Havisham

by Elle Machray, Unknown Author

Charlotte Havisham has a secret.

She's been underestimated for too by her former fiancé, Compeyson; by her family; and by society.

But now her true heart's desire is within reach for the first time. And she will stop at nothing to get it.

This is the story of Miss Havisham as you've never heard it before.

And she will exceed all expectations.

A thrilling and immersive historical novel, Havisham is a queer feminist reimagining in which Dickens' most infamous female character tells her side of the story at last.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lesbian, Historical, Queer, Fiction, Adult, LGBT

Hardcover

First published May 7, 2026

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following in the footsteps of novels like Wide Sargasso Sea, Elle Machray has crafted a feminist reimagining of a woman who originally played a minor part in a canonical piece. Like Bertha Mason, Great Expectations’s Miss Havisham is represented as mad and deluded, undone by the machinations of a callous man. Machray’s novel repositions Miss Havisham as Charlotte Havisham a woman intent on clearing her name and reclaiming her life. Charlotte’s role is balanced with that of Molly the maid, an even more peripheral character in Dickens’s original novel. Machray further subverts the original story with the addition of a queer, diverse perspective.

Machray writes well and there were stretches of the novel that really worked for me – notably the slow-blooming relationship between Molly and Charlotte. But there were other elements I didn’t find quite as engaging. The overall structure and pacing felt off. And I found it hard to invest in the initial plotline involving the reclamation of Charlotte’s family business. It felt overly long and slightly tangential to Charlotte’s general emotional predicament. This storyline then seemed to fade away as the second half switched focus to a scandalous murder trial and Molly’s unexpected tribulations. Once these issues are resolved there’s a sped-up version of events surrounding convict Magwitch and Charlotte’s estranged lover, followed by a happy-ever-after epilogue – although quite satisfying to witness. I’d have liked a lot more emphasis on atmosphere and character over events, and far more attention paid to setting – although we’re told this plays out in the nineteenth century the markers aren’t especially prominent, giving this a slightly dislocated feel. Certainly, there’s nothing strikingly Dickensian about the narrative. So, not a great fit for me overall but reviews suggest it may well have more appeal for others.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Harper North for an ARC

Rating: 2.5

[Miles Edwin]

DNF

I really wanted to love this book. Miss Havisham is one of my favourite characters in all of Dickens's works, and I was so excited to find out about a book that expanded on her story and gave her the centre stage. I preordered the book and started reading it the moment it arrived. I didn't go into this as a Dickens purist - I went in open minded and curious...but left early and very disappointed.

I just can't stitch this depiction of Miss Havisham with the fabulous and iconic creation in Great Expectations - they are two completely different women. I know Dickens left some very big shoes to fill but I couldn't even enjoy this as fanfiction. There was too much telling and not enough showing, it didn't feel Victorian at all, and key moments where character development and relationships felt skimmed over just to get to the juicier parts of the story. I didn't believe in any of it.

This could be any novel about a woman that was manipulated and jilted at the altar by a cunning, spiteful man...if you were to change the names, I highly doubt you would notice the difference.

[Acantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to enjoy in this book.

A tale of revenge, of a woman taking back her agency, her property, her name. More than that, she is determined to make the man who hurt her suffer, while trying to repair the relationships of her friends and family. The H's were a great bunch. At first, I dismissed them as little more than vapid, brainless people, only interested in wealth, but they proved me wrong and quickly became a minor but vital part of the book. Husband, in particular, was brilliant, he made me smile more than once.

There are a couple of queer romances in this, one of which I think was done better than the other, and I was surprised as to which one I preferred. If you'd told me the pairings before hand, I would have said one was ridiculous and yet it works really well.

Plenty of gothic elements, terrible things happen, the stakes rise constantly and the back and forth as Miss Havisham and Compeyson fight for victory was a great ride.

A certain scene around the courtroom, near the end was possibly the most agonising, realistic portrayals of grief I have read. It flayed you to the bone and makes you gasp as if you have been sucker punched yourself. It was the most powerful moment of the book and pretty much worth the price of admission alone.

