The Black Book of Secrets

by F E Higgins

Interest age: 10 to 11
Reading age: 10+

Published by Pan Macmillan, 2010

Adventure
Fantasy

About this book

When pickpocket Ludlow Fitch runs away from his evil parents, fate leads him to the quiet village of Pagus Parvus and the company of the mysterious and marvellous Joe Zabbidou.

Joe is a pawnbroker who seems to deal mainly in secrets – that is, he trades people's deepest, darkest secrets for cash. As each fiendish confession is committed to Joe's Big Black Book, the atmosphere in the village begins to change until one day things become positively explosive.

An original and fascinating book by a talented new writer, which explores themes of trust, redemption, forgiveness and natural justice in the context of a dark and gripping mystery.

About the author

F E Higgins was born in England but raised in Ireland. She now lives and writes in a house that dates back to the fifteenth century, in a small village in rural Kent. The Black Book of Secrets, her debut novel, was published in hardback in January 2007 with the paperback following in September 2007. It met a huge amount of critical acclaim including being the first Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week in 2007. Eion Colfer also heralded it as 'Wonderful. Anyone looking for the next big thing has come to the right place. Higgins has created a uniquely grim fantasy world that more than holds its own with Dickens or Peake. Her characters are brilliantly realised and the story grabs at the reader with hooked talons'.

The Bone Magician, her second novel for Macmillan Children's Books, was published in March 2008.