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Earlyfate
The whole Division will sneer when they read this, I know it. But how, pray tell, was I to discern just how wrong it would go?
Pip Property is no stranger to disaster. Typically, they’ve got a plan, but now Dallyangle’s favourite dandy & part-time criminal is locked in the morgue of the crime-fighting Division gone rogue, accused of far more crimes than they’ve actually committed, with (at least) two bucolic burglars out to strangle them with their own cravat. Their lover – the semi-feral Welsh heiress Rosamond Nettleblack – has disappeared into dangerous hands. Enlisting the Division to save Rosamond might be Pip’s only hope, but the cravat designer and the chaotic vigilantes have never seen eye to eye. The Division is looking to prove themselves to a potential new patron – and trusting schemers like Pip is a risk the detectives don’t want to take.
Armed only with a borrowed notebook, threadbare charm, suits without cravat pins, and a swordstick everyone keeps confiscating, Pip must get the Division on-side, convince them that faith is a thing they can still have, and unravel the truth behind Rosamond’s disappearance before it’s too late.
From the author of Nettleblack, Earlyfate throws us back into the same madcap Neo-Victorian world, where queerness is a given and chaos is mandatory.
Pip Property is no stranger to disaster. Typically, they’ve got a plan, but now Dallyangle’s favourite dandy & part-time criminal is locked in the morgue of the crime-fighting Division gone rogue, accused of far more crimes than they’ve actually committed, with (at least) two bucolic burglars out to strangle them with their own cravat. Their lover – the semi-feral Welsh heiress Rosamond Nettleblack – has disappeared into dangerous hands. Enlisting the Division to save Rosamond might be Pip’s only hope, but the cravat designer and the chaotic vigilantes have never seen eye to eye. The Division is looking to prove themselves to a potential new patron – and trusting schemers like Pip is a risk the detectives don’t want to take.
Armed only with a borrowed notebook, threadbare charm, suits without cravat pins, and a swordstick everyone keeps confiscating, Pip must get the Division on-side, convince them that faith is a thing they can still have, and unravel the truth behind Rosamond’s disappearance before it’s too late.
From the author of Nettleblack, Earlyfate throws us back into the same madcap Neo-Victorian world, where queerness is a given and chaos is mandatory.
336 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2024
7 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 6, 2024
Exactly what I needed in these trying times.
September 14, 2024
FIGS THAT WAS GLORIOUS. Thank you so much Jack @cipher_press for sending me this early copy. Pip Property may be one of my all time favorite literary characters they own my soul completely.
Earlyfate is the eagerly awaited sequel to Nettleblack, this time focusing on everyone's favorite charming cravat designer Pip Property.
Nat Reeve has such a way with words that their story feels so natural and loops its way around your heart. The way Nat understands and writes about gender (or lack of) is simply stunning and has such an impact - Nettleblack had a massive impact on me two years ago when understanding my own non-binaryness and I will be forever grateful.
This story was such joyful chaos I loved every second of it. These characters are flawed, charming and clever which makes a winning combination. A clever plotted and thrilling crime story that blends so well with Nat's trademark charm. I'm not much of a romance reader but the romances between Pip & Rosamond and Matthew & Nick had me kicking my feet!
I was so excited to be back in the world of the Nettleblacks and it did not disappoint.
UK Release: 24/10/24 - preorder now.
Earlyfate is the eagerly awaited sequel to Nettleblack, this time focusing on everyone's favorite charming cravat designer Pip Property.
Nat Reeve has such a way with words that their story feels so natural and loops its way around your heart. The way Nat understands and writes about gender (or lack of) is simply stunning and has such an impact - Nettleblack had a massive impact on me two years ago when understanding my own non-binaryness and I will be forever grateful.
This story was such joyful chaos I loved every second of it. These characters are flawed, charming and clever which makes a winning combination. A clever plotted and thrilling crime story that blends so well with Nat's trademark charm. I'm not much of a romance reader but the romances between Pip & Rosamond and Matthew & Nick had me kicking my feet!
I was so excited to be back in the world of the Nettleblacks and it did not disappoint.
UK Release: 24/10/24 - preorder now.
