I think this is going to be a divisive book just because of how it's written and the style of book. I think for me it's just a bit too dry and the epistolary style of the book isn't working as much as I hoped. I'm definitely going to recommend this to big fans of this style of book since it's hard to find books written this way. The writing is also really good and puts you directly in the time period that this book is taking place in. It's like you really are there reading these letters.

Basically this book is really well done, but it's just not my style of book so I'll be recommending it really specifically.

I really enjoyed this story. It was slow to start, but stick with it!
This story is told in epistolary form, through newspaper articles, evidence, letters and other journal entries.
It did take quite a bit of time to get to the meat of the story. The beginning was mostly correspondence between Margaret/Peggy and reporter Ms. Gibbons. About 2/3rds of the way in, you finally get to the action of the story, and how she becomes Mrs. Lovett and gets involved with Sweeney Todd.

I am glad that this isn’t just another Sweeney Todd adaptation/ retelling, and that we get to know the woman behind Mrs. Lovett. We learn how she got to where she was and her motivations for doing the things we did.

I highly recommend the audiobook. I really enjoyed that there were multiple narrators, and that the newspaper articles and evidence were done by the male narrator, so that there was some differentiation between evidence and letters/journal entries.
I really enjoyed the main female narrator and her British accent, it really helps the reader become immersed in the dreary streets of Victorian London. I loved the gruffness of her voice, because it really gave “life” to Mrs. Lovett.
The pacing of the narrator and breaking up the entries with the evidence really helps to keep the reader interested and engaged, as well as keeps the story moving.

I highly recommend this book, and hope that if you feel it’s slow going, you keep going, and give it a shot!

I absolutely loved this telling of Mrs. Lovett from her perspective via letters that she wrote. The backstory of Mrs. Lovett from her childhood and how she grew up and the trials she faced was a page turner. I could not stop listening to this book. It really draws you in and the character development is incredible. If you know anything about Sweeny Todd or are interested in that time in history, I highly recommend reading (or listening to) this book.

An absolutely gripping, character-driven, sensory overload of a book !
Demchuck and Clark play with Sweeney Todd’s character Mrs Lovett in the most entertaining and shocking way. I have to say I only had a few memories of Helena Bonham Carter’s character in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the musical that I disliked. But I love how the authors really made me forget this Mrs Lovett and introduced me to this butcher’s daughter. I love when books play with established horror characters (I am thinking of Eynhollow by T. McGregor) by giving them a new backstory and make them a brand new start by making them truly fully fleshed characters.
I love the epistolary form, the Victorian gothic is so well depicted and is character in itself : the smells, the gritty environment, the way this unforgiving environment shapes the main character is absolutely captivating and gut wrenching.
A 5-star read, unmissable book of 2025 !

This is one of the most creative retellings I’ve read in a long time. If you’ve ever been intrigued by Sweeney Todd, this book flips the script to focus on her side of the story—Mrs. Lovett. It’s dark, feminist, and full of rage, and gave me chills.

Told through letters between a journalist and a mysterious woman who may just be the infamous pie maker herself, the story slowly unravels a life shaped by violence, poverty, and powerlessness. What I loved most was how deeply it dove into the main character’s past—growing up on Butcher’s Row, enduring cruelty as a poor woman, and eventually taking control of her fate in the bloodiest way possible. There’s a strong sapphic thread too, which added emotional depth to all the blood and betrayal. And that final line SENT ME.

That said, I have to be honest—this one is very slow to start. It’s heavy on atmosphere and character details, and it didn’t fully hook me until more than halfway in. If I’d read the print version, I probably wouldn’t have finished. But I listened to the audiobook, and I’m so glad I did. The voice actors were fantastic and really brought the gloomy, gothic world to life with rich accents and tone-perfect delivery.

If you’re a plot-based reader like me, consider going the audio route. It helps the pacing feel more immersive. For fans of historical fiction with teeth and tales of women pushed to the edge, this book absolutely delivers—eventually.

This book was a great dark read! Seeing the Sweeny Todd story from the eyes of Mrs. Lovett was amazing. It was a bit slow at the start but once it picked up it just kept on going! Be careful when you eat your meat pies. You never know what you might get.

As a Sweeney Todd movie lover, I knew immediately that I wanted to check this book out! The narrators did a great job and kept me intrigued the whole time. We get Mrs. Lovett’s story from her childhood and we see all the events that lead up to the Mrs. Lovett we see in the movie. Sweeney Todd is even brought up in a way that lets you know why he decided to live the life he did. While Mrs. Lovett doesn’t have the same end as she does in the movie, we do get to know about the life she lived after she leaves the pie shop. Definitely recommend to all the Sweeney Todd fans out there!

Thank you to NetGalley, David Demchuk, and Corinne Leigh Clark for the audiobook ARC of this title.

This book is perfect for those that enjoyed Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito and craved more. The Butcher's Daughter was a sinewy, disgusting mess of a book that had you encouraging all of women's wrongs. Obviously, if you know the story of Mrs. Lovett, some of this will not be a surprise to active Sweeney Todd fans. Though, it is presented in such a way that is uniquely unpredictable in it's own right. This book creates a narrative that feels organic to the Lovett lore and it helped me to stay invested in a story based on a fandom I have known well but I have been out of for some time (having been heavily fixated on the musical as a teen). While it is both vaguely predictable due to the source material being something I am already familiar with, and the story taking its own unique twists, this would appeal to both to fans and non fans of the Sweeney Todd story. Those who wondered after the mysterious Mrs. Lovett character before now have a faithful tribute to the narrative and those that just crave a good horror novel. Beautifully narrated and executed, it was a pleasure to listen to and despite being a long novel, it flew by simply.

