Glass20Woman20ends.JPG

Features

Witches in 17th century Iceland: ‘They were almost exclusively men’

The fascinating story of sisterhood and survival based on shocking true events

Prize Women

Based on the scandalous true story of The Great Stork Derby, Prize Women is a gripping and deeply moving novel about desperate choices and the two unforgettable women forced to make them. 
 
'Gorgeous. Prize Women took my breath away. I haven't stopped thinking about it' JENNIFER SAINT 
 
'Wonderfully evocative and intelligent. Sheds light on a scandalous moment in history I knew nothing about, told with great sensitivity and grace. I was entranced' EMMA STONEX 
 
'This heartbreaking story explores friendship, strength and the fight to survive' WOMAN'S WEEKLY 
___________ 
 
It's the 1920s, a time of unparalleled excess. 
But for the rich to party, the poor must starve . . . 
 
Into the city arrives pregnant runaway Lily di Marco. 
She has nothing – and expects nothing. 
But soon she will find herself in a towering mansion just streets away. 
Confidante to, and best friends with, its glamorous owner Mae Thebolt. 
 
Until the competition. 
 
A childless millionaire leaves his fortune to the woman 
who will have the most babies over ten years. 
Is it an eccentric contest? 
Or a horrible joke played by a rich man on the poorest women of the city? 
 
Either way, it will tear Lily and Mae’s friendship - and their lives - to pieces . . . 
 
___________ 
 
'A profoundly moving and absolutely gripping novel about the choices women face - and the choices they are denied. I cannot recommend it highly enough' ELODIE HARPER 
 
'This tale of two women resonates with what is happening in the world today. I was gripped by Lily and Mae's story, the desperate choices that women still face' LOUISE HARE 
 
'Fascinating historical fiction with a feminist slant' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 
 
'A serious, thoughtful and epic journey into the trials of motherhood . . . With her contrasting female characters, Lea interrogates the fight for female agency across class divides, a struggle that continues to this day. A fascinating snapshot of another time, perhaps not as far removed from our own as we might hope' JANICE HALLET 
 
'Wonderfully researched and full of evocative historical detail' CULTUREFLY 
 
'Masterful. Caroline Lea is a superb storyteller, and Prize Women deserves a huge readership. So good, I had to pull myself away' ELIZABETH MACNEAL

Gorgeous. Prize Women - with its powerful, important message about women's choices, freedom and motherhood - took my breath away. I haven't stopped thinking about it

Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne

A profoundly moving and absolutely gripping novel about the choices women face - and the choices they are denied. I cannot recommend it highly enough

Elodie Harper, bestselling author of The Wolf Den

A story that sounds stranger than fiction and Lea handles it with the utmost compassion. Wonderfully researched and full of evocative historical detail

Masterful. Caroline Lea is a superb storyteller, and Prize Women deserves a huge readership. So good, I had to pull myself away

Fascinating historical fiction with a feminist slant

Wonderfully evocative and intelligent, Prize Women sheds a light on a scandalous moment in history I knew nothing about. Lily and Mae's story is unforgettable, told with great sensitivity and grace. I was entranced

Emma Stonex, bestselling author of The Lamplighters

This heartbreaking story explores friendship, strength and the fight to survive

Caroline's beautiful writing transported me entirely to another time and land

Atmospheric, heart-wrenching, evocative - this is a gorgeously written story about the scars we carry with us, and how they can be overcome

Exquisitely researched, beautifully told

A highly original and inventive writer

Caroline Lea grew up on the island of Jersey. The Glass Woman, her debut, is a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials. The Metal Heart, a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month, is an epic Second World War love story; Prize Women reveals a feminist scandal at the heart of the roaring 20s. Her latest novel reimagines Mary Shelley and the writing of Frankenstein.

The beautiful and atmospheric story of freedom and love that will grip your heart

The Metal Heart

The beautifully compelling wartime story of freedom and love set deep in the Scottish islands 
 
'A powerful Second World War love story' THE TIMES 
 
'Deeply evocative of Orkney and its wild beauty. A stunning tale of sisters, salvation and sacrifice' EMMA STONEX 
_________ 
 
Orkney, 1941. 
 
Five hundred Italian prisoners of war arrive to fortify these wild and desolate islands. 
 
Orphaned sisters Dorothy and Constance volunteer to nurse the wounded. But while beautiful, damaged Constance remains wary of the men, Dot finds herself increasingly drawn to Cesare, a young man fighting on the wrong side and broken by the horrors of battle. Secretly, passionately, they fall in love. 
 
