The Embroidered Book

By: Kate Heartfield

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

*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.

©2022 Kate Heartfield (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘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

Good story, but history is stretched a bit too far

I enjoyed the story and the narrator was well-suited to it. But at times the appearance of historical personages seemed improbable given the author's apparent attempt to overlay the existence of magic onto actual historical events. Still, it made for an engaging fantasy told from the viewpoints of two strong women characters.

Surprisingly Unpredictable

Despite knowing “the end” of the story I was pleasantly surprised by all the twists and turns. I don’t know enough about history to be bothered by any inaccuracies but that’s part of the historical fantasy genre anyway.
I loved the magic system in this! The cost of power and what the characters are willing to sacrifice had my mind racing with possibilities and predictions.
The two sister were dynamic and interesting. Their goals started out so similar but with different priorities and fears split in different directions.
I liked the book a lot. Solid interesting story and characters.