And yet.

This holds the name of Miss Havisham and all the characters from Great Expectations. It proclaims that these are the same characters, that this is a retelling, a reimaging. I like that, but I didn't really believe that any of these characters were the ones they were meant to be.

I was around 30% in a buddy read before my friend and I agreed that we should just pretend that the names were a coincidence and that this was just a gothic tale about a completely original woman jilted at the altar.

I have to say, that increased my enjoyment of the book incredibly. If this had been a completely original book, I think I would have given it a solid four stars, but I can't get away from this is meant to be based on Dicken's characters. You can put your own spin on things, you can explore gaps in the text but they still have to be recognisable as the original characters in order to succeed and I don't think they are. You could changes the names and nobody would accuse this book of ripping off GE.

This isn't going to appeal to Dicken Die Hard fans, but if you're willing to give a gothic tale a chance and just pretend, then there is plenty to enjoy here.

~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~

[misfantasyfiction ☆ﾟ.*･ · Rating 3 out of 5]

°❀⋆ Havisham .ೃ࿔*:･

★ ★ ★

'Jilted bride. Vengeful heart. Hopeless romantic.'

Havisham, as the title implies, is a feminist retelling of the infamous character from Dickens' Great Expectations. We follow Charlotte Havisham (Machray has given her a name, something we never saw in GE) two years after she has been jilted at the altar. When she is drawn into her ex-fiance Compeyson's orbit once again, Charlotte is determined not to let him ruin her life again. This time, she will regain the rights to her family's ancestral brewery, and she will dismiss the rumours of madness that he has spread. With the help of some familiar faces, Molly, Jaggers and her reformed brother Arthur Havisham, Charlotte must stop Compeyson from preying on another of their social circle.

First of all, let me acknowledge what a hard retelling this is to do. A character as well-known as Miss Havisham will always be challenging but then add to that what we know of her tragic story. I think this provokes two questions - how to do Miss Havisham justice in a prequel reimagining and how to provide a satisfying ending given what we already know of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations?

I do think I enjoyed this more when I removed it from the original text and read it as a completely separate gothic tale. It worked really well as an original story, but I do think that when compared to Dickens' magnum opus, it fell apart slightly - again, I credit this to how hard of a reimagining it is to pull off. Otherwise, it was well-structured and I actually really enjoyed the alternate ending Machray went with. I thought it was well-executed and a very fun, girl-power read.

If you're a fan of literary fiction grounded in historical fiction, I think you'll really love this. I also heard Elle Machray speak at a book event recently, and the insights she provided, from her research into the era and brewing to the the misconceptions that women didn't own businesses in the late Victorian era, along with her writing journey and her own experiences with Great Expectations... I just love hearing author's talking about their work. It adds so much more colour to the black-and-white words on the page. I will always be an advocate of attending bookish events as often as you can!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's such power in naming. It's impossible to overestimate the impact that this act on Elle Machray's part has upon the unravelling of Dickens's Great Expectations and re-ravelling of its parts in Machray's individualistic second novel. By naming 'Miss Havisham' (and by spotlighting the act by, ironically, entitling Charlotte Havisham's narrative with only her surname), Machray decentres the male experience and is thus able to draw all eyes to the androcentric privilege and world view of the time, by stepping away from its nucleus.

One aspect of 'Havisham' that makes the book such a delight to read is the full voice that the author gives Charlotte along with her full name. Charlotte is lifelike; as robust a character as is Molly. Breathing diversity into their characterisation, we are greeted by two women who radicalise Dickensian justice in order to balance the scales, and - in so doing - redeem 'Havisham' from any notion of it being 'just' a prequel.

Finely researched, totally trope-busting, relishable through-and-through.

Thanks to HarperNorth and Elle Machray for an eARC via NetGalley.

[Lucy Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Incredibly frustrating book. This story is to Great Expectations what Bridgerton is to Pride and Prejudice.

