The Disenchantment

As rankly sensuous as a twilit Parisian street in winter, Celia Bell's The Disenchantment is a rare historical novel that gets under your skin not only for its period details (all that poached fish and spears of asparagus swirled in smears of yellow butter sauce) but for its swooning falls, without narrative safety nets, into the eternal now of deceit, desire, and the violent weather of love. Set amid the disinformation of the seventeenth-century Affair of the Poisons-a Salem Witch Trial hysteria of the court of Louis XIV-this tale of the hot passion between cross-dressing Victoire and married Baroness Marie Catherine tampers with themes of gender fluidity as relevant today as in yesteryear. Celia Bell practices both black and white magic in this remarkable first novel. -Brad Gooch, author of Rumi's Secret Bell's inventive debut. . . . excels at creating a hothouse atmosphere in which depravity, sensuality, and duplicity reside side by side . . . a rousing feminist fable. It's a bold and inspired mix of Les Liaisons Dangereuses and The Crucible. -Publishers Weekly, starred review Gripping, filled with a quietly persuasive tension that kept me turning the page and beautiful, moody description, both evocative and authentic. -Crystal Jeans, author of The Inverts The writing has the quality of velvet about it, so lusciously rich that it folds you into a thrilling love story . . . Beautifully researched. -Sally Gardner, author of Maggot Moon A shimmering, sexy, thrilling tale of intrigue and desire, and the dark paths we walk to keep our secrets safe. Bell has written a shining debut. -Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Dance Tree The is historical storytelling at its most captivating. Celia Bell puts the body itself back in time: smells, sights, fears, sensation propel us into the epicentre of a 17th century Paris where breaking out of the prison of arranged marriage is only one of the many challenges confronting women. I couldn't put it down. -Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness