The Square of Sevens

Critics Review

• [A] wonderfully inventive novel set in 18th-century England. As the heroine and narrator Red seeks the truth about her origins and possible connection to the wealthy De Lacy family, the reader’s expectations are constantly confounded with one twist in her tale after another

  The Times and Sunday Times, Best Historical Fiction of 2023

• This rich, complex and haunting Dickensian epic is a triumph of the Gothic genre . . . a masterpiece

  Janice Hallett, betselling author of The Appeal

• A sweeping Dickensian tour de force of a novel . . . cementing the author’s place as the queen of modern Georgian literature

  Susan Stokes-Chapman, bestselling author of Pandora

• A sprawling, exquisite, outright triumph . . . I doubt I’ll read a better book this year

  Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin At the End

• With its twists and turns and revelations of those lies that bind and truths that rend asunder, this story is a deep pleasure to read

  Sunday Times

• This is an intricately plotted, epic book that delivers twist after twist in its 560 pages. A big, satisfying and clever read

  The Times

• A big, complex mystery: rich in memorable, scheming characters and vivid historical detail, full of daring twists. I was so immersed in its world. I didn’t want it to end

  S. J. Parris, bestselling author of the Giordano Bruno series

• This is a fabulously evocative novel, with a heroine who proves the most wonderful company, and a finely spun mystery which keeps you turning the pages. The Square of Sevens invites you into a magical world which you won’t want to leave

  Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den trilogy

• A fabulous historical novel that races along like a galloping pony

  Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Ashes of London

• In The Square of Sevens, Laura Shepherd-Robinson excels at recreating the past – in this case, Georgian England – in an authentic way. She invites us to join fortune teller Red on an epic journey to unravel the secrets of her past and we cannot rest until we have answers. Dazzling

  Fiona Cummins, author of When I Was Ten

• What a magnificent rollercoaster ride of a book . . . I am in awe

  James Oswald, bestselling author of the Inspector McLean series

• This is a book to relish, not rush through. Rich in historical detail, it’s immersive, authoritative and Dickensian in scope. Fundamentally though it’s a damn good story, brilliantly told. I loved it

  Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange and It Ends At Midnight

• Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this is one of the most intriguing books I have ever read

  Liz Nugent, bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

• Suspenseful and intricately planned, The Square of Sevens is a work where every page seems to hold the promise of a new thrilling secret. More than a mystery, it is a book that radiates a deep love of storytelling and the magic of a well-told tale

  Katherine J. Chen, author of Joan

• Laura Shepherd-Robinson is riding high in the historical crime stakes; this is a sprawling epic novel set in Georgian high society, with its lively fortune-telling heroine Red unearthing her own lethal legacy

  Financial Times

• The Square of Sevens shows a novelist approaching the peak of her powers. It’s ingeniously plotted, panoramic and deeply satisfying. . . filled with period colour, clever twists and turns, and the best set of characters this side of Dickens. It will keep you guessing until the final pages.

  Daily Express

• This has all the charm and intricate plotting that we expect from Laura’s books – it is exquisitely, meticulously plotted and you’ll want to curl up and absorb it all in as few readings as possible. For me, it’s reminiscent of Sarah Waters – praise that is richly deserved.

  Belfast Telegraph

• ‘[A] clever story…its characters flit between London’s slums and palatial estates where misdirection and conspiracies abound’

  Washington Post