Presented as a queer feminist reimagining of one of the most intriguing literary characters of all time, but the characters, the dialogue and the story aren't even slightly dickensian. They are Dickens characters in name only.

The frustration comes from the fact that this author can clearly write well, but the story is annoyingly disjointed. It focuses for long periods on the story that the author clearly wanted to write then rushes through the plot points that align it with Dickens' story.

Too much telling and not enough showing of the developments between the characters. I just didn't feel any of the romance so much as was told it had happened. It's so hard to get on board with when none of the characters are behaving as they originally do in the story we know without anything happening to explain their personality changes.

Why this wasn't it's own story about a plucky female brewer is beyond me. Feels strongly like borrowed marketing without any of the payoff for the fans that would be attracted to this book.

[Gawain_the_Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The easiest five stars I have given a book ever!

From the cover, and the first page of the book right to the end this book is amazing, inventive, astonishing, exciting and unexpected - it is a real delight to read!

Miss Havisham from Charles Dickins’ Great Expectations decides after years of seclusion, and on discovering Molly Green trying to find and steal a letter from Dominic Compeyson (the man who jilted her at the alter) - on revenge!

Compeyson ruined Charlotte’s life, stole the brewery that was her inheritance and then ran her life’s work into the ground!

Charlotte starts scheming … some things go her way, some don’t, but the ride she takes races along with fizz and crackle - buckle up for a great summer read!

My only minor gripe was the epilogue which whilst I can understand why it was added (to round the melding of Great Expectations and Havisham out completely …. even down to the last line!) it was in my view not really necessary. It felt like an editor’s addition not necessarily where the author wanted to end ….. however I could be wrong!

I was honoured to read an uncorrected proof, and when it comes out properly, I will be recommending it left, right and centre! The only other books I do this with regularly are Nell Stevens’ Briefly, A Delicious Life, anything by Daniel Silva, and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - joining these modern classics as far as I am concerned is VERY well deserved!

[rachel x]

"A thrilling and immersive historical novel, Havisham is a queer feminist reimagining in which Dickens' most infamous female character tells her side of the story at last."

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, there was a lot to like about this book. The writing style is clean and fresh, very easy to read and engaging. The plot was quite interesting and had some good twists and turns in it. Unfortunately, I just don’t think it was the book for me. I appreciate this is a reimagining of Great Expectations but names aside a lot of the characters didn’t feel massively recognisable to me. Some of the pacing was off – some plotlines felt rushed and heavy-handed, others were too subtle. The ending wrapped everything up nicely but quite quickly.

I could see the appeal of this book and the writing itself is so solid – it’s very readable – but I wasn’t wholly convinced by it. I think if you enjoy literary retellings of this type then this might work for you, but this was a first for me and ultimately it just wasn’t my kind of book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes:

Warnings: Violence, intimate partner violence, controlling and coercive behaviour, gaslighting, miscarriage (in past), use of drugs, non-explicit on-page sex, attempted child abuse, murder, death of a sibling, apparent suicide, incarceration, blood, grief..

[nikki 📚 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I so wanted to love this given Miss Havisham is one of my favourite literary characters of all time however there was just something lacking about it. It took me a loooooong time to get into. I'd say like the first 40% was a bit of struggle and I really had to push myself to keep going. After that it did get more interesting but the plot was just a little off for me and the pacing was odd too. I enjoyed seeing more of characters like Jaggers and Arthur but Charlotte's characterisation was just okay. I wanted the bitter, spiteful woman we get in Great Expectations and more of an exploration of how we got to that point, not this character who is completely different. It's not a bad book by any means, it's just not quite what I was expecting.

[H.Z. Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and HarperNorth for the opportunity to read an arc of this novel. This was such a fun read and a wonderful homage to Charlotte Havisham. Machray writes beautifully and leads us into a rich, vibrant story of revenge and love. I really enjoyed Charlotte's new found love and her comeback. Overall, a really wonderful story.

