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Feast

A thrilling historical novel brimming with intrigue by an exciting new voice

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Pub Date Jun 04 2026 | Archive Date Jun 05 2026

Quercus Books | Renegade Books


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Description

'A lush and sensory novel . . .This is a story that lingers' - Emma Pei Yin, author of When Sleeping Women Wake

'Feast held me in its thrall from the first page and never let go . . . an immersive, enthralling, extraordinary piece of historical fiction' - Rachel Blackmore, author of Costanza

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In the soot-streaked alleys of 19th-century London, Minha is a girl unlike any other - born with an extraordinary gift: an overwhelming, all-consuming sense of taste. Desperate to escape a life of poverty, she crosses the sea to France, chasing the shimmer of a better future.

At Château de Bellefalaise, a grand estate with fairytale turrets perched above a sleepy village, Minha's talent is discovered when she detects poison in a dish about to be served to the château's master, Duc Nicolas. For the first time in her life, her strange ability becomes her salvation - and her curse. Appointed the Duc's personal poison-taster, she is confined to her tasting room and forced to live in the chateau's shadows. With each dish, she enters a world of glittering porcelain and gilded secrets, where danger simmers beneath every course...

But when she loses her miraculous gift and suspicion coils through the corridors, Minha must confront a terrifying truth: without her gift, who is she - and what remains of the life she's fought so hard to build?

Feast is a sumptuous historical novel brimming with intrigue and sensory wonder - a dark fairytale for readers who love Jessie Burton, Elizabeth Macneal and Bridget Collins.

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'A beautiful book, vivid and delicious and alive . . . I loved it' - Alex Hay, author of The Housekeepers

'Feast is a tasty read, a fantastic novel filled with glorious detail and deliciously vivid story-telling . . . I highly recommend it' - Salena Godden, author of Mrs Death Misses Death

'A novel to savour, bursting with rich delights'
- Laura Wilkinson, author of Redemption Song

'Sensuous and richly imagined' - Beth Miller, author of The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright

'Where Perfume traced the pursuit of power, Feast examines a life of resistance' - Mark A. Radcliffe, author of Three Gifts

'Kurtz is the real deal - an absolute original' - Mick Jackson, author of The Underground Man

'A lush and sensory novel . . .This is a story that lingers' - Emma Pei Yin, author of When Sleeping Women Wake

'Feast held me in its thrall from the first page and never let go . . . an immersive...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781408749791
PRICE £20.00 (GBP)
PAGES 336

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Average rating from 5 members


Featured Reviews

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A lush, sensory novel that leans into appetite, desire, and the strange edges of indulgence. Atmospheric and a bit hypnotic.

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This very uniquely told tale is an intoxicating debut that turns the historical novel into something deliciously sinister.

Set in 19th-century France it follows Minha, a young woman of mixed heritage gifted (or cursed) with an almost supernatural sense of taste.

She can detect every nuance: soil, ripeness, poison.

When she saves a duke from assassination, she's thrust into the glittering, treacherous world of high society as his official poison taster.

The food descriptions are so vivid making every dish feel real and dangerous.

This is a dark fairy-tale atmosphere with sharp commentary on race, possession, class, and survival.
It's addictive, atmospheric, and occasionally brutal.

A standout debut

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