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Little Spark

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Little Spark

By: Jess Kidd
Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
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A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION PICK 2026

'A sumptuous Gothic mystery' NAT REEVE, author of NETTLEBLACK
'Kidd has imagination to die for' Guardian
'This tale of secrets and mysteries is steeped in atmospheric suspense. Gothic, yes, but galvanised by flashes of inventive wonder' Mail on Sunday
Wildly imaginative . . . [a] terrific steampunk tale' Daily Mail

A secret cannot stay locked away forever
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.

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.

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.

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.

 Fantasy
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Critic reviews

"Kidd's latest heroine is electrifying . . . This tale of secrets and mysteries is steeped in atmospheric suspense. Gothic, yes, but galvanised by flashes of inventive wonder"
"Little Spark has everything I love – twisted secrets, dark deeds, a huge creepy house in the middle of nowhere and an extraordinary protagonist with dangerous powers and a heart like no other. I love Jess’s writing and I was completely hooked from the first page. Little Spark is deliciously dark and twisty and keeps the reader guessing until the final pages. Marvellous" (RUTH HOGAN)
"Few contemporary writers combine the historical with the fantastical with as much panache as Jess Kidd. Her originality and offbeat imagination are once more on display in her latest novel . . . Kidd unfolds a narrative that is as unusual as it is entertaining"
"Weird, wonderful and utterly immersive; a sumptuous Gothic mystery full of unexpected shocks! Dare to enter Bodkin Bell's world, where the writing is delicious, the twists are plentiful, and the shadowy secrets of a stately home can and will be unlocked by sheer neurodivergent determination" (NAT REEVE)
"Wildly imaginative . . . [a] thrilling story . . . All is not as it seems as secrets are revealed and mysterious connections are discovered in this terrific steampunk tale"
"If you like your historical fiction with a touch of the gothic, Jess Kidd’s latest should be at the top of your pile . . . Richly imagined and atmospheric, it’s the kind of novel that feels tailor-made for disappearing into over a long summer weekend"
"I love Kidd's cracking prose, which whisks uinto the mysterious, Gothic life of Victorian orphan Bodkin Bell"
"Cunning clockwork, marvellous automata, an isolated ramshackle mansion, stuffed with sinister secrets, and an orphan heroine with a wayward heart and a knack for getting to the truth make this a bewitching Gothic mystery"
"A really extraordinary thing to read . . . atmospheric, dark, wonderful"
"Praise for Jess Kidd: Lyrical, haunting, a beautiful and elegant fictional interpretation of history, I loved it" (KATE MOSSE)
All stars
Most relevant
loved this story so much. How you come up with this I don't know. amazing imagination

Fabulous Story and story telling

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Jess Kidd is a wonderful writer and creates a gloriously dark world full of fantastic things and curious characters. There wasn't quite the same emotional pull as her other novels. The narrator is great but why don't they check these recordings better? There are so many mispronounced words (cuttle-ry?) that it's really distracting and would have been so easy to fix with a better edit

A vivid gothic fairytale

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A delightful and original story of the uncanny. Finely-drawn protagonist. Narrator good, but irritating mispronunciations.

Enchanting fantasy

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I love Kidd’s ability create intriguing characters that immerse you in their world. The prose is gorgeous and the whole premise is very interesting.

Interesting

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When I first started listening I was a bit disappointed as I was expecting the lovely Irish voices of Jess Kidds other books but I persevered! Oh thank goodness I did - brilliant narration, one of the best narrators that I have heard.
Little Spark had all the usual Jess Kidd magic, I just love her books.
Fabulous in every way. I just need her to write 5 or 6 a year please!

Brilliant Jess Kidd as usual

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