I enjoyed this book! This was a nice twist on what we know of Mrs. Lovett beyond being Sweeney Todd’s partner. I liked the writing style a lot, and the narration was fantastic! I did want there to be a bit more to the Todd/Lovett relationship, but I get that this was meant to be unique and focused on her. Overall, this was a great listen. The ending was unexpected. I definitely recommend listening to the audiobook! Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Agh! Wanted to like this, but was confused right off the bat, largely due to the shifting letters in audiobook format. It was atmospheric, queasy, and damp…but also painfully slow. If you like Sweeney Todd, you’ll enjoy this.

I listened to the audiobook. I narrator did a really good job. Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me. I had to DNF it. I don't think there is anything specific that I didn't like. I think if you are a big fan of Sweeney Todd, you should definitely give it a go!

As someone who was drawn to this story because of my deep love for Sweeney Todd, this book was a big miss for me. I received the audiobook version and although the story was okay, it changed too much from the original story for me to actually enjoy it. I would’ve much preferred the story to delve deeper into Mrs. Lovetts childhood and everything that led up to the events of the movie, with the ending being when her and Sweeney Todd meeting. Overall I just didn’t enjoy it.

Dark, horrible, gruesome and mysterious. This is the story of Mrs Lovett, before she ended up selling her famous meat pies, and the story of her life after. It is the story of how the premature and unfortunate death of her butcher father led to Meg ending up in a spiral of horrible events, surrounded by horrible people and how she meets Sweeny Todd, a barber who she ends up being in a very dark situationship with.
Imaginative and truly interesting yet very twisted story.

My only ick is the title. I dislike when women are reduced to being referred to as someone’s daughter. The father is in the story for all of 3 seconds.



ALC review; thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this audiobook

Sadly, this was a DNF for me. I tried and tried to listen to this audiobook and failed each time. I felt bored and just couldn’t picture any of the scenes or characters in my head.

I listened to the audiobook and gave it a 3 out of 5 for a few basic reasons. I think it could’ve been a few hours shorter or about 100 pages less. I feel that way about most books, but I specifically feel like this book really did not kick off until about a quarter of the way through for the first few hours, I was really confused on what direction they were going

Once the book are going, I feel like it really did get going and that was exciting. It’s dark and twisted and incredibly disturbing. The writing, correspondences between the main character and a reporter, is unique and blends the then and now in a delightful way.

📚 Book Review

Title: The Butcher’s Daughter
Author: Victoria Glendinning
Narrator: Imogen Stubbs
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5 stars)

The historical detail in this book is rich and immersive. Imogen Stubbs’s audiobook narration is outstanding. Her voice perfectly captures Agnes’s inner monologue. The pace may be too measured for some listeners looking for action-heavy historical fiction, but the introspective tone and rich language were exactly what I wanted.

“We were not angels, and we were not saints. We were women—some pious, some proud, some petty—but all caged together in a holy house where silence could be louder than sin.”

A quietly powerful and beautifully written novel that explores the tension between personal faith and institutional power. The combination of Glendinning’s graceful prose and Stubbs’s expressive narration makes this an unforgettable audiobook experience.

5 stars — a hidden gem of historical fiction.

I love Sweeney Todd so I was really excited to have the opportunity to read this, however I’m really sad to give it a soft DNF. I 100% advise to take the trigger warnings seriously, I really thought I could take it but I couldn’t continue through the pregnancy related horror aspects. I hope when my mental fortitude is stronger I can revisit this because the 40% that I read I really enjoyed.

I absolutely adored this book. Initially I wasn't excited as I wasn't familiar with Sweeny Todd story (aside from the obvious details) but, wow! This book had me gasping at parts and absolutely enthralled. What a great piece of work!

I received this as a ALC thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this!

The Butcher's Daughter: The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett, is the pivotal backstory of Sweeny Todd's accomplice and business partner, Mrs. Lovett, told through a series of letters.

Despite knowing the inevitable conclusion to the tale, I was thoroughly engaged in the character's own account of her decent into villainhood. Thanks to her strong stomach as a butcher's daughter few details of gore and awful are spared in her tale!

The recipes included which were referenced throughout the novel gave me both a chuckle and a queasy groan!

What a delightfully gruesome read!

Deliciously dark.

The Butcher’s Daughter gives us a peak at the infamous Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd, blending historical fiction with gothic horror. The story takes place in 1887 London. The story itself is mainly told through letters, newspaper clippings, and journal entries, following Emily Gibson, a journalist who is investigating a woman claiming to be Mrs. Lovett. The correspondence reveals much more than anyone could have expected.

I have to admit throughout the whole ride I was always team Lovett and honestly once you hear her story you will too. I absolutely loved this book.It was well written and very enjoyable.

Thank you to David Demchuk, Corinne Leigh Clark, RBmedia and NetGalley for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!