Little Spark

Little Spark by Jess Kidd is a richly unsettling Victorian gothic novel, crackling with invention, secrets and a heroine you won’t forget. It blends eerie atmosphere with the grit of survival, set against gaslit streets and lonely marshland.

Bodkin Bell is an orphan and pickpocket with a dangerous gift: lights flare when she passes, metal shifts, and sparks leap from her hands. Once billed as “Little Spark” in a sideshow, she lands in a London gaol after a performance turns catastrophic. Her way out is strange employment at Point Mote, a vast house on the misty Kent marshes, where a reclusive family builds exquisite automata for wealthy collectors.

As Bodkin settles in, the workshops and corridors of Point Mote begin to feel less like refuge and more like trap, and long-buried truths refuse to stay hidden.

Perfect for readers who love gothic fiction, Victorian historical fantasy, uncanny automata, and dark, inventive mysteries.

Step into Point Mote and see what the sparks awaken.