Pale Mistress

“Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak…”

Cyprus, 17th century. Murder, lies and vengeance has left lovers dead, promises broken and no one to trust. Only one woman survives, Bianca.

The slain? History knows their names: Emilia, Desdemona, Othello.

But why do we not know Bianca? Who was the pale mistress? Liar or lied to? Instigator or victim? In telling one woman’s story, Naomi Kelsey dazzlingly recasts a Shakespearean tragedy as a psychological thriller of jealousy and gaslighting, ambition and envy, and the making and breaking of one of Shakespeare’s most notorious villains, Iago.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR PALE MISTRESS

‘A bold and beautiful triumph. In prose as rich as Cyprus wine and as sharp as a Venetian blade, Naomi Kelsey gives voice to the silenced and reshapes tragedy through a woman's eyes. Lyrical, haunting, and breathtakingly tense, this is historical fiction at its most electrifying.’ SETH INSUA, author of Human, Animal

***

PRAISE FOR THE DARKENING GLOBE

‘Deliciously gothic and twisty, Naomi Kelsey has crafted a deeply haunted mystery novel that I found impossible to put down.’ LUCY ROSE, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamb

‘An Elizabethan psychological thriller – who could ask for more? Confident, vividly imagined, infused with historical detail and riven by dramatic tension’ ANNIE GARTHWAITE, author of Cecily

'Ravishing, creepy, meticulously researched, The Darkening Globe is an intoxicating story of Elizabethan exploration, madness and murder.' CATHRYN KEMP, author of The Poisoner's Tale

‘I could not put it down until every secret was exposed.' LAURA SHEPPERSON, author of The Heir of Venus

‘A refreshingly new take on gothic.' KATE GRIFFIN, author of Fyneshade and The Blackbirds of St Giles

***

PRAISE FOR THE BURNINGS

‘I was mesmerised’ LAURA SHEPPERSON, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Heroines

‘A beautifully written re-imagining … clever and tantalising’ SG MACLEAN

‘This gripping, vividly evoked novel takes the reader to the dark heart of the 16th century … unforgettable’ TRACY BORMAN

About the author

Naomi Kelsey is the winner of two Northern Writers’ Awards and the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Competition as well as being shortlisted for several further awards including the Bristol and Bridport Prizes. Her debut, THE BURNINGS, was published to acclaim in 2023, and her latest, THE DARKENING GLOBE, an Elizabethan gothic, has captivated advance readers and booksellers. Naomi lives and works in Newcastle.