Things in Jars
Jess Kidd
“There are a thousand places to hide a child in London, even a remarkable child. And if she is remarkable there are a thousand buyers waiting . . .”
Available as Paperback, eBook
The gripping Victorian detective novel from the Costa Award-winner and twice BBC Radio 2 Book Club author
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN DAILY EXPRESS, I AND IRISH INDEPENDENT
‘Thrilling, mysterious, twisted’ Graham Norton
‘Utterly mesmerising … A triumph’ New York Times Book Review
‘Delivers chills galore’ Guardian
The case of the extraordinary child …
London, 1863. A strange puzzle has reached Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age. To recover a stolen child, Bridie must enter the dark world of medical curiosities. The public love a spectacle and this child may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen.
Things in Jars is a Victorian novel unlike any other, one that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.
“I loved Himself and The Hoarder but this book takes things to another level – thrilling, mysterious, twisted but more than anything, beautifully written and filled to bursting point with heart”
Graham Norton
See more reviews
“Utterly mesmerising … A triumph. Kidd’s imagination – her ability to imagine a world more magical, darker, richer than our own – is a thing of wonder. She rummages through the layers of Victorian society as if through an old steamer trunk, pulling up all variety of treasures, like pythons and heads in hatboxes”
new York Times Book Review
“This unusual Victorian detective tale is hugely satisfying and beautifully written … Kidd gives the world what is instantly one of fiction’s great spectral double acts”
the Times
“Jess Kidd’s stories are so magical, she should be a genre all to herself … Things in Jars is exquisite. Perfect storytelling”
Joanna Cannon, Author Of The Trouble With Goats And Sheep
“This pacy piece of Victorian crime fiction delivers chills galore … done with panache … Her imagination runs wild, in tightly controlled prose. Her concision makes the book feel like a high-pressure jar”
guardian
Jess Kidd
Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from County Mayo. Her first novel, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016 and she was the winner of the Costa Short Story Award in the same year. In 2017, Himself was shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award and longlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger. Her second novel, The Hoarder, was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club picks.
@JessKiddHerself | jesskidd.com