[Deborah Siddoway · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was with both anticipation and trepidation that I began reading Havisham, a novel which undertakes to tell the story of Miss Havisham in a new way, while also promising that she will ‘exceed all expectations’ (sigh). As someone who has spent many years of my life devoted to the study and enjoyment of Dickens, while I was excited to see what the author had done with such a well-known story, I was also somewhat sceptical. Miss Havisham’s story is so well known, so entrenched in our understanding of Victorian gothic culture, that it takes a certain amount of nerve to attempt to cast her story in a new light. The real question therefore becomes did this re-telling work?

It is very clear from the outset the author knows Great Expectations well, and she had done a lot of research both on the novel itself, and the nineteenth-century historical and social context in which the novel was set, but the main difficulty that the author struggled to overcome is one simply of the magnitude of the task. The reality is that when you take on Miss Havisham as a central character imbued with her own driving narrative force, and you strip her of all her symbolic power, which this incarnation of the story does by taking her out of her wedding dress, the end result is that you make her something lesser. I can only equate what Machray did with Miss Havisham as being equivalent to taking Frankenstein’s monstrous creation and making him into a Disneyesque Pinocchio.

Miss Havisham, as Catherine Waters notes in Dickens and the Politics of Family, forms the focus for a cluster of ideas associated with sterility, solitude, decay and death in the novel. As such, she has immense symbolic power, brimming with fury and rage. Machray does pick up on this, referring to Miss Havisham’s wedding dress at the beginning of the novel, as being a ‘silk coffin’ into which Miss Havisham has fastened herself (p. 3), with Miss Havisham the ‘living corpse in a rotten wedding dress’ (p. 5). But there are times when the Satis House of Great Expectations is unrecognisable, such as the ‘fresh-cut lavender tulips’ which seem almost jarring in the setting, given the entropic decline of both Miss Havisham and Satis House following the aborted wedding.

Miss Havisham is given a name by Machray, Charlotte, a Dickensian name in the sense that it had been used in Bleak House with Esther’s maid Charley. But with her name came character traits those familiar with Great Expectations are unlikely to recognise. In keeping with the current publishing obsession with diversity, she was queered, forming an attraction to Molly, and is also given a racialised heritage. Her mother is described as being a ‘madwoman, a mulatto no less’ (p. 8). The end result is that with this new rendition of Miss Havisham, we have a racialised and queer woman, who was having her sanity questioned. This sat very uncomfortably for this reader.

On a general point, Dickensians can be outraged when fundamental aspects of a character are portrayed in a way which defies expectations, but when changes are made simply for the sake of it (as for example, the last BBC production of Great Expectations where Mrs Joe was seen wielding a whip on Mr Pumblechook) it undermines the purpose of a re-telling - especially when that re-telling of the story purports to give the character a voice. The difficulty here is that Miss Havisham had a voice - and it was a powerful one. People in Dickens’s world had a perception of her that may not have been positive, but they recognised her as a woman who deserved some respect or reverence, even as she was made a spectacle over. This portrayal, this new iteration of her diminished her. Jaggers too became something he was never supposed to be, with an attraction formed to Arthur, and his aloofness as a lawyer (along with Dickens’s scathing indictment of the legal system) was therefore lost.

As a reader, Machray’s research sometimes bogged down the narrative. I can understand wanting to show off your research, but I felt the whole of the novel could have done with a tighter edit, as quite often, there was information given within the narrative that the reader simply didn’t need and didn’t add anything to the reader’s understanding of what was going on. It made the book harder to read, and at times, dull.

The ending was somewhat infuriating, especially if you love the ending of the original novel, as I do. It was also problematic, and very difficult for someone who loves Great Expectations to be comfortable with. We all know how Dickens agonised over the ending, and given what was going on in his personal life at the time, when he was still dealing with the aftermath of the scandal of his separation from his wife, while conducting an affair with a woman younger than his daughter, Machray’s revised ending really grated.

