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Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment
Here lies Fanny Lynes, whose whispers from beyond the grave set London alight with scandal.
Here swings Mary Bateman, who lived a life of lies - and died a prophetess and murderer.
Here stands Mary Willcocks. Or is it Anne Burgess? Or Princess Caraboo, from the distant island of Javasu?
A ghost. A witch. A princess. This is a story of those who lie. And of those who choose to believe them.
The discoveries of the Enlightenment unsettled as much as they excited. New truths challenged longstanding beliefs. Rationalism jarred with superstition. Which voices would be heard in this ferocious battle for certainty?
From the chaos, three women and their hoaxes rose as symbols of terror and fascination. But were the lies surrounding Fanny Lynes, Mary Bateman and Mary Willcocks entirely of their own making? Why were the public transfixed?
Questioning culpability and complicity, Pelling's engrossing history of this great age of the hoax reveals a veiled world of moral panic, tall tales and true crime, and holds a mirror to our own turbulent relationship with truth.
Here swings Mary Bateman, who lived a life of lies - and died a prophetess and murderer.
Here stands Mary Willcocks. Or is it Anne Burgess? Or Princess Caraboo, from the distant island of Javasu?
A ghost. A witch. A princess. This is a story of those who lie. And of those who choose to believe them.
The discoveries of the Enlightenment unsettled as much as they excited. New truths challenged longstanding beliefs. Rationalism jarred with superstition. Which voices would be heard in this ferocious battle for certainty?
From the chaos, three women and their hoaxes rose as symbols of terror and fascination. But were the lies surrounding Fanny Lynes, Mary Bateman and Mary Willcocks entirely of their own making? Why were the public transfixed?
Questioning culpability and complicity, Pelling's engrossing history of this great age of the hoax reveals a veiled world of moral panic, tall tales and true crime, and holds a mirror to our own turbulent relationship with truth.
- GenresNonfiction
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
On the surface Hoax is three, separate stories of three infamous stories that transfixed and hoodwinked Georgian society. But what this book is really about is a society on the brink of change; people wanting to hold on to old rural superstitions while the age of enlightenment started to place focus on facts.
Pelling is a natural storyteller and does a brilliant job of weaving together well researched information and making it sound as engaging as a work of fiction.
Occasionally there felt like there is a little too much detail, but the author always seems to pull all these threads back together to help add context to the era and place each woman was living.
My only negative point is, for a non-fiction, it felt like there was sometimes too much emphasis on *what* a person might have felt but it does help make the story fascinating to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Profile Books Audio for providing me with an advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.
Pelling is a natural storyteller and does a brilliant job of weaving together well researched information and making it sound as engaging as a work of fiction.
Occasionally there felt like there is a little too much detail, but the author always seems to pull all these threads back together to help add context to the era and place each woman was living.
My only negative point is, for a non-fiction, it felt like there was sometimes too much emphasis on *what* a person might have felt but it does help make the story fascinating to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Profile Books Audio for providing me with an advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.
May 10, 2026
This book completely captivated me from start to finish. It was unlike anything I have read before, and it opened up a world I knew almost nothing about in the best way possible.
What makes this book so compelling is the way Pelling explores the lives of three very different women connected through deception, performance, and reinvention. Rather than simply recounting famous hoaxes, she digs into why these women created them and what those fabrications revealed about the societies they lived in.
Pelling writes with such intelligence and empathy that each woman feels vivid and deeply human, even when their actions are questionable. I found myself constantly torn between disbelief, admiration, sympathy, and curiosity. The research is incredibly rich, but it reads almost like a novel at times, so it never feels dry.
If you enjoy unusual hidden histories, complex women, and stories that challenge assumptions, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Thank you so much Profile Books for sending this to me!
What makes this book so compelling is the way Pelling explores the lives of three very different women connected through deception, performance, and reinvention. Rather than simply recounting famous hoaxes, she digs into why these women created them and what those fabrications revealed about the societies they lived in.
Pelling writes with such intelligence and empathy that each woman feels vivid and deeply human, even when their actions are questionable. I found myself constantly torn between disbelief, admiration, sympathy, and curiosity. The research is incredibly rich, but it reads almost like a novel at times, so it never feels dry.
If you enjoy unusual hidden histories, complex women, and stories that challenge assumptions, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Thank you so much Profile Books for sending this to me!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is incredibly well researched, and Pelling deserves real credit for the depth she goes into when exploring the individuals at the centre of these stories.
I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author, and she does a great job bringing it to life.
At times it did feel a little slow. Some sections go into such fine detail that it became a bit of a struggle to get through, but overall the concept of exploring hoaxes is fascinating, and the book delivers on what it sets out to do.
I hadn’t come across any of the individuals Pelling investigates before, so it was really interesting to learn not just about the hoaxes themselves, but also the circumstances leading up to them and what happened afterwards.
Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley for the ALC. This review is my own.
I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author, and she does a great job bringing it to life.
At times it did feel a little slow. Some sections go into such fine detail that it became a bit of a struggle to get through, but overall the concept of exploring hoaxes is fascinating, and the book delivers on what it sets out to do.
I hadn’t come across any of the individuals Pelling investigates before, so it was really interesting to learn not just about the hoaxes themselves, but also the circumstances leading up to them and what happened afterwards.
Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley for the ALC. This review is my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Maddie Pelling is one of my favourite podcasters and I really enjoyed her previous book 'The Writing on the Wall' so I was excited to listen to Hoax. The author has a good voice for narration, she speaks steadily and the narrative flows well. The book is about three famous 18th century hoaxers and it puts each person in the context of their time and place, follows their lives and the effects their actions have on society and the people around them.
I hadn't heard of any of these individuals and found their stories fascinating. The particular circumstances of each shows certain aspects of their society and times in a century of advancing change, and the influence the media of the day had on the spread of the hoaxes. I found this an enjoyable and informative listen.
I hadn't heard of any of these individuals and found their stories fascinating. The particular circumstances of each shows certain aspects of their society and times in a century of advancing change, and the influence the media of the day had on the spread of the hoaxes. I found this an enjoyable and informative listen.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A non fiction with three stories based in the 1800s, this features the ghost of Cock Lane, The witch and The Princess. All of which were early hoaxes, it explained how the hoaxes came about, what happened to the innocent people caught in the middle, the not so innocent people who concocted these stories and everyone else in-between. It covered the hoaxes themselves as well as the circumstances leading up to them and what happened after.
What I particularly loved about this book was the way these stories were told, this is non fiction but it's told in a way that is more like a thriller, some non fiction can be so dry however this is anything but. I liked the writing style and the format with an easy layout and some illustrations to depict some of the explanations.
What I particularly loved about this book was the way these stories were told, this is non fiction but it's told in a way that is more like a thriller, some non fiction can be so dry however this is anything but. I liked the writing style and the format with an easy layout and some illustrations to depict some of the explanations.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews