The Butcher's Hook

The Butcher’s Hook doesn’t read like a first novel - it is a high-finish performance. Its heroine is an 18th-century teenage girl, who starts demurely although her sex drive turns out to be anything but demure. You need to be braced for violence to rival any Jacobean tragedy: The Butcher’s Hook will hook you. - Observer

This is a dark, weird, gloriously feminist story of a girl in 1763 pushing against the limits of her role and a dark love story. - Elle

This author remains one to watch. She has a sharp eye and a sharper wit. More importantly still, she possesses a subtle and compassionate understanding of the human heart - Guardian

Ellis has a public personality of great charm, and a good deal of this gets into her writing… she revels in the historical details, has a grasp of pace and knows how to keep her audience hooked - The Times

Ellis weaves her tale with deft skill, striking imagery and a boldness rare in a first novel - Mail on Sunday

A story of dispassionate, bloody brilliance rich in believable period detail - Metro

A gripping girl-power story - Sun

Ellis has created something marvellous in the character of Anne Jaccob - her voice is strange, dark and utterly mesmeric. This is historical fiction as I’ve never encountered it before: full of viscera, snarling humour and obsessive desire. I loved it. - Hannah Kent

Janet Ellis trained as an actress at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is best known for presenting Blue Peter and contributes to numerous radio and TV programmes.

A graduate of the Curtis Brown creative writing course, The Butcher’s Hook is her first novel, and she is currently working on her next.

In 2016 Janet was awarded an MBE for services to charities and theatre.

The Butcher’s Hook is also available as an audio digital download, narrated by Janet herself.