The Weather Woman

Sally Gardner’s new novel sees a woman born in the Regency period with an extraordinary, dangerous talent, and combines historical fiction with fantastical elements to spellbinding effect.

When her parents die, Neva is adopted by an eccentric clock and automata maker who devises a machine to help her when she discovers she has a gift that will prove to be as dangerous as it is desirable: she can predict the weather. Now Neva must find a way to disguise her true identity from those who would destroy her.

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Neva is born into a world of trickery and illusion, where fortunes are won and lost on the turn of a card. But she is also born with an extraordinary gift: she can predict the weather. In Regency England, where the proper goal for a gentlewoman is marriage and only God can foretell the future, this is a dangerous power to possess.

In order to stand up to the men of science, Neva adopts a sophisticated male disguise, created by her brilliant clockmaker father. But what will happen when she falls in love with a charismatic young man?

'Seductive' Observer
'Wildly inventive' The Times
'Superb... joyful' New Statesman
'A delight' The Sunday Times
'Beguiling' Mail on Sunday
'Magical storytelling' Heat
'A triumph!' Caroline Lea
'Bold and original' Financial Times
'I was completely captivated' Amanda Craig