The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster

 

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster.

Published 29th May 2025 by Mantle.

From the cover of the book:

Inspired by an infamous real-life case, The Mourning Necklace is the unforgettable feminist historical novel from the Women's Prize-longlisted author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.

They said I would swing for the crime, and I did . . .

1724. In a tavern just outside Edinburgh, Maggie Dickson’s family drown their sorrows, mourning her death yet relieved she is gone. Shame haunts them. Hanged for the murder of her newborn child, passers-by avert their eyes from her cheap coffin on its rickety cart.

But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door.

It is Maggie. She is alive.

Bruised and dazed, Maggie has little time for her family’s questions. All that matters to her is answering this one: will they hang her twice?

***********

Edinburgh, 1724. Maggie Dickson's family are astonished when the last person they are expecting to see walks in the door, Maggie herself. For Maggie has just been hanged for the crime of concealing her pregnancy, and the death of her new born baby, and they have been drowning their sorrows at her wake.

Maggie somehow survived the gallows, but now she faces an uncertain future...

Kate Foster's incredible third novel is a captivating retelling of the story of 'Half Hanged Maggie', a woman who survived a hanging, and became one of Edinburgh's infamous historical characters. Her story is extraordinary, full of themes about poverty, loss, injustice, macabre fascination, public shame, and the sheer strength of character of eighteenth century Scottish women (especially the fishwives of Fisherrrow).

The story begins with Maggie 'returning from the dead', and then goes on to tell a compelling tale about the tragic path that brought the brutal weight of the law down upon her, how she may have survived, and the life she went on to lead. As is her forte, Foster's prose is rich; her plot is imbued with a slow-burn mystery to be solved; and her historical settings are vividly alive with atmospheric details of time and place.

I always adore her female cast members, who are realistically capricious and sympathetic in turn, shining out as living breathing, complicated characters with hopes and dreams that they cling to in distressingly difficult times. Maggie, more than any of Foster's characters before is one that it is easy to forge a connection with, I think. Her desires are so relatable, her aspirations are modest, and her coming of age is deeply moving. My heart was ripped to shreds at Maggie's fate at the mercy of laws which cast grieving women as criminals, and the unfeeling people who brought her to the gallows, but there is also stirring warmth to be found in her story, especially around the bonds of motherhood, family and friendship that ultimately give her restless soul some peace.

I have loved each and every one of Foster's stirring, feminist tales that give voice to women punished for simply wanting more, but this is absolutely my favourite one so far. Maggie worked her way into my heart, and I found myself utterly sobbing as I turned the final page of this beautiful novel. More please, Kate Foster!

The Mourning Necklace is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Mantle/Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Kate Foster worked as a national newspaper journalist for more than twenty years before becoming an author. Growing up in Edinburgh, she became fascinated by its history and often uses it as inspiration for her stories. Her previous novels include The Maiden, which won the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and The King’s Witches. The Mourning Necklace is her third novel. She lives in Edinburgh with her two children.