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The Embroidered Book

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What to expect

*Winner of the Aurora Award for Best Novel*

‘Spellbinding’ JJA Harwood

‘An entertaining and dark read’ Stylist

‘An absorbing novel’ Guardian

‘Beautifully written’ Elizabeth Chadwick

‘Power is not something you are given. Power is something you take. When you are a woman, it is a little more difficult, that’s all’

1768. Charlotte, daughter of the Habsburg Empress, arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Her sister Antoine is sent to France, and in the mirrored corridors of Versailles they rename her Marie Antoinette.

The sisters are alone, but they are not powerless. When they were only children, they discovered a book of spells – spells that work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.

In a time of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, they use the book to take control of their lives.

But every spell requires a sacrifice. And as love between the sisters turns to rivalry, they will send Europe spiralling into revolution.

Brimming with romance, betrayal, and enchantment, The Embroidered Book reimagines a dazzling period of history as you have never seen it before.

Critics Review

‘An absorbing novel … Heartfield sustains a fine balance between history and fantasy’
Guardian

‘Where fantasy and history meet … an entertaining and dark read’
Stylist

‘Reminded me in places of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I loved the depth of characterisation and the feel of the magic … beautifully written’
Elizabeth Chadwick, bestselling and award-winning author of The Summer Queen

‘Richly imagined and skilfully told, The Embroidered Book is an intricate and spellbinding tale’
JJA Harwood, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Shadow in the Glass

‘The Embroidered Book is superb from its opening scene to its heartbreaking end … Politics, magic, love, and sacrifice compete on equal terms in a sweeping, absolutely splendid epic novel about two sisters and familial love. If you like historical feminist fantasy, you will love The Embroidered Book’
Lisbeth Campbell, author of The Vanished Queen

‘Sacrifice, family, dreams, and deep, dark magic, The Embroidered Book is a triumph’
Julie E. Czerneda, author of The Gossamer Mage

‘Seamlessly weaves together real historical events into a stunning narrative that I’m sure will grip readers from the very first page to the very last. I could almost believe the book itself had been enchanted!’
Ann Sei Lin, author of Rebel Skies

‘What can I say about this book? It is extraordinary. I didn’t know how deeply I needed a story about sisters Charlotte and Antoine (later Marie Antoinette) and their complicated, courtly, beautiful, magical world’
E. Catherine Tobler, author of The Necessity of Stars

PRAISE FOR KATE HEARTFIELD:

‘Heartfield’s scenes brim with excitement’
Booklist

‘Written with arresting detail and challenges literary tropes about women’
Publishers Weekly

User Reviews

Book 4.5
Narration 4.5
5.0
5.0
storythreads 08/02/2025
4.0
4.0
Really enjoyed this novel - a really fascinating take on a famous part of European history. The writing and narration was brilliant and I enjoyed the fact it was a female-centred narrative.
megchaplin 29/05/2022

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