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Rottenheart

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What to expect

THE UNMISSABLE NEW SAPPHIC GOTHIC HORROR NOVEL FROM KAT DUNN, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF HUNGERSTONE AND BITTERTHORN

'Feed this directly into my veins' TAYLOR JENKINS REID

'A darkly intoxicating and fierce sapphic retelling of Hamlet. Extraordinary' LUCY ROSE, author of The Lamb

Revenge me. For I am murdered . . .

Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.

But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.

But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .

Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness.

Further praise for ROTTENHEART

'Sinister and devastating. I want to read it again and again and again' BEA FITZGERALD

'A darkly intoxicating, sinister story shot through with beautiful and delicate sapphic yearning. Hauntingly brilliant' JENNIFER SAINT

'Dunn's retelling of Hamlet turns the lights on the psychological horror of the story. A gripping tale of grief and love, splendid with detail and completely transporting' SARVAT HASIN, author of The Giant Dark

'A gut-wrenching and lavishly written sapphic reimagining of Shakespeare's Hamlet . . . A close to the bone portrait of human cruelty, of our maddening obligation to our parents, and of loving someone whose capacity to hurt us is so primal not even death can limit it' LEIGH RADFORD, author of One Yellow Eye

'Dark and twisty and full of excruciatingly delicious sapphic longing. A haunting tale that kept me hooked right to the very last word' AHANA VIRDI, author of Sour Fruit

'A dark, sensual delight' HEAT, Book of the Week

Critics Review

Feed this directly into my veins.
Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of Atmosphere
Rottenheart will transport you. It's a darkly intoxicating and fierce sapphic retelling of Hamlet, filled with longing, rage, and grief. Kat Dunn has crafted something haunting, beguiling and mesmerizing and I'm certain it's her most extraordinary novel yet
Lucy Rose, bestselling author of The Lamb
Sinister and devastating. Rottenheart depicts vengeance as tragedy and tragedy as vengeance. It completely wrecked me. I am bereft. I want to read it again and again and again
Bea Fitzgerald, bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen
Dunn's retelling of Hamlet turns the lights on the psychological horror of the story. A gripping tale of grief and love, splendid with detail and completely transporting
Sarvat Hasin, author of The Giant Dark
A darkly intoxicating, sinister story shot through with beautiful and delicate sapphic yearning. Kat Dunn's writing is as vivid and immersive as ever, drawing the reader into her immaculately realised ghostly and gothic world. Hauntingly brilliant.
Jennifer Saint
Rottenheart is a gut-wrenching and lavishly written sapphic reimagining of Shakespeare's Hamlet, a feast of maternal possessiveness and the tragedy of those daughters who must strive in vain to earn a capricious love that's meant to be unconditional. A close to the bone portrait of human cruelty, of our maddening obligation to our parents, and of loving someone whose capacity to hurt us is so primal not even death can limit it. With customary flair, Kat Dunn shines an unforgiving light on the heavy burden of being someone's daughter
Leigh Radford, author of One Yellow Eye
Dark and twisty and full of excruciatingly delicious sapphic longing. A haunting tale that kept me hooked right to the very last word.
Ahana Virdi, author of SOUR FRUIT
A darkly intoxicating, sinister story shot through with beautiful and delicate sapphic yearning. Kat Dunn's writing is as vivid and immersive as ever, drawing the reader into her immaculately realised ghostly and gothic world. Hauntingly brilliant.
Jennifer Saint
A dark, sensual delight.
Heat Book of the Week
Author Kat Dunn
Narrator Perdita Weeks
Duration 11 hours and 10 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781786587619
Format x-book®
Publisher Manilla Press
Genre Ghosts and poltergeists, Historical fiction, Horror and supernatural fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

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