November 27, 2024
i am heavily wavering between a three and a four star rating for this book but honestly i’m leaning towards a four simply because i want to encourage more people to give this series and author a chance.
i preferred nettleblack to this, as i found the first 100 pages really difficult to get into. pip property is a difficult character and their narrative voice is intentionally pretentious and difficult to follow. i found myself really frustrated with their inability to talk genuinely or honestly and i came to borderline dislike them because of how much they perpetrated the miscommunication that is rife through this novel.
miscommunication (or lack of communication) is one of my least favourite plot conventions and in this novel it is the backbone of the tension. it’s frustrating, but realistic, that misunderstandings make up so much of the issues within this story.
still, the characters are artfully crafted and the prose is very skilful. nat reeve is a master novelist and i look forward to their next project. as frustrating as i found this, i would highly recommend it to anyone interested in historical queer mysteries. please give this book (and nettleblack) a chance, as nat reeve deserves so many flowers.
i preferred nettleblack to this, as i found the first 100 pages really difficult to get into. pip property is a difficult character and their narrative voice is intentionally pretentious and difficult to follow. i found myself really frustrated with their inability to talk genuinely or honestly and i came to borderline dislike them because of how much they perpetrated the miscommunication that is rife through this novel.
miscommunication (or lack of communication) is one of my least favourite plot conventions and in this novel it is the backbone of the tension. it’s frustrating, but realistic, that misunderstandings make up so much of the issues within this story.
still, the characters are artfully crafted and the prose is very skilful. nat reeve is a master novelist and i look forward to their next project. as frustrating as i found this, i would highly recommend it to anyone interested in historical queer mysteries. please give this book (and nettleblack) a chance, as nat reeve deserves so many flowers.
October 24, 2024
At Vernon Vibbrit's glossy windows, my own first glimpse stopped me in the street.
"Hallo again, Pip Property!"
The ablutions bowl had done its work. You'd never know I'd cried - you'd never think I'd known reason to. My scar was pale, neat with healing, unobtrusive. The suit (olive herring-bone) and cravat (chestnut paisleys, amber snails) were an impeccable pair for the cream-collared shirt. The fabrics had been walked free of creases; gold flashed at the pin and watch-chain. Earlyfate lounged at a jaunty diagonal beside my legs.
My smirk was just as jaunty: a smirk that felt not a scrap of turmoil, that kept any squirming pinned too tightly to surface.
Earlyfate is the sequel to Nat Reeve's Nettleblack which I described, when I read it in April 2022, as "a joyfully riotous, farcical and queer subversion of neo-Victorian sensation-fiction in the spirit of Wilkie Collins", and this sequel continues in the same vain.
The focus here switches from Henry Nettleblack to the cravat-wearing Venetian-born Pip Property. Although their sartorial elegance and self-confidence is put sorely to test by the trials that unfold in this episode of the story, the quote above largely self-bluff.
As with Nettleblack, the story is told via written first person accounts - here case notes, a secret notebook, even a transcript of a phonograph recording. The author has explained in Reeve, N. (2022) how the use of the first-person epistolary form, originally characteristic of Wilkie Collins et al doesn’t just give ‘non-normative characters’ a (written) voice – it lets them take it for themselves.
I would have to admit that I found this book less satisfying than the first: the novelty of the range of characters and literary approach was dulled a little by repetition, and the offsetting advantage, that of familiarity with the characters and their stories was diminished by the passage of time since reading the last book and my rather spoiler-light review. Worthwhile and great fun, and I'll be interested to see what Reeve does next.
The cast as introduced by Pip at the start of their journal:
The Orchestrators of My Downfall (And - admittedly fewer in number - The Delights of My Existence) as given by Pip Property
PIP PROPERTY (numerous additional names, accurate and inac-curate, notwithstanding), myself, a cravat designer under an immense deal of stress, more than qualified to fill both aforementioned categories
ROSAMOND NETTLEBLACK, my feral beloved, the darling of the Gower Peninsula, and the only person allowed to tie me to proximate furniture
EDWIN NETTLEBLACK, her despotic sister, to whom we do not speak
HENRY NETTLEBLACK, her younger sibling, a prodigal of nervous constitution and a member of the Dallyangle Division, to whom I owe an apology
SEPTIMUS, sweetheart to the above, also of the Division, possessor of the most superlative hair since Venus Verticordia, to whom I also owe an apology
KETURAH ST. CLARE BALLESTAS, Director of the Division, notoriously unruffled by the anxieties of lesser mortals, to whom I also (indirectly) owe an apology
CASSANDRA BALLESTAS, her daughter, also of the Division, sartorially unhinged, to whom I might owe an apology
MATTHEW ADELSTEIN, my neighbour, also of the Division, a pernickety detective to whom I very probably owe an apology
NICHOLAS 'Nick' FITZDEGU, his lodger, so-called, officially a rat breeder and a Divisioner in all but name, to whom I may also owe an apology
MORDRED, a ferret, presently unaffiliated, to whom I - oh, devil take it -
Persons to Whom I do not Owe an Apology
MAGGIE and NORMAN SWEETING, two burglars, with whom I briefly endured a profitable business relationship, who ought to owe an apology to me
GERTIE SKULL, also of the Division, beyond hope
OLIVER SKULL and MILLiCENT MUSCROVE, brother and cousin to the above, also of the Division, prone to overreaction when it comes to swordsticks
MARIGOLD CHANDLER, secretary of the Dallyangle Town Council, whose fashion choices alone require an apology far broader than just to myself
GARETH WYN EVANS, the Nettleblacks' estate manager, self-appointed defender of Rosamond's good name
ADELAIDE DANADLENDDU, cousin to the Nettleblacks, nemesis of Cassandra Ballestas, possibly the walking result of some necro-mantic experiment
LAWRENCE 'LORRIE' TICKERING, brother to Septimus, apparently the fiancé-shaped secret of Edwina Nettleblack
LORD CLEMENT MILTONWATERS, marquess-to-be, heir to the estate currently owned by his semi-fictional grandfather and managed by his head-hiding cousin, one Lady Elvira Miltonwaters
And anyone else I can't immediately recall, apologies or otherwise.
