‘Dodgy electrics, doors unlocking themselves and a possible infestation, not to mention the strange dream: Thea began to worry that something was very wrong with the house.’ I am very partial to a bit of spooky in a story, particularly the kind that involves an old house with a myriad of secrets whispering from its walls and a reputation as being haunted. In another time, they would have been burned at the stake for less.’ Five women holding hands in a circle in a garden after dark. ‘Here they were in a small back garden, stars beginning to pinprick the sky, the moon full and luminous. It’s a theme she demonstrates throughout her narratives with blinding precision. Each of her three works of historical fiction have been vastly different from each other, truly unique stories, and yet they are united in a common framework: female agency, specifically, the lack of it within a woman’s life throughout different periods in history and across the different social and economic classes. Each of Kayte Nunn’s novels seem flawless, and then she brings the next one out and you think, this is her best yet, and then she does it all over again, just continuing to go from strength to strength.

I am a big, long-time fan of Kate Morton, so I mean this as a compliment. I would put her on a par with Kate Morton in terms of creating a vivid atmosphere, the depth and layering of the story, and of course, bringing those historical settings to life. Kayte Nunn is an author of exceptional talent. Oh yes…so am I! Another novel that seems as though it has been perfectly tailored just for me. ‘I’m interested in persecution ideologies – specifically witchcraft in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.’ Intoxicating, haunting and inspired by the author’s background, THE SILK HOUSE is the exceptional new gothic mystery by Kayte Nunn. Arriving in the market town of Oxleigh, she brings with her a length of fabric woven with a pattern of deadly plants that will have far-reaching consequences for all who dwell in the silk house. In London, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives amid the clatter of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is the domain of men. She is thrust into a new and dangerous world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention. In the late 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant. She is to stay with them in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past, where the shadows hide more mysteries than she could ever imagine. The spellbinding story of a mysterious boarding school sheltering a centuries-old secret by the bestselling author of THE BOTANIST’S DAUGHTERĪustralian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside only to find that she is to look after the first intake of girls in its 150-year history.

The silk house kayte nunn