Synopsis
THE UNMISSABLE NEW SAPPHIC GOTHIC HORROR NOVEL FROM KAT DUNN, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF HUNGERSTONE AND BITTERTHORN
'Feed this directly into my veins' TAYLOR JENKINS REID
'A darkly intoxicating and fierce sapphic retelling of Hamlet. Extraordinary' LUCY ROSE, author of The Lamb
Revenge me. For I am murdered . . .
Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.
But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.
But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .
Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness.
'Sinister and devastating. I want to read it again and again and again' Bea Fitzgerald
Praise for HUNGERSTONE
'Rich and daring' Ava Reid
'Phenomenal' Samantha Shannon
'An extraordinary book' Jennifer Saint
'Hungerstone grabbed me body and soul' Anya Bergman
'Intoxicating and vivid . . . Sensual and vicious' Hannah Kaner
'A true feast for all the senses' Cosmopolitan
'A beguiling and spellbinding story of female repression and appetite' Heat
'A fabulous gothic feast of a novel' Elodie Harper
'Feed this directly into my veins' TAYLOR JENKINS REID
'A darkly intoxicating and fierce sapphic retelling of Hamlet. Extraordinary' LUCY ROSE, author of The Lamb
Revenge me. For I am murdered . . .
Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.
But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.
But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .
Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness.
'Sinister and devastating. I want to read it again and again and again' Bea Fitzgerald
Praise for HUNGERSTONE
'Rich and daring' Ava Reid
'Phenomenal' Samantha Shannon
'An extraordinary book' Jennifer Saint
'Hungerstone grabbed me body and soul' Anya Bergman
'Intoxicating and vivid . . . Sensual and vicious' Hannah Kaner
'A true feast for all the senses' Cosmopolitan
'A beguiling and spellbinding story of female repression and appetite' Heat
'A fabulous gothic feast of a novel' Elodie Harper
Details
04 June 2026
9781786583963Imprint: Manilla Press
Reviews
Feed this directly into my veins.
Rottenheart will transport you. It's a darkly intoxicating and fierce sapphic retelling of Hamlet, filled with longing, rage, and grief. Kat Dunn has crafted something haunting, beguiling and mesmerizing and I'm certain it's her most extraordinary novel yet
Sinister and devastating. Rottenheart depicts vengeance as tragedy and tragedy as vengeance. It completely wrecked me. I am bereft. I want to read it again and again and again
A darkly intoxicating, sinister story shot through with beautiful and delicate sapphic yearning. Kat Dunn's writing is as vivid and immersive as ever, drawing the reader into her immaculately realised ghostly and gothic world. Hauntingly brilliant.