The publisher is the small independent Cipher Press and this book feels perfect for their ethos:
The author is Nat Reeve, their PhD at the University of Holloway described as:
"Hallo again, Pip Property!"
The ablutions bowl had done its work. You'd never know I'd cried - you'd never think I'd known reason to. My scar was pale, neat with healing, unobtrusive. The suit (olive herring-bone) and cravat (chestnut paisleys, amber snails) were an impeccable pair for the cream-collared shirt. The fabrics had been walked free of creases; gold flashed at the pin and watch-chain. Earlyfate lounged at a jaunty diagonal beside my legs.
My smirk was just as jaunty: a smirk that felt not a scrap of turmoil, that kept any squirming pinned too tightly to surface.
Earlyfate is the sequel to Nat Reeve's Nettleblack which I described, when I read it in April 2022, as "a joyfully riotous, farcical and queer subversion of neo-Victorian sensation-fiction in the spirit of Wilkie Collins", and this sequel continues in the same vain.
The focus here switches from Henry Nettleblack to the cravat-wearing Venetian-born Pip Property. Although their sartorial elegance and self-confidence is put sorely to test by the trials that unfold in this episode of the story, the quote above largely self-bluff.
As with Nettleblack, the story is told via written first person accounts - here case notes, a secret notebook, even a transcript of a phonograph recording. The author has explained in Reeve, N. (2022) how the use of the first-person epistolary form, originally characteristic of Wilkie Collins et al doesn’t just give ‘non-normative characters’ a (written) voice – it lets them take it for themselves.
I would have to admit that I found this book less satisfying than the first: the novelty of the range of characters and literary approach was dulled a little by repetition, and the offsetting advantage, that of familiarity with the characters and their stories was diminished by the passage of time since reading the last book and my rather spoiler-light review. Worthwhile and great fun, and I'll be interested to see what Reeve does next.
The cast as introduced by Pip at the start of their journal:
The Orchestrators of My Downfall (And - admittedly fewer in number - The Delights of My Existence) as given by Pip Property
PIP PROPERTY (numerous additional names, accurate and inac-curate, notwithstanding), myself, a cravat designer under an immense deal of stress, more than qualified to fill both aforementioned categories
ROSAMOND NETTLEBLACK, my feral beloved, the darling of the Gower Peninsula, and the only person allowed to tie me to proximate furniture
EDWIN NETTLEBLACK, her despotic sister, to whom we do not speak
HENRY NETTLEBLACK, her younger sibling, a prodigal of nervous constitution and a member of the Dallyangle Division, to whom I owe an apology
SEPTIMUS, sweetheart to the above, also of the Division, possessor of the most superlative hair since Venus Verticordia, to whom I also owe an apology
KETURAH ST. CLARE BALLESTAS, Director of the Division, notoriously unruffled by the anxieties of lesser mortals, to whom I also (indirectly) owe an apology
CASSANDRA BALLESTAS, her daughter, also of the Division, sartorially unhinged, to whom I might owe an apology
MATTHEW ADELSTEIN, my neighbour, also of the Division, a pernickety detective to whom I very probably owe an apology
NICHOLAS 'Nick' FITZDEGU, his lodger, so-called, officially a rat breeder and a Divisioner in all but name, to whom I may also owe an apology
MORDRED, a ferret, presently unaffiliated, to whom I - oh, devil take it -
Persons to Whom I do not Owe an Apology
MAGGIE and NORMAN SWEETING, two burglars, with whom I briefly endured a profitable business relationship, who ought to owe an apology to me
GERTIE SKULL, also of the Division, beyond hope
OLIVER SKULL and MILLiCENT MUSCROVE, brother and cousin to the above, also of the Division, prone to overreaction when it comes to swordsticks
MARIGOLD CHANDLER, secretary of the Dallyangle Town Council, whose fashion choices alone require an apology far broader than just to myself
GARETH WYN EVANS, the Nettleblacks' estate manager, self-appointed defender of Rosamond's good name
ADELAIDE DANADLENDDU, cousin to the Nettleblacks, nemesis of Cassandra Ballestas, possibly the walking result of some necro-mantic experiment
LAWRENCE 'LORRIE' TICKERING, brother to Septimus, apparently the fiancé-shaped secret of Edwina Nettleblack
LORD CLEMENT MILTONWATERS, marquess-to-be, heir to the estate currently owned by his semi-fictional grandfather and managed by his head-hiding cousin, one Lady Elvira Miltonwaters
And anyone else I can't immediately recall, apologies or otherwise.
