitimate newborn in Cromwell's England . . . The author provides great, unsentimental sex scenes that feel true to the era . . . Events in the plot are based on historical incidents, and one of the book's many joys is the way fictional (Rachel, the Bartwains) and historical figures (the Walwyns, the Lilburnes) weave seamlessly together; everyone's motives and reactions are richly complex. A romping good read that is character-driven yet intellectually provocative on issues of law, religion and morality-historical fiction at its best.' Kirkus, starred review