'Nettleblack arrives breathlessly, wholly itself, yet also winding down the strange and brilliant bent lanes previously ridden by Sylvia Townsend Warner and Robert Aickman. – Preti Taneja, author of Aftermath and We That Are Young “Fresh, witty, and wildly original, Nettleblack is an unforgettable debut that brings a world of subversive characters to brilliant life, and announces the arrival of a unique new voice.” – Eley Williams, author of The Liar’s Dictionary and Attrib. All told with wit, flair and heart: a true delight.” Nat Reeve's novel presents a vivid, entirely engrossing story where subterfuge, scurrilousness, skullduggery and sincerity zip through the pages. “A joy to be invited into the raucous, charming, conniving world of Nettleblack. Told through journal entries and letters, Nettleblack is a subversive and playful ride through the perils and joys of finding your place in the world, challenging myths about queerness – particularly transness – as a modern phenomenon, while exploring the practicalities of articulating queer perspectives when you’re struggling for words. Is the world she’s lost in also a place she can find herself? When the net starts to close around Henry, and sinister forces threaten to expose her as the missing Nettleblack sister, the new people in her life seem to offer her a way out, and a way forward.

Sent out to investigate a string of crimes, she soon realises that she is living in a small rural town with surprisingly big problems. Ambushed, robbed, and then saved by a mysterious organisation – part detective agency, part neighbourhood watch – a desperate Henry disguises herself and enlists. But leaving the safety of her wealthy life isn’t as simple as she thought.

Henry Nettleblack has to act fast or she’ll be married off by her elder sister. And to make things worse, sinister forces threaten to expose her as the missing Nettleblack sister.1893. Assailed by strange feelings for her new colleague - the tomboyish, moody Septimus - Henry quickly sees that she?s lost in a small rural town with surprisingly big problems. But the Division soon finds itself under siege from a spate of crimes and must fight for its very survival. Desperate to hide from her older sisters, Henry disguises herself and enlists. Having run away from her family home to escape an arranged marriage, Welsh heiress Henry Nettleblack finds herself ambushed, robbed, and then saved by the mysterious Dallyangle Division - part detective agency, part neighbourhood watch.

Subversive and playful, Nettleblack is a neo-Victorian queer farce that follows a runaway heir/ess and an organisation of crime-fighting misfits as they struggle with the misdeeds besieging a rural English town.

Nettleblack book