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.<BR><BR>'Gorgeous. Prize Women took my breath away. I haven't stopped thinking about it' JENNIFER SAINT<BR><BR>'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<BR><BR>'This heartbreaking story explores friendship, strength and the fight to survive' WOMAN'S WEEKLY<BR>___________<BR><BR>It's the 1920s, a time of unparalleled excess.<BR>But for the rich to party, the poor must starve . . .<BR><BR>Into the city arrives pregnant runaway Lily di Marco.<BR>She has nothing - and expects nothing.<BR>But soon she will find herself in a towering mansion just streets away.<BR>Confidante to, and best friends with, its glamorous owner Mae Thebolt.<BR><BR>Until the competition.<BR><BR>A childless millionaire leaves his fortune to the woman<BR>who will have the most babies over ten years.<BR>Is it an eccentric contest?<BR>Or a horrible joke played by a rich man on the poorest women of the city?<BR><BR>Either way, it will tear Lily and Mae's friendship - and their lives - to pieces . . .<BR><BR>___________<BR><BR>'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<BR><BR>'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<BR><BR>'Fascinating historical fiction with a feminist slant' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING<BR><BR>'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<BR><BR>'Wonderfully researched and full of evocative historical detail' CULTUREFLY<BR><BR>'Masterful. Caroline Lea is a superb storyteller, and Prize Women deserves a huge readership. So good, I had to pull myself away' ELIZABETH MACNEAL

In the shadowed halls of Villa Diodati, Mary Shelley's fury took shape - and birthed a monster...<BR>LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2026<BR>The thrilling retelling from the author of PRIZE WOMEN, THE METAL HEART and THE GLASS WOMAN. Perfect for fans of The Essex Serpent and The Manningtree Witches.<BR><BR>'Hauntingly beautiful, dangerous and magnificent' Anya Bergman, author of The Witches of Vardo<BR><BR>'A deliciously dark reimagining of the birth of literature's greatest monster' Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters<BR><BR>'Richly woven, gorgeously addictive, this is a true Gothic novel about life, death, desire, fury and passion' Joanne Burn, author of The Bone Hunters<BR>--<BR><BR>Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, 1816.<BR><BR>The dark summer that birthed a monster . . .<BR><BR>Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire.<BR><BR>Tormented by Shelley's betrayals, haunted by the loss of their baby and suspicious of her sister's intentions, Mary seeks sanctuary.<BR><BR>But Lord Byron's villa, lying under ominous, ash-shrouded skies, feels more like a trap.<BR><BR>When Byron suggests each guest write a supernatural tale, Mary is as drawn to the challenge as she is, unexpectedly, to Byron himself.<BR><BR>And so an idea begins to form in her mind . . .<BR><BR>It spills out of her in thick, black ink. A thing given life is before her.<BR><BR>Day and night, she is possessed. Heart and mind. Body and soul.<BR><BR>But is she in control, or is it?<BR><BR>In this hauntingly evocative feminist retelling, Caroline Lea delves into the female rage, creative madness and steamy scandal that bore the world's most famous work of gothic fiction.<BR>-<BR><BR>PRAISE FOR LOVE, SEX & FRANKENSTEIN<BR><BR>'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<BR><BR>'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' Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den<BR><BR>'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' Elizabeth Fremantle, author of Disobedient<BR>

“The story of trueinnocents caught up in the machinery of war. Exquisitely researched,beautifully told, this tiny corner of Scotland came alive for me in all of mysenses and I found myself rooting for the central characters with all myheart.”     —Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, YesIn the dark days of World War II, an unlikely romance blossoms between a Scottish woman and an Italian prisoner of war in this haunting novel with the emotional complexity of The Boat Runner and All the Light We Cannot See—a powerful and atmospheric story of love, jealousy, and conscience that illuminates the beauty of the human spirit from the author of The Glass Woman.In the wake of the Allies’ victory in North Africa, 1,000 Italian soldiers have been sent to a remote island off the Scottish coast towait out the war. Their arrival has divided the island’s community. Nervesfrayed from three years of war and the constant threat of invasion, many localsfear the enemy prisoners and do not want them there.Where their neighbors seebloodthirsty enemies, however, orphaned sisters Dorothy and Constance see sickand wounded men unused to the freezing cold of an Orkney winter, and volunteerto nurse them. While doing so Dorothy finds herself immediately drawn toCesare, a young man broken by the horrors of battle.But as the war drags on, tensionsbetween the islanders and the outsiders deepen, and Dorothy’s connection toCesare threatens the bond she shares with Constance. Since the loss of theirparents, the sisters have relied on each other. Now, their loyalty will betested, each forced to weigh duty against desire . . . until, one fatefulevening, a choice must be made, one that that will have devastatingconsequences.

The beautifully compelling wartime story of freedom and love set deep in the Scottish islands<BR><BR>'A powerful Second World War love story' THE TIMES<BR><BR>'Deeply evocative of Orkney and its wild beauty. A stunning tale of sisters, salvation and sacrifice' EMMA STONEX<BR>_________<BR><BR>Orkney, 1941.<BR><BR>Five hundred Italian prisoners of war arrive to fortify these wild and desolate islands.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>When a tragic mistake from Con's past returns to haunt them, Dot must make a choice:<BR><BR>Protect her sister no matter the costs, or save the man who has captured her heart?<BR>_________<BR><BR>Praise for Caroline Lea:<BR><BR>'Enthralling' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars and The Foundling<BR><BR>'Fantastic' The Times<BR><BR>'Memorable and compelling' Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year Ghost Wall<BR><BR>'Intensely written and atmospheric' Daily Mail<BR><BR>'Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful' Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton<BR><BR>'Brilliant' Daily Express