The Library Thief: The spellbinding debut for fans of Fingersmith and The Binding

(Hardback)

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THE BINDING MEETS FINGERSMITH BY WAY OF THE WIDE SARGASSO SEA . . . AN EXTRAORDINARY HISTORICAL MYSTERY

The library is under lock and key. But its secrets can't be contained.

1896. After he brought her home from Jamaica as a baby, Florence's father had her hair hot-combed to make her look like the other girls. But as a young woman, Florence is not so easy to tame - and when she brings scandal to his door, the bookbinder throws her onto the streets of Manchester.

Intercepting her father's latest commission, Florence talks her way into the remote, forbidding Rose Hall to restore its collection of rare books. Lord Francis Belfield's library is old and full of secrets - but none so intriguing as the whispers about his late wife.

Then one night, the library is broken into. Strangely, all the priceless tomes remain untouched. Florence is puzzled, until she discovers a half-burned book in the fireplace. She realises with horror that someone has found and set fire to the secret diary of Lord Belfield's wife - which may hold the clue to her fate . . .

'A tantalising read that swells with secrecy and intrigue. It's hard to believe that Kuchenga Shenje writes of the past, and not of the present. A beautifully and skilfully written debut'

CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of Queenie

Reviews

A tantalising read that swells with secrecy and intrigue. It's hard to believe that Kuchenga Shenj writes of the past, and not of the present. A beautifully and skilfully written debut -- CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of QUEENIE
Powerful, sagacious and warm, The Library Thief is both a gripping, multi-layered mystery and a gorgeously absorbing novel that demanded I return to its pages whenever I had the audacity to set it down. Without a doubt, Shenj's wholly original debut has bestseller written all over it -- JOANNE BURN, author of The Hemlock Cure
A compelling novel that starts as a mystery and grows into a coming-of-age story, examining identity, belonging, loneliness and friendship within the restrictive and stifling world of late Victorian society. The Library Thief is filled with fantastically drawn characters and with a love of books that shines through the prose -- KATIE LUMSDEN, author of THE SECRETS OF HARTWOOD HALL

Author Bio

Kuchenga is a writer, journalist and speaker with work on many media platforms including Stylist, British Vogue and Netflix. She has contributed short stories and essays to several anthologies, most notably It's Not OK to Feel Blue (And Other Lies), Who's Loving You and Loud Black Girls.

Owing to a lifelong obsession with books and the written word, Kuchenga studied Creative Writing at The Open University. Her work is focused on the perils of loving, being loved and women living out loud throughout the ages. Her first novel The Library Thief is the ultimate marriage of her passions for history, mystery and rebels.

She currently resides in Manchester where she is determined to continue living a life worth writing about.