The publisher is the small independent Cipher Press and this book feels perfect for their ethos:
Launched in 2020, Cipher Press is an independent publisher that amplifies writing by queer and trans-identified authors. We came about as a response to the lack of dedicated queer publishing in the UK and the fact that there are so many queer voices still unheard and so many queer stories still untold.
We’re interested in books that tell old stories in new ways. We publish writers whose work confronts the ways in which the queer experience has evolved and changed. We’re really keen on the idea that queer and minority stories are for everybody, and we want to make our books – and the stories they tell - accessible to all.
The author is Nat Reeve, their PhD at the University of Holloway described as:
For my thesis, I'm queer reading the work of the Pre-Raphaelite artist-poet Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862), and hoping to show how a combination of queer theory and creative close reading can illuminate Siddal's art and poetry beyond cisheteronormative interpretative lenses. My work on Siddal can be found in Word & Image, the forthcoming Pre-Raphaelite Sisters collection (eds Glenda Youde and Robert Wilkes), and online talks, blogs and podcasts.
My research interests currently include:
The practice and practicalities of queer historical fiction
The Victorian period
Elizabeth Siddal and the Pre-Raphaelites
Queer theory and queer critical practice
Medievalism
The supernatural
Ecocriticism, especially when plants are involved
December 6, 2024
a compelling return to the utterly charming world of nettleblack!
very difficult not to fall for this world, its mysteries, and its gorgeous cast of characters! written in infinitely entertaining prose and with an incredible ability to give a distinct voice and tone to every character, as well as to give words to gender and queerness that resonate in a truly beautiful way.
p.s. rosamond nettleblack kiss me on the mouth
very difficult not to fall for this world, its mysteries, and its gorgeous cast of characters! written in infinitely entertaining prose and with an incredible ability to give a distinct voice and tone to every character, as well as to give words to gender and queerness that resonate in a truly beautiful way.
p.s. rosamond nettleblack kiss me on the mouth
January 4, 2026
I really loved Nettleblack and was really looking forward to reading Earlyfate but perhaps I should have re-read it before starting this one as I forgot who some of the characters were and what there issues were in the past.
That said, the multitude of narrators and their lack of communication and chaos resulted into a messy read for me. Miscommunication is the theme of this book so it makes sense there’s an element of chaos and frustration whilst reading this as a “by-stander”, especially since the story is told and solved by different narrators from their personal experience and points of view. Though I liked the structure, it made it hard to connect with the characters and the mystery as a whole.
The writing is great though and, as it is one of the few fully queer mystery novels around, I can only recommend it. I would love to read more by this author.
That said, the multitude of narrators and their lack of communication and chaos resulted into a messy read for me. Miscommunication is the theme of this book so it makes sense there’s an element of chaos and frustration whilst reading this as a “by-stander”, especially since the story is told and solved by different narrators from their personal experience and points of view. Though I liked the structure, it made it hard to connect with the characters and the mystery as a whole.
The writing is great though and, as it is one of the few fully queer mystery novels around, I can only recommend it. I would love to read more by this author.
November 22, 2024
Earlyfate is utterly magnificent. Fast paced and exciting, hits me in all the family feelings between the Ballestases, Nettleblacks, and Property. I love how Nat Reeve makes a world that is simultaneously of the Victorian age and aware of all the laws and society that oppressed and finds a way to make space for all these queer characters to be at home and *happy* (albeit a little stressed from continually thwarting schemes). I adore the characters and I adored returning to Dallyangle and seeing it through Pip's eyes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2025
I found this story really difficult to follow. It felt like something I should have really loved but the barrage of characters and storylines meant I didn’t know what was going on half the time. And I don’t know how many times Pip needed to be beaten up but without conclusion or resolution they always just got over it. I felt like there should have been a book before this to set the scene and I realise there is so I have given it an extra star because I may have enjoyed it more and found it easier to follow had I read that.
December 30, 2024
This one switches the viewpoint of the story to Pip Property from Henry and continues the story right after the events of Nettleblack.
The writing style is still very unique and humourous, but the themes of acceptance of every lifestyle and of found family and love are very present.
It is cozy mystery adjacent, but with a little more stakes. Peoples lives can be ruined by the antagonists.
A good continuance of the series.
The writing style is still very unique and humourous, but the themes of acceptance of every lifestyle and of found family and love are very present.
It is cozy mystery adjacent, but with a little more stakes. Peoples lives can be ruined by the antagonists.
A good continuance of the series.
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