London, 1809. By day, minister John Church preaches to a congregation of commonfolk in Southwark. By night, he is drawn to the secretive, alluring world of a molly house on Vere Street. There, ordina

'Witty, original and clever, this tale of Jacobean power and lust is a blast' THE TIMES, Best Historical Fiction of the Year Francis Bacon, philosopher, politician, writer, is an outsider at the

Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by soaring prices and political tensions. By day, John Church preaches on the radical possibilities of