'Rich, layered, and deeply thoughtful' - LUCY STEEDS
'A magnificent novel - vivid, moving and utterly convincing' - S.G. MACLEAN
In the suffocating summer of 1858, Sir Edwin Landseer faces the monumental task of sculpting the Trafalgar Square lions. The nation is watching, the Royal Academy is whispering, and the Queen herself expects brilliance. The press, his doctor and Edwin's inner demons predict disaster.
As the pressure mounts, beasts begin to stalk Edwin's increasingly alcohol-fuelled nightmares. His mind flees from stifling Victorian London to the freedom of the Scottish Highlands, the riotous days of the Regency and the woman who set his world alight. Georgina: older, adventurous and irreverent. Georgina: married to Edwin's most influential patron. Georgina: the love of his life. The world called it a scandal, but the world didn't know what it was talking about. The world should have called it a tragedy.
Based on real events and rumours that burned like wildfire, Noble Beasts is a story of art, sacrifice, and enduring love, painting a vivid and passionate picture of the tangled relationships that helped make Edwin's career but broke his heart and his mind.
'Waverley immerses the reader in the lushly textured worlds of the sweeping Highlands and of a glittering, claustrophobic society.' - LUCY STEEDS, author of The Artist
'Passionate, sensual, profoundly moving . . . one of the best works of historical fiction I ever read' - A.N. WILSON
'A fascinating and immersive portrait of an artist driven by ambition, passion and addiction' JOANNA MILLER,
author of The Eights
'Impeccably researched and exquisitely written.' RACHEL BLACKMORE, author of Costanza LUCY WAVERLEY studied History, Literature and Art History at the University of Oxford and is currently working towards a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. She is an alumna of the Faber Academy's novel writing course, and lives in the Midlands with her husband, daughters and dog. Noble Beasts was longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award 2024 and shortlisted for the 2023 Cheshire Novel Prize. This is the story of a famed artist, a scandalous affair, and the beasts that roamed his mind. A thing of beauty is a great temptation.
It's the summer of 1858 and everyone who can has fled London. As a foul miasma hangs over the capital, Sir Edwin Landseer is toiling at a fever pitch. Because England needs lions, England expects lions, and fifteen years to finish a monument like Nelson's column is a disgrace.
But as lions stalk the sculptor's alcohol-fuelled nightmares, his dreams travel to the past. No longer an old man losing his grip on reality, his thoughts turn to the waning Regency, when the Duchess Bedford - twenty years his senior - first burst into young Edwin's life.
Blending the hazy romance of the Scottish Highlands with the history of Trafalgar Square, Noble Beasts charts Landseer's relationship to the Queen, the Royal Academy, and the infamous rumour that Edwin Landseer, the painter to call if you wanted dogs or deer, was taking more from the Duke of Bedford than the occasional commission. Inspired by the life of Edwin Landseer, this is the story of a famed artist, a scandalous affair, and the beasts that roamed his mind. Reads like a modern take on Romanticism, beautiful imagery and use of poetry and historical events throughout. A new spin on an often-overlooked genre and story, perfect for a wide audience. An early draft of this novel was longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award and shortlisted for the 2023 Cheshire Novel Prize.
