Published 28th May 2026 by Mantle.
From the cover of the book:
Her scandal. His revenge. The unforgettable new historical novel from award-winning author, Kate Foster.
St Monans, Fife, Scotland 1790. Two women are forced to publicly repent in church, one for adultery the other for breaching the sabbath. Wealthy housewife, Florrie, and salt serf, Eliza, form a quick and unusual bond over their mutual humiliation. So when Florrie's husband decides she must accompany him on a trade venture to Iceland, she insists Eliza comes as her maid.
Far from home, isolated and fearful, the two women grow ever closer. Then Florrie's husband reveals his sinister plan: he will leave her in Iceland, banished for the shame she has cast upon him. Florrie must escape, but when she turns to Eliza for help she realizes nothing is quite as it seems . . .
Inspired by an attempt by Scottish merchants to annex Iceland as a remote prison for the British Empire, The Repentants is a chilling tale of betrayal, exile and survival from the Women's Prize long-listed author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.
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St Monans, Fife, Scotland 1790. When wealthy housewife Florrie is tempted from her unfulfilling marriage bed into the arms of a Danish merchant, she hopes her infidelity will go unnoticed by her cold husband, Jonny. Unfortunately for Florrie, she is caught midst passionate tryst, and forced to repent her sins in front of St Monans' church congregation.
Her public humiliation is shared by Eliza, a poor salt serf who works for Jonny as little more than a bonded slave. Eliza's sin is one of breaching the sabbath, and although she also claims to repent her transgressions, Florrie is fascinated by Eliza's independent spirit.
When Jonny decides his business interests lie in far-off Iceland, Florrie has to accompany him on this long journey. She insists that Eliza comes too, to act as her maid. The two women form an uncomfortable bond - both chaffing at being dragged to this strange land. But it is not until Jonny reveals his sinister plan, that the real danger of their situation is revealed...
I have loved every one of Kate Foster's previous novels, so had high hopes for The Reptentants - and I was not disappointed. It takes its inspiration from a bold plan by Scottish merchants and British entrepreneurs to establish a prison ship in Iceland, in an attempt to annex Iceland from Denmark as a British penal colony. The concept was eventually dropped in favour of sending British convicts to Australia, but Foster cleverly puts Jonny at the forefront of this aborted scheme, weaving him into history through a business proposal to use the prisoners as workers at a new salt works in Iceland - in cahoots with a silver-tongued Danish merchant, and devious Count Levitau, a deliciously melodramatic Dane who sees himself as the future overseer of Reykjavik.
The story moves between eighteenth century Scotland, Iceland and Demark, unfurling through the perspectives of Florrie, Eliza, and Hallgerd - an Icelandic woman with an absent husband, whose grand house Count Levitau is determined to lay claim to by nefarious means. Each woman is an unwilling participant in unfettered male ambition, and your spleen soon rises at the way they are treated.
Twists and turns abound as revelations are spilled about how the women's fates are connected, and their relationships pitch and toss as entitlement, spite, and recriminations enter the fray. But eventually they come together to fight a common enemy - the men who think they can use them as stepping stones to fortune - in a glorious tying up of storylines that will have you punching the air with revenge-filled glee.
Foster held me spellbound, infusing atmosphere, and reams of historical detail into her story - time and place thrum, and there is an unsettling urgency about the situations the women find themselves in that tugs at your emotions. Florrie, Eliza and Hallgerd are as beautifully drawn as I have come to expect from Foster, painted in authentic shades of grey. She excels in delving into their hopes and desires (sexual desire once again handled so well), showing how they are judged for wanting to take charge of their own lives.
Another cracking novel from Kate Foster, ringing with feminist themes - and an absolute must if you love stories about the forgotten voices of women in the past!
The Repentants is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and ausio formats.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me a proof of this book.
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, The King’s Witches, and The Mourning Necklace. The Repentants is her fourth novel..
She lives in Edinburgh with her two children.
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