'A sumptuous Gothic mystery' NAT REEVE, author of NETTLEBLACK
'Kidd has imagination to die for' Guardian
A secret cannot stay locked away forever
Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn't know where she came from, but she knows she's different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.
For years, she was 'Little Spark', the star of an electrifying travelling act - until it went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.
Now she's been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.
But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years - and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.
| ISBN: | 9781838856557 |
| Publication date: | 13th August 2026 |
| Author: | Jess Kidd |
| Publisher: | Canongate an imprint of Canongate Books |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 352 pages |
| Genres: |
Historical Fiction |
'A sumptuous Gothic mystery' NAT REEVE, author of NETTLEBLACK
'Kidd has imagination to die for' Guardian
A secret cannot stay locked away forever
Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn't know where she came from, but she knows she's different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.
For years, she was 'Little Spark', the star of an electrifying travelling act - until it went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.
Now she's been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.
But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years - and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.
Little Spark features in the following genres: Historical Fiction
Little Spark is available in Paperback, Hardback
Little Spark was written by Jess Kidd and published by Canongate an imprint of Canongate Books
Little Spark has 352 pages
£17.09