Sentenced to death for a simple confidence trick, Mary Jebb escapes the gallows ... but her reprieve is harsh: seven years in the unforgiving penal colony of Botany Bay.
Yet Mary is determined not to be forgotten, sending two pennies, engraved with a promise, to the two men who sealed her fate.
Timid artist Grace Moore jumps at the opportunity to marry handsome gentleman Michael Croxon - happy if only to get away from her drunken father.
But when Grace takes on a new cook, the two penny heart love tokens reveal she is tied to a world she didn't know existed ... A world of deceit, double-crossing, revenge and murder.
Read MorePraise for Martine Bailey's debut novel, AN APPETITE FOR VIOLETS - ...Martine Bailey writes with such easy, compelling grace, and in a fascinating new genre - best described as culinary gothic. I was hooked and enraptured.An absolutely delicious novel; I savoured every page.I adored this novel: a delicious addictive mix of confectionery, skulduggery and crime, sprinkled with dark secrets.A charming debut and a genuinely original and insightful novel. - Good HousekeepingA beautifully written 18th century servant story . . . An impressive debut. - Daily MailMartine Bailey has invented her own niche - gothic horror meeting culinary thriller - and THE PENNY HEART is her second helping... There is much to admire in this sprawling tale of lies, secrets and puddings. Bailey's prose sparkles. - The TimesAn exciting novel in the Gothic tradition. - The Lady Magazine