The Mortality of Queens

Book excerpt: The Queen ‘neath the Hedge came from nowhere, from out of reed and nightshade. Aged just 22, she conquered two countries, Britain and the Other Realm – home of the mysterious Umbra. She bound the realms together, so that 400 years after her death, every Briton is still mortally bound to an Umbra – every injury, any death inflicts them both – but her treaty is unravelling. Georgian London is preparing for war with France, but its salons and ballrooms are haunted by a different rumour: ‘She’s coming back.’ Everyone will try to stop her but no-one is sure who, or where, or what she is. Arthur knows Amorrie - his Umbra - will be the death of him. He doesn’t know why she is hunted in both realms. Slip inside the most captivating fantasy since ‘Strange and Norrell’.