Little Spark

<p><b>A <i>SUNDAY TIMES</i> HISTORICAL FICTION PICK 2026</b></p><p><b>'A sumptuous Gothic mystery' NAT REEVE, author of <i>NETTLEBLACK</i></b><Br><b>'Kidd has imagination to die for' <i>Guardian</i></b><Br><b>'This tale of secrets and mysteries is steeped in atmospheric suspense. Gothic, yes, but galvanised by flashes of inventive wonder' <i>Mail on Sunday</i></b><Br><b>Wildly imaginative . . . [a] terrific steampunk tale' <i>Daily Mai</i></b><i>l</i><Br><i><Br><b>A secret cannot stay locked away forever</b><Br></i> <Br>Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn't know where she came from, but she knows she's different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.<Br><Br>For years, she was 'Little Spark', the star of an electrifying travelling act - until it went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.<Br><Br>Now she's been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.<Br><Br>But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years - and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.</p>