When a tragic mistake from Con's past returns to haunt them, Dot must make a choice: 
 
Protect her sister no matter the costs, or save the man who has captured her heart? 
_________ 
 
Praise for Caroline Lea: 
 
'Enthralling' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars and The Foundling 
 
'Fantastic' The Times 
 
'Memorable and compelling' Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year Ghost Wall 
 
'Intensely written and atmospheric' Daily Mail 
 
'Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful' Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton 
 
'Brilliant' Daily Express

A tense, passionate and deeply atmospheric novel about a community in wartime - and two defiant hearts. Orkney was so perfectly realised, too, that I almost felt windblown. I loved it all the more so for having read it during lockdown: Caroline's beautiful transported me entirely to another time and land

A powerful Second World War love story. As tensions grow between the Italian PoWs and the Orkney men, the scene is set for a dramatic reckoning. Lea writes beautifully of island life and love, and the sacrifices that both demand

Atmospheric, heart-wrenching, evocative - this is a gorgeously written story about the scars we carry with us, and how they can be overcome

Uses the true story of the building of the chapel on Orkney by Italian prisoners during the Second World War to fashion a fast-moving and very touching story of sisterly devotion and passionate love

A stunning novel . . . impeccably researched, gorgeously written, and deeply evocative of Orkney and its wild beauty. I loved this tale of sisters, salvation and sacrifice from the first page

Emma Stonex, bestselling author of The Lamplighters

Confirms Lea as a highly original and inventive writer

A story of innocents caught up in the machinery of war. Exquisitely researched, beautifully told, this tiny corner of Scotland came alive

Myth, legend, fear and superstition all play a part in this intensely atmospheric novel

A beautiful, heart-breaking tale of grief, love and the bond between sisters. I read it in a day, desperate to know what would happen

Lea deftly taps into an age-old theme: suspicion and mistrust of outsiders. Woven throughout The Metal Heart is the potent reminder that there are always innocents caught up in the cruel, unforgiving machinery of war

A stunning World War Two novel, unlike any other

The remoteness of the Orkney islands intensifies the hopes and fears of war. The Metal Heart is a story of passion and separation in which the isolation of twin sisters within a tight-knit community threatens tragedy. A deeply atmospheric novel of hope and redemption.

Draws you into a wild landscape through an exquisitely told love story

Superbly plotted . . . a story that comes together convincingly, complete with a wonderful double-twist in its final pages

Uses the true story of the building of the chapel on Orkney to fashion a touching story of sisterly devotion and passionate love

Hope Adams, author of Dangerous Women

A mesmerising and atmospheric read

Memorable and compelling. A novel about what haunts us - and what should

Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year 'Ghost Wall'

Stacey Halls, bestselling author of The Familiars

Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting, this is a stark evocation of a community where fear of the outsider is rife and unsettling

A perfect, gripping winter read. I loved it

Sophie Mackintosh, Man Booker longlisted author of 'The Water Cure'

Utterly unputdownable. Rich in superstition and mystery, it pulled me in. An incredible novel

Ali Land, author of Sunday Times Bestselling 'Good Me Bad Me'

Orkney, 1940. On a remote island, a prisoner-of-war camp is constructed to house five hundred Italian soldiers, where a freezing winter and divided community await them. 
 
 Orphaned sisters Dorothy and Constance volunteer to nurse the men. Dot is drawn to Cesare, a young man fighting on the wrong side, broken by war and destruction. 
 
 The soldiers spend their days building a secret barricade between the islands. By night, however, they construct a reminder of their native land - an exquisite chapel. 
 
 As tensions between the islanders and outsiders grow, the sisters' loyalty is tested. Will Dot choose love, or family?

The Glass Woman

1686, Iceland. A cold, windswept land where they talk of witches and fear strangers . . . 
 
'Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful' Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton 
'A perfect, gripping winter read. I loved it' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure 
________ 
 
When Rósa is betrothed to Jón Eiríksson, she is sent to a remote village. 
 
There she finds a man who refuses to speak of his recently deceased first wife, and villagers who view her with suspicion. 
 
Isolated and disturbed by her husband's strange behaviour, her fears deepen. 
 
What is making the strange sounds in the attic? 
 
Who does the mysterious glass figure she is given represent? 
 
And why do the villagers talk of the coming winter darkness in hushed tones? 
 
A mysterious and captivating tale of love, fear and superstition, perfect for readers of The Miniaturist, The Silent Companions, and The Bear &amp; The Nightingale. 
 
Venture to the wild, beautiful and spellbinding Orkney islands in THE METAL HEART, the compelling new story of freedom and love from Caroline Lea. 
________ 
 
'ENTHRALLING' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars &amp; The Foundling 
 
'CRACKLES WITH TENSION. MOVING AND ATMOSPHERIC, I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN' Laura Purcell, author of The Silent Companions &amp; Bone China 
 
'MEMORABLE AND COMPELLING. A NOVEL ABOUT WHAT HAUNTS US - AND WHAT SHOULD' Sarah Moss, author ofGhost Wall 
 
'EVOCATIVE, COMPELLING, WITH A BRILLIANT TWIST' Daily Express 
 
'AN ICELANDIC JANE EYRE . . . COMPELLING, ATMOSPHERIC' Sunday Times 
 
'INTENSELY WRITTEN AND ATMOSPHERIC, WITH AN UNUSUAL SETTING' Daily Mail 
 
'A CHILLING TALE' Good Housekeeping 
 
'LIKE A GHOST STORY TOLD AROUND A WINTER FIRE Tim Leach, author of Smile of the Wolf 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION DEBUT AWARD

The eerie opening brilliantly sets the scene for a suspenseful read. A tremor cracks open an ice floe and an arm appears, plunging the reader into a harsh landscape and a world of suspicions and secrets

This evocative debut is compelling with a brilliant twist

An enthralling tale of the Icelandic witch trials

Stacey Halls, bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS

Crackles with tension. Moving and atmospheric, I couldn't put it down

Laura Purcell, author of THE SILENT COMPANIONS and THE CORSET

Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful

Sara Collins, author of THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON

A gothic novel for a cold climate. Mesmerising

Elly Griffiths, author of THE STRANGER DIARIES

Haunting, evocative and utterly compelling. The beautifully drawn narrative transports the reader to a time and place steeped in mystery and superstition, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Stunning

Tracy Borman, author of 'The King's Witch'

Like a ghost story told around a winter fire, The Glass Woman is taut, haunting, and broodingly tense. Playing out against the harsh backdrop of the Icelandic winter, it kept me hooked all the way to the end

Tim Leach, author of The Times Book of the Year 'Smile of the Wolf'

Tremendous. Atmospheric and beautifully wrought, The Glass Woman is both chilling and beguiling

Is this some Icelandic version of Jane Eyre in which a madwoman lurks in the attic? Or do ghosts haunt the household? In a sense they do, although the truth Rosa eventually uncovers in this compelling, atmospheric novel are more material and more disturbing than her imaginings

Lea draws upon Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Bluebeard to create an eerie, unsettling atmosphere ... Full of promise, and I look forward to reading more from Lea

Suspenseful, gripping and beautifully drawn

Tells the tale of the Icelandic witch trials

A gorgeous book about the power of stories that makes the landscape of Iceland as powerful a character as any of the humans

A haunting novel that delivers chills. THE GLASS WOMAN is charged with the dark energy of the Icelandic Sagas

Mystery and potential danger linger throughout, and with its dreamy prose THE GLASS WOMAN satisfies readers with the ways of an old world

A chilling and enthralling telling of the Icelandic witch trials. Not only beautifully drawn but poignant, evocative and fascinating. A haunting gothic tale'

A rare look at male witch trials, set in Iceland

1686, Iceland. 
 
Betrothed unexpectedly to Jon Eriksson, Rosa travels to the isolated, windswept village of Stykkisholmur. Here, the villagers are suspicious of outsiders - especially one from the everdark edge of civilisation. 
 
But Rosa harbours her own suspicions. Her husband buried his first wife alone in the dead of night. 
 
He will not talk of it. Instead he gives her a small glass figurine. She does not know what it signifies. 
 
The villagers look on them both not only with suspicion - but dread. They whisper dark threats. There is an evil here - she can feel it. Alone and far from home, Rosa sees the darkness coming. She fears she will be its next victim . . .

Caroline Lea

Lea creates a world that is so vividly realised, it is astonishing to read. All her characters are wonderfully nuanced, and you cannot help but fall in love with Mary, whose journey as an artist and as a woman is both absolutely heartbreaking and truly inspiring. This is a deeply moving, magical book from a consummate storyteller

Utterly compelling and immersive. I was hooked from the first page and looked forward to every moment I could spend with this stunning novel. Hauntingly beautiful, dangerous and magnificent, the isolated villa on Lake Geneva and the wild storms which battered it held me captive, as I witnessed Mary Shelley's transformation from lovesick teenager to a fiercely feminist young. In short: I have been altered by this novel

