Sparks of Bright Matter

In 18th century London, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of knowledge is deadly.

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'A debut novel of great imagination and originality' - The Sunday Times

'Think Hilary Mantel, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke crossed with Liam O'Flaherty, Lady Gregory, WB Yeats and the Celtic Revival - all expertly blended into a cracking page-turner that's as exquisitely deep, beautiful and metaphysical as it is fast-paced and brilliantly plotted' - The Irish Times

'Thrilling and intoxicating - a dazzling debut' - Evie Woods - author of The Lost Bookshop

'A captivating story, weaving together so many emotions with such beautiful descriptions that you feel you really are standing by the shoulders of the characters' - Philip Paris - author of The Last Witch of Scotland

When ambitious apprentice chemist and secret alchemist Peter Woulfe is tasked with caring for a mysterious illustrated book, the Mutus Liber, he quickly realises that the grimy underworld of Georgian London is even more dangerous than he first believed.

Soon the book is stolen by the light-fingered Sukie and Peter finds himself being pursued by threatening men who are willing to do anything to get the book back. Where in teeming London might Sukie be found? Why is Peter so enthralled by her? And what is it about the Mutus Liber that is so enticing? As the search for the book becomes an urgent game of cat and mouse, it seems that the key to Peter's present dilemma might only be found in half-remembered events from his childhood, and then further back still, in the mists of Irish myth.

A spell-binding and unputdownable tale about spirit and matter, love and lust, and reality and magic.