Love is a Curse: A spellbinding, gothic love story for 2025, from the Richard and Judy bestselling author of A Boy Made of Blocks

Keith Stuart

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'A modern Gothic novel unlike any other, about love and loss echoing through the ages. Sad, sweet, funny and hopeful' - Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward and The Sirens

'Did your mother ever tell you about the curse?'

Spoken by her dying aunt, these were the words that would come to define Cammy's life.

As a teenager, Cammy dismissed the warning that the women in her family were doomed to lose the ones they love, writing it off as nothing more than a family myth.

But when, in her late twenties, her new boyfriend is struck by a car, guilt consumes Cammy, and she begins to wonder: could the curse be real?

Desperate for answers, she returns to her aunt's secluded house and begins to uncover the tangled history of her ancestors - a tragic lineage of women marked by love and loss. As she sifts through diaries, letters, and paintings, Cammy must decide: is she doomed by a fate she can't escape, or are there answers buried in the secrets of the women who came before her?

'An original yet entirely universal story - sweeping in its scale, yet sweet-tempered, moving, and just the right amount of spooky. I loved it' - Samuel Burr author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

'Love Is a Curse uses Gothic so cleverly. I binged the ending in one sitting and was absolutely gripped (and may have had a tear or two in my eye!)' - Sarah Brooks author of The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wasteland

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Praise for Love is a Curse: A spellbinding, gothic love story for 2025, from the Richard and Judy bestselling author of A Boy Made of Blocks

  • Utterly and completely beautiful - Joanna Cannon (on Days of Wonder)Both very funny and intensely moving - a rare feat - Mike Gayle (on Days of Wonder)A story of life, love and hope - the perfect antidote to today's world. Phenomenal - Clare Mackintosh (on Days of Wonder)The Frequency of Us is a fascinating, beautiful, heartwarming novel - Beth O'LearyI loved it, and know it'll stay with me for some time - Clare Pooley (on The Frequency of Us)Really evocative ... just lovely - Sara Cox (on The Frequency of Us)The publishing sensation of the year - Mail on Sunday (on A Boy Made of Blocks)

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Keith Stuart

Keith Stuart

Keith Stuart is an author and journalist. His heartwarming debut novel, A Boy Made of Blocks, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and a major bestseller. His third novel, The Frequency of Us, was a BBC2 Between the Covers pick and Radio 4 Book at Bedtime. Keith has written for publications including Empire, Red and Esquire, and is the former games editor of the Guardian. He lives with his wife and two sons in Frome, Somerset.

TWITTER: @keefstuart

INSTAGRAM: keef.stuart

TIKTOK: @Keefstuart

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