In Great Expectations Dickens was doing a lot of things with Miss Havisham, with a narrative arc that is still studied and discussed with interest and awe. Giving Charlotte her happy ending and thereby disrupting the narrative arcs of characters such as Estella and Pip changes the way in which Great Expectations works as a narrative whole.

Dickensians are not going to love this adaptation. In fact, the difficulty with this book is that there are already enough books out there which re-imagine the characters from this novel, picking up from what Dickens did with them, and working with these characters in a way that both honours the source material while looking at the characters in a new way. Think Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelock or Havisham by Ronald Frame. Miss Havisham, as an iconic character, had a story. In giving her a happy ending, even if it is one with another woman, her story becomes forgettable.

Dickens’s legacy endured and Great Expectations is remembered because Dickens was a novelistic genius. This novel, in many ways, proves the point made by Anthony Trollope in his 1857 novel Barchester Towers, that when a novelist attempts to rival Dickens, they commit no fault, though they may be foolish. It was an interesting read. But for me, this was not a novel that does justice to the original, or adds anything in terms of an interpretative new approach to Miss Havisham as a character.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of Havisham!

I really liked the idea of a queer, racially diverse prequel to Great Expectations that focused on two of the story's most interesting characters — Miss Havisham and Molly. Their backstories are dramatic and Gothic, and so I was really excited to read a book where they take centre stage. But while I appreciated all the Easter eggs in this novel, along with the focus on recovering from coercive control/intimate partner abuse, I'm sad to say that the execution just didn't do it for me.

First, it's worth mentioning that this retelling isn't at all compatible with Great Expectations. In fact, at the very end of the novel, it undoes 90% of Great Expectations and instead has a twenty-year-old Estella choosing to marry Pip. The author's acknowledgements say that her editor encouraged her to rewrite the ending to make it happier, and while I'm sure some readers will appreciate that, it didn't work for me. It's not that I dislike loose retellings; for example, I loved Kat Dunn's Hungerstone. But, because this wasn't clear until the very end of the novel, it made for a really strange reading experience. I kept wondering how we were going to see this novel's Miss Havisham turn into Dickens' version of her, and so when the epilogue tells us that this won't actually happen, it made me feel cheated. I wish this had been made clearer earlier on.

I also didn't feel as grounded in the time period as I would have liked. It's clear that the period was well-researched, but some of the dialogue felt far too modern. I frequently recognised popular phrases from relationship influencers and wellness influencers, and this broke my immersion every time. I wish the phrases had been reworded, so that even if the ideas has remained the same, the dialogue would have felt more period-appropriate.

Plus, I found the book was prone to telling me how to feel about characters, and particularly about the sexism they face, in a way that read like a set of inspirational quotes on social media. Don't get me wrong, I love feminist books. But I find it more impactful when this is shown through characters' emotions and experiences rather than having the narrator telling me how to interpret everything.

I also felt that some of the plots seemed to stagnate; some issues were solved far too easily; and sometimes the book seemed to brush over really important, traumatic things to focus on things that seem unimportant. For example, we spend a lot of time on the brewery's struggles in the first half of the novel, but that storyline almost disappears in the second half. We also spend a lot of time on a bizarrely complex event to humiliate an abusive partner, which I guess was meant to be empowering but just felt unrealistic, overly convoluted, and extremely dangerous for all the women involved. And then in contrast, the book doesn't spend a lot of time on Molly finishing the book with 30 months in Bethlam, away from her daughter, forcibly medicated, and the impact on her mental health and sense of self. I almost felt angry on Molly's behalf: her story is honestly more traumatic than Miss Havisham's, and she deserved to have that recognised. There wasn't enough of an acknowledgement of how much she suffered because of, among other things, Miss Havisham's plotting.

Even though there's a lot that didn't work for me, I still want to acknowledge that I love reading about queer, diverse people having historical adventures while falling in love. And I think this could be a fun read if you aren't bothered about the way the book deviates from Great Expectations or sounds at times quite modern.

I also had a much better time with Elle Machray's debut novel, Remember, Remember, so I'll look out for other books by this author.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperNorth for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This was a pre-order I unfortunately had to cancel due to money issues and so I was delighted when HarperNorth send me an early e-copy.

I haven't read Great Expectations since my childhood, and yet this is the third book based on it I've read in two years, courtesy of Barbara Havelocke's Estella series. And what they have managed to do is make me desperate to re-read it. So once I can dedicate some time to it, I'll definitely go back to it.

I don't generally compare books but given the almost identical topics, I felt it was appropriate. I preferred Barbara's Estella books more (although I do know they were more about Estella and not Miss Havisham but they do exist in the same world) because they let the reader in more. Having said that, this is fabulous, absorbing, funny at times, sad, frustrating, and a joyous...I was going to say 'retelling' but I don't see it as that, it's more an addition.

Elle's novel Remember, Remember was such an epically wonderful book that I've been looking forward to her next book ever since. And she's joined the world of Dickens, and as a Dickens collector, this promised a lot.

I won't compare it to Remember, Remember because that was based on a true story whereas this is based on fiction. But there are definitely similarities in her writing. She creates such vivid, instantly likeable (even if they're not meant to be) characters.

The world building in this is wonderful. Yes, Dickens has laid a lot of the ground work, but she's managed to honour that but create something of her own.

On the whole, I'm not usually a fan of when authors take a much-loved story and flips it for a more feminist voice. Let me explain. I don't dislike them when they're needed. But I do find at times that people do that just to tick a box and it's not really necessary and it doesn't really work. But let me say now, this is not like that. This is it's own beautiful story that definitely has its place among the Dickens adaptations. It also gives us a chance to hear the untold story of someone who, quite frankly, had quite a large role in the original but it was more of a silent role, and I found that interesting.

It is slow in places, yes, bits with maybe too much description instead of character or plot. But it didn't impact my enjoyment of it. Some bits are slower, yes, but some bits faster and overall I think she's got the balance just about right. I never felt bored and nor did I feel rushed.

I find in Machray's Miss Havisham, she has found her inner power, and she's written it in a way to speak to her readers. I can only speak as a female reader, but it's like she's handing that power over to us, reminding us of our power. And I got that feeling within the first couple of chapters which was impressive.

[Sifa Poulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

HAVISHAM is a very interesting book to try and review. It doesn't really work as a re-imagining of Dickens because it doesn't give an explanation for how we meet the Miss Havisham we get in GREAT EXPECTATIONS - because we never end up with that Miss Havisham. We somewhat start with her, but by the end (when GREAT EXPECTATIONS would start), this book's Charlotte Havisham is happy and hale, not bitter and manipulative. And yet, if this had been just a historical novel without the connection to GREAT EXPECTATIONS, it wouldn't work as well as a pitch (and so probably wouldn't have ended up being published). That is the paradox inherent in this sort of book, a retelling that entirely rewrites a character's being.

This is why I think I struggled with getting into this book - I was aware that the book had two options: 1) end in misery and all ruined, in order to get us to the Miss Havisham of GREAT EXPECTATIONS or 2) completely ignore the character Miss Havisham is in that novel in order to deliver a less depressing option. And I didn't feel like I particularly wanted either. (Also, why would Magwitch give Pip his money in this version of the tale when he has Estella?)

If you are able to disentangle this book from Dickens and everything you think Miss Havisham should be and instead think of this as a story about a woman name Charlotte who is deeply wronged with few recourses thanks to Victorian laws, then this book is great. It's about found family and fighting against a world that wants to call you mad and dismiss you for being a woman with a mind. It's about getting revenge on the men who have decided to exploit you. It's about love in all its forms - parents and children, lovers, family of choice and blood. It's about women making their own paths.

I liked that it looked at the wealthy industrial class. Some of Charlotte's friends have it from historic routes (one friend can trace her line back to the crusades), but Charlotte comes from a family of businessmen. This is an era of (a select few) able to get very wealthy through industrial processes and the brewing business is not one I had thought overmuch about but was fascinating to read about.

I liked that both Charlotte and Molly get to narrate. It is ultimately Charlotte's tale and she narrates the most (with Molly coming in from the second act.) They have very different perspectives on life but also similar wounds that draw them together, but also provide a barrier to overcome for a relationship. They're wounds that are as much about being able to trust themselves as the other.

[Tzia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte Havisham - jilted bride, tricked out of her shares in the family business, half-mad with grief and content to wallow. Until the day she catches a would-be thief at Satis House, which jolts her out of her reverie and persuades her back into the real world. With a new found drive to reclaim her agency and be revenged on her former fiancee, Charlotte slowly re-forges herself and strives to choose her own path.

I really struggled on how to rate this book. On the one hand, I loved so much about it. The story of a Victorian woman who never really fit in reclaiming her own story and refusing to be cowed is brilliant. Watching Charlotte slowly win back everyone who has written her off, go on her own journey of personal growth as she confronts the parts of herself she doesn't like and seeks to build bridges with her loved ones - being intelligent and genuinely funny along the way might I add - is a pleasure.

Bringing in a couple of queer romances was a surprise but worked, and developing the peripheral characters enough that you come to care about them was done well too - there were no real moments where I felt someone was just there as a prop for one of the main characters to talk at. Dominic was a villain you can't help but love to hate - though he does become a bit of a caricature as we don't really get to know him - and Abel is a believable yet sympathetic sidekick.

There's genuinely loads to love. However...

Miss Havisham is one of THE iconic gothic female characters. I am up for a re-telling, I love that the author wanted to give her her own story and I would genuinely love this to BE her backstory - but for it to do that, it has to stick the landing and unfortunately this doesn't quite manage it. Had this book found a way to reconcile the Charlotte we see here with the Miss Havisham she becomes in Great Expectations this would have been a 5* read. Unfortunately the saccharine ending and the rush through the GE timeline makes that impossible, and that is such a shame.

As a standalone Victorian era book of female empowerment this would have been great. It was still huge fun - but as a dovetail to a Dickens classic it falls short. If you are a die hard Dickens purist (which I am not, by any means) then this may not appeal - however if you're after a gothic tale with a strong female lead and can look past the fact that she happens to have a very recogniseable name; give this a g and you won't be disappointed.

- Thanks to NetGalley for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review -

[Helen Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel focuses on Miss Havisham and Molly giving them dramatic, gothic backstories. While inspired by Great Expectations, the novel is not a retelling but a reimagining of the characters, so don’t expect to see it as a prequel. This did mean that I spent some time while reading wondering how the two books would morph together but once immersed in the book I chose to separate the two and simply enjoy this new story. Good job because in the epilogue the author tells us quite clearly that synching the stories won't happen. I wonder if that could have been revealed in a prologue and saved my aching brain in the first third of the novel. I enjoyed Machray’s prose style and her research of the period seems thorough. However, occasionally I wanted her to step back from her writer role and just let me interpret the story rather than have events and feelings overly explained, pointing out how I should feel about the circumstances and sexism that the characters experienced.

Careful some spoilers ahead!

I found the brewery information fascinating and loved that Havisham was so involved and interested. I was sorry to lose this thread of the story somewhat in the last third of the book. Havisham’s character was well-drawn and her relationship with Molly was sensitively developed. Molly’s life was traumatic, her interactions with Magwitch and life in Bethlem. Although I was glad of the true love and sense of identity she found, I did feel that Havisham had a lot to answer for having put her at risk so often throughout the story. I enjoyed the mending of Havisham’s relationship with her brother and adored and admired Jaggers.

I found the epilogue almost unnecessary and wonder if it was part of Machray’s original draft. She mentions in the acknowledgements that her editor encouraged her to rewrite the ending to make it happier. Perhaps some readers like a ‘tidying up’ but I didn’t need everything tidied and explained. The stronger sense of a future happiness lay perhaps even earlier in the novel, omitting the final scene with Compeyson on the moor. What an emotional ending in the scene with Molly and Havisham – “…but this hand, this weight, is the most certain thing between them.” At this as a final line to the novel, I would have closed the book happy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc.

[katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars! My fascination with Miss Havisham aged 14 is what made me realise I wanted to study English Literature, and kickstarted my love for the “fallen woman” trope that I eventually wrote my dissertation about. Because of this, I was so intrigued to see how Ella Machray would reimagine her story, and she did not disappoint!

Havisham is a feminist retelling featuring a sapphic slow-burn love story. It reimagines Charlotte Havisham not as a tragic figure doomed for all eternity, but as an ambitious, passionate woman who fell victim to the patriarchy and was mistreated by men, before ultimately finding the strength to pull herself out of the role society tried to force her into and live her story out loud.

One of my favourite parts of the novel was the found family Charlotte ended up surrounded by. Although she faced yet more tragedy, she went from feeling alone and miserable to surrounded by love all its forms. The themes of motherhood were interestingly handled with both her and Molly, but I would have loved to see more of the impact of their life and the events of the novel on Estella too. The love story between Molly and Charlotte was beautiful, I only wish there had been room to develop it even more within the text as the narrative required them to be apart for large sections of the novel, but I really believed in their relationship and was hoping for them to get their happy ever after.

I did feel some parts were quite slow in pace, particularly towards the end as I found myself wanting to wrap up the Compeyson, Magwitch and Arthur storyline and get back to Charlotte and Molly, but the more eventful chapters more than made up for it! The ending, though potentially subversive for fans of the classic Dickens work, was moving and beautifully done. Overall, I really enjoyed Havisham and would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys feminist retelling of classic stories!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Havisham is a gorgeously sharp, quietly furious reclamation of one of literature’s most misunderstood women—a story that slips the dust sheets off Dickens’ infamous bride and lets her speak in her own voice at last. What emerges is not the brittle caricature we think we know, but a woman shaped by desire, ambition, and the bruising weight of a world determined to keep her small.

Charlotte Havisham is written with such vivid interiority that you can feel the pulse of her longing and the slow, exquisite burn of her rage. The novel traces the familiar outlines of betrayal—Compeyson’s charm curdling into cruelty, the family’s clipped expectations, society’s relentless policing of a woman’s hunger—but it does so with a modern, queer, feminist sensibility that makes the story feel startlingly alive. There’s a delicious pleasure in watching Charlotte refuse to stay in the role assigned to her, in seeing her intelligence and cunning sharpen rather than collapse under heartbreak.

The historical setting is immersive without ever feeling heavy, the prose rich with candlelit tension and the quiet ache of thwarted possibility. And as Charlotte’s world narrows, her voice only grows more compelling—wry, wounded, and unashamedly ambitious. The novel doesn’t ask us to pity her; it invites us to understand her, to sit with the complexity of a woman who refuses to be neat or palatable.

What makes this retelling sing is the way it honours the gothic tragedy of Miss Havisham while giving her agency, desire, and a story that belongs wholly to her. It’s atmospheric, emotionally charged, and wonderfully subversive—a portrait of a woman who has been underestimated for far too long, stepping into her own legend with teeth bared.

A beautifully wrought, immersive reimagining that lingers like smoke.

My thanks to Elle Machray, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This queer and feminist perspective of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations puts Miss Havisham at the head of the story and asks, ‘what if Miss Havisham’s story does not begin and end within Satis House?’. The overarching theme is the women of the novel reclaiming their agency within the patriarchal society of 19th century London. We see how men attempt to manipulate and control women, but in this story they get the opportunity to fight back and write their own story. It also sensitively explores themes of domestic abuse and its impact on the lives of women subject to it. There is a strong emphasis on found family which is always a trope I enjoy.

I appreciated that, despite Charlotte being a strong willed character, her struggles and heartbreak are not diminished. