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Father Alberto and the Flying Girl
An exhilarating and wildly original historical novel set in medieval Europe.
'Hilarious, moving, and delightfully weird .... I thought it was brilliant' JO HARKIN, author of THE PRETENDER
'Profound and strange and utterly original ... You have to read it to believe it' RACHEL SEIFFERT, author of The Dark Room
In a backwater parish somewhere in medieval Europe, new priest Alberto finds himself protecting those deemed insane. Yet Alberto must also contend with the vicious Abbess – and the terrifying Inferrant Brethren, with whom he has history . . .
Under the reign of the Abbess, the Abbey of Saint Particular imprisons the mad – and therefore godless. Only once each year are the inmates set free for a day, on the drunken Feast of the Holy Fool. Idealistic Alberto is given the thankless task of returning them to the dungeons once the day is over, but soon starts to see that he could help the ‘fools’ and even learn from them.
There is just one who escapes his the Flying Girl, a mysterious child who leaps from tree to tree, refusing to speak sense or stay on the ground.
As Alberto grows braver in his defiance of the Abbess, everything comes to a head when the Inferral are called. A terrifying brotherhood of religious inquisition and torture, they are come to rid the parish of evil. The Flying Girl must be caught once and for all - and Alberto’s unorthodox kindnesses put him more and more at risk . . .
Bold, vivid and blackly funny, Father Alberto and the Flying Girl is a fiercely imaginative story about kindness, society and so-called madness; about getting things wrong - and hope.
‘Father Alberto and the Flying Girl is a story as strange as it is universal, as dark as it is it's a truly special book’ CHRISTOPHER WAKLING, author of What I Did
'Hilarious, moving, and delightfully weird .... I thought it was brilliant' JO HARKIN, author of THE PRETENDER
'Profound and strange and utterly original ... You have to read it to believe it' RACHEL SEIFFERT, author of The Dark Room
In a backwater parish somewhere in medieval Europe, new priest Alberto finds himself protecting those deemed insane. Yet Alberto must also contend with the vicious Abbess – and the terrifying Inferrant Brethren, with whom he has history . . .
Under the reign of the Abbess, the Abbey of Saint Particular imprisons the mad – and therefore godless. Only once each year are the inmates set free for a day, on the drunken Feast of the Holy Fool. Idealistic Alberto is given the thankless task of returning them to the dungeons once the day is over, but soon starts to see that he could help the ‘fools’ and even learn from them.
There is just one who escapes his the Flying Girl, a mysterious child who leaps from tree to tree, refusing to speak sense or stay on the ground.
As Alberto grows braver in his defiance of the Abbess, everything comes to a head when the Inferral are called. A terrifying brotherhood of religious inquisition and torture, they are come to rid the parish of evil. The Flying Girl must be caught once and for all - and Alberto’s unorthodox kindnesses put him more and more at risk . . .
Bold, vivid and blackly funny, Father Alberto and the Flying Girl is a fiercely imaginative story about kindness, society and so-called madness; about getting things wrong - and hope.
‘Father Alberto and the Flying Girl is a story as strange as it is universal, as dark as it is it's a truly special book’ CHRISTOPHER WAKLING, author of What I Did
- GenresHistorical Fiction
376 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 8, 2025
Simply outstanding. I can’t wait to read it again and discuss it with everybody when it’s published.
July 1, 2026
Well. That was sad.
I just finished it and I am feeling unsettled and a bit hollowed out?
It was great, and it ended exactly how it had to end, but... what an absolute bummer. Which was the point, i think, but still, oof.
It was beautifully written, engaging, well-paced and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny (the guy crouching in the reeds watching for a trap to spring being annoyed because it looked like he "was constantly at stool" make me hyuck loudly), and also deeply sad.
The world-building was minimal but very effective. It seemed like a parallel universe mirroring the- ok, I'm not sure if it was the Spanish Inquisition or their witch trials in the 1500s, but something like that? It worked because it was just different enough that the more fantastical elements didn't come off as incongruous. The social commentary was relevant but not overbearingly obvious, and it never felt like the reader was being condescended to.
I think it was a good book.
That said, I also don't feel qualified to give an educated judgement, so, you know, grain of salt.
Edited to add, published reviews are mentioning the book's strangeness, but to me it was like a thin veneer of weirdness in order to make more palatable the underlying themes? I mean, systemic abuse of the mentally ill still happens, both in institutions and in the wider community; people still persecute the Other, and religion is still being misused by folks for their own gain at the expense of others. Yeah, the fools exhibited very strange behaviors (like the titular girl who was intent on figuring out how to fly), or the whole subplot of Zanzibar the killer horse (which was brilliant and kind of made me cry at least twice, if I'm honest), but otherwise? All too tragically normal.
I just finished it and I am feeling unsettled and a bit hollowed out?
It was great, and it ended exactly how it had to end, but... what an absolute bummer. Which was the point, i think, but still, oof.
It was beautifully written, engaging, well-paced and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny (the guy crouching in the reeds watching for a trap to spring being annoyed because it looked like he "was constantly at stool" make me hyuck loudly), and also deeply sad.
The world-building was minimal but very effective. It seemed like a parallel universe mirroring the- ok, I'm not sure if it was the Spanish Inquisition or their witch trials in the 1500s, but something like that? It worked because it was just different enough that the more fantastical elements didn't come off as incongruous. The social commentary was relevant but not overbearingly obvious, and it never felt like the reader was being condescended to.
I think it was a good book.
That said, I also don't feel qualified to give an educated judgement, so, you know, grain of salt.
Edited to add, published reviews are mentioning the book's strangeness, but to me it was like a thin veneer of weirdness in order to make more palatable the underlying themes? I mean, systemic abuse of the mentally ill still happens, both in institutions and in the wider community; people still persecute the Other, and religion is still being misused by folks for their own gain at the expense of others. Yeah, the fools exhibited very strange behaviors (like the titular girl who was intent on figuring out how to fly), or the whole subplot of Zanzibar the killer horse (which was brilliant and kind of made me cry at least twice, if I'm honest), but otherwise? All too tragically normal.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews