From the bestselling author of Things in Jars and The Night Ship comes a spellbinding gothic novel in which lifelike machines walk, old bones lie buried beneath the marsh grass, and a young woman born crackling with power confronts the terrible truth of her origins.

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 sideshow—until the act 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.

About The Author

Photograph by Cordula Treml

Jess Kidd

Jess Kidd is the award-winning author of Himself, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, Things in Jars, The Night Ship, and the Nora Breen Investigates series. She has a PhD in creative writing from St. Mary’s University in London. She grew up in London as part of a large family from Ireland’s County Mayo and now lives in North Yorkshire. Jess is currently developing her own original TV projects with leading UK and international TV producers. Learn more at JessKidd.com.

Product Details

Publisher: Atria Books (February 9, 2027)
Length: 384 pages
ISBN13: 9781982180881

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Raves and Reviews

Praise for Jess Kidd

“Jess Kidd is so good it isn't fair." —ERIKA SWYLER, bestselling author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars

“A few pages in and I was determined to read every word Jess Kidd has ever written. “ —DIANE SETTERFIELD, for Things in Jars

“Jess Kidd is an author who shows a poet’s way with words and rhythm.” —Electric Literature

Praise for Murder at Gulls Nest

"I read Jess Kidd’s prose with the same mix of marvel and delight as a fine art dealer on the Antiques Roadshow examines a treasure. Sometimes it’s the canny, polished phrase that enables you to set the scene as though you were in it (an encounter with a curious child is like “two generals appraising one another across the battlefield of a dingy hearth rug”). Other times, it’s her off-kilter, yet still on the nose, descriptions, and coming across them is like finding little diamonds in the grass. Her latest is the first in a new series about a woman, Nora Breen, freshly released from her religious vows, who shows up at a shabby seaside hotel. She’s in search of a friend who disappeared shortly after writing to tell Nora she suspected fellow hotel guests were hiding secrets. Rich on detail and atmosphere, with plenty of suspense and sharp humor, this reads like a Miss Marple mystery if Miss M. were disinclined to hide her smarts under a bushel." —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor

Praise for The Night Ship

"Kidd’s latest weaves a spell around the reader, transporting them across centuries, between a doomed ship and a dying island. The result is a true work of magic, and one that will haunt me for years." —V.E. SCHWAB, international bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue