The Quick and the Dead

It matters not who you are born to but where you are made.

It is 1597 and Kit Skevy and Mariner Elgin have just robbed the wrong grave.

'Wonderfully evocative, this book transports the reader to the dark underworld of late Elizabethan London. I was gripped from the first page.' Tracy Borman

'Vividly told, with powerfully drawn characters, this tale of obsession and betrayal set in the dark world of Tudor alchemy will cast its spell over historical fiction fans.' Heat

It is 1597 and Kit Skevy and Mariner Elgin have just robbed the wrong grave.

They are young criminals in the pocket of a gang Lord named Will Twentyman, the Grave Eorl of Southwark. Mariner is the best cutpurse around, a strange Calvinist girl who dresses like a boy and is partner in crime to Kit Skevy, Southwark's best brawler who carries a secret: he cannot feel pain.

When caught out in their unfortunate larceny, Kit is kidnapped by the menacing alchemist Lord Isherwood (a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his hopes for the Red Lion elixir) and his studious son, Lazarus Isherwood, with whom Kit develops a complicated intrigue. When Mariner enlists the help of a competing French alchemist, Lady Elody Blackwater, Mariner and Kit are thrust into the shadowed, political world of Tudor alchemy, testing both their friendship and their lives.

It matters not who you are born to... but where you are made!

'Rich, atmospheric, original...One of my favourite historical novels' Nat Reeve, Nettleback

'Rich, atmospheric, original, and intricate as an alchemist’s lair. Blazing at its heart: two brilliant, complicated queer characters, discovering both the elation and dangers that lurk within the process of (re)making oneself. One of my favourite historical novels, Tudor and otherwise - dear reader, read on, you are in for such a treat!' Nat Reeve, Nettleblack

'Dark, bewitching and intensely atmospheric, The Quick and the Dead expertly conjures the lively streets, taverns and playhouses of 16th century London, and peers into the rarefied, shadowy world of alchemists and the Elizabethan court. Brilliantly written and utterly vivid in voice, image and historical detail, with characters that will capture and break your heart, this book has an alchemy all its own' Sophie Keetch, author of Morgan Is My Name

'Wonderfully evocative, this book transports the reader to the dark underworld of late Elizabethan London. I was gripped from the first page.' Tracy Borman

Emma is a queer playwright living in Manchester with a focus on telling untold feminist narratives. Her latest play, PURE, was featured in Turn On festival at Hope Mill Theatre Manchester and she was the recipient of the Artist Development grant. She has written an essay published in Tarantino and Theology with Gray Matter Books, and her book Ineffable Love: Christian Themes in Good Omens was published by Darton Longman & Todd.

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