I LOVED Barbara's previous book, Estella's Revenge, and have been excited about this sequel ever since. I've said before, as a Dickens obsessive, I can be wary of modern adaptations because I feel they can never live up to the original. But Barbara isn't trying to live up to Dickens. She is putting her own spin on it, her own voice, whilst maintaining the heart of Dickens. She is the closest to matching the pedestal I put Dickens on.

It has 63 chapters which means they're relatively short quick chapters which I prefer.

Because I read the first book a while ago, I was worried I'd forget my place. When you read 350+ books a year, it's impossible to remember everything from every single book just in case there's a sequel. And yet this held your hand and dragged you back into this world that was instantly familiar.

The first book felt very close to the original work because it had the familiar characters and whatnot, whereas this book is completely anew. It has characters not in the original Great Expectations; it still has the heart of Dickens but with her own story which was nice as it didn't feel completely like a rewrite. She balanced it well.

There's a nice couple of Easter Eggs dotted about. I'm not going to say what about, but Dickens fans will enjoy it.

It's got a bit of everything - there's history and it's based off a classic, but it's also a thriller, with a hint of whodunnit. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of very unsavoury subjects and plot lines. It's not pretty, but in the way that Dickens' work was also not pretty.

I planned to take my time with this, read it slowly, savour it. But truth be told, I flew through it in a day because I just had to know what happened next.

It ends in a very satisfying way but I do hope she's got more planned as there's most definitely scope for at least one more tale, if not more.

Estella’s Fury is a deliciously dark plunge into the underbelly of Victorian London, where appearances deceive and vengeance simmers beneath silk and lace. Barbara Havelocke reimagines the Gothic heroine with thrilling boldness—Estella is no passive figure in a corset, but a woman forged by secrets, betrayal, and the quiet fury of survival.

Set in 1835, the novel unfolds like a shadowed waltz through drawing rooms and cellars, where every whisper carries weight and every disappearance leaves a scar. When Estella seeks refuge with Lady Taykall, she finds herself drawn into a chilling mystery that awakens the fire she thought she’d buried. What follows is a reckoning—of past crimes, present danger, and the cost of justice when the law is not enough.

Havelocke’s prose is rich and evocative, echoing the spirit of Dickens with a modern edge. The comparisons to Great Expectations and Killing Eve are well-earned: this is a tale of elegance and brutality, of masks worn too long and truths clawing their way to light.

For readers who crave Gothic thrillers with emotional resonance and a heroine who refuses to be tamed, Estella’s Fury is a triumph.

With thanks to Barbara Havelocke, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.