Anya Bergman, author of The Witches of Vardo

Beautifully written and wonderfully intense, this is no glamorous story of the rock star poets and their female muses but a rendition of absolute powerlessness turned around through sheer force of will. Lea throws light onto the true brilliance of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, a girl raised to believe in freedom who would live out her beliefs against all the odds. A thrilling read

Elizabeth Fremantle, author of Disobedient

A deliciously dark reimagining of the birth of literature's greatest monster, Love, Sex & Frankenstein is at once a heartbreaking Gothic love story and a chilling study of rage, betrayal and the mysterious origins of the creative impulse. A triumph

Love, Sex & Frankenstein is an intoxicating tale about the monsters suppressed inside us. Fury and passion, obsession and revenge sizzle beneath the surface as out-of-this-world prose spins the book to a powerful, sensual grand finale. What a firecracker of a story - it completely swept me off my feet!

Fiza Saeed McLynn, author of The Midnight Carousel

An astonishing and spectacular book. I felt I was there every step of the way with Mary Shelley as she experienced the desperate pain of her love for Shelley, her desire for Byron and most importantly the battle to find her own voice and write her masterpiece, Frankenstein. A wonderful book about loving the monster inside us all and the freedom that can bring. There are rare moments when an author creates something they were born to write and this is Caroline’s moment. This book is an absolute masterpiece. Brava.

Julie Owen-Moylan, author of 73 Dove Street

The best rendition of Mary Shelley to be found in a novel. Here is a glorious story of female awakening and rage. Brava

Richly woven, gorgeously addictive, this is a true Gothic novel about life, death, desire, fury and passion. Conjuring the transformation that comes when we look into the dark shadows of the soul and acknowledge the longing that resides there, I absolutely loved this novel

An exquisitely-written Gothic thriller that captures the horror and romance of the life of Mary Shelley and the circumstances that gave birth to Frankenstein. Lea shows how Mary Shelley finds her strength and anger to create new life, bringing the past alive with sensitive insight. Wonderful

Nothing short of astonishing. A powerful, brutal and exquisitely crafted story of women’s rage, will and passion. You will never think about Frankenstein the same way again

A powerful examination of desire, and of an awakening--driven by the fury and resolve of one woman as she begins to understand how she must live. A passionate, propulsive read

Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, 1816. 
 
Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire. Tormented by Shelley’s betrayals, haunted by the loss of their baby and suspicious of her sister’s intentions, Mary seeks a refuge. 
 
But Lord Byron’s villa, lying under ash-shrouded skies, feels more like a trap. 
When Byron suggests each guest write a supernatural tale, Mary is as drawn to the challenge as she is, unexpectedly, to Byron himself. 
 
An idea begins to form in her mind . . . spilling out of her in thick, black ink. 
 
A thing given life is before her. But is she in control, or is it?

Caroline Lea

Praise for Love, Sex & Frankenstein

Lea creates a world that is so vividly realised, it is astonishing to read. All her characters are wonderfully nuanced, and you cannot help but fall in love with Mary, whose journey as an artist and as a woman is bo ...

Utterly compelling and immersive. I was hooked from the first page and looked forward to every moment I could spend with this stunning novel. Hauntingly beautiful, dangerous and magnificent, the isolated villa on La ...

Beautifully written and wonderfully intense, this is no glamorous story of the rock star poets and their female muses but a rendition of absolute powerlessness turned around through sheer force of will. Lea throws l ...

Lea creates a world that is so vividly realised, it is astonishing to read. All her characters are wonderfully nuanced, and you cannot help but fall in love with Mary, whose journey as an artist and as a woman is bo ...

Utterly compelling and immersive. I was hooked from the first page and looked forward to every moment I could spend with this stunning novel. Hauntingly beautiful, dangerous and magnificent, the isolated villa on La ...

Beautifully written and wonderfully intense, this is no glamorous story of the rock star poets and their female muses but a rendition of absolute powerlessness turned around through sheer force of will. Lea throws l ...

Lea creates a world that is so vividly realised, it is astonishing to read. All her characters are wonderfully nuanced, and you cannot help but fall in love with Mary, whose journey as an artist and as a woman is bo ...

Utterly compelling and immersive. I was hooked from the first page and looked forward to every moment I could spend with this stunning novel. Hauntingly beautiful, dangerous and magnificent, the isolated villa on La ...

Beautifully written and wonderfully intense, this is no glamorous story of the rock star poets and their female muses but a rendition of absolute powerlessness turned around through sheer force of will. Lea throws l ...

Books by Caroline Lea

Articles featuring Caroline Lea

Witches in 17th century Iceland: ‘They were almost exclusively men’

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter