Fair Exchange : A Novel

In the early 1800s in a small village in rural France, a peasant woman named Louise summons her priest. Fearing she is about to die, Louise begins her final confession to the bored cleric and reveals a lifelong secret involving a famous woman writer, a young English poet, and a wicked and unusual crime. Inspired by the lives and loves of the eighteenth-century pioneer of women's rights, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her contemporary, William Wordsworth, Fair Exchange is a spellbinding and sensual novel of passion and guilt.

“A dazzling, unputdownable read...a deeply compelling narrative of dark secrets and intrigue.” —Scotland on Sunday

“Michèle Roberts has written a memorable glowingfantasy, a deftly tapestried fable.” —The Mail on Sunday (UK)

“Roberts is at her best when she writes about food and sex, about feelings and desires that cut across boundaries of time and class. A spirited and sensual novel.” —The Sunday Times (London)

“Roberts makes wonderful play with notions of lineage and history...beautifully written.” —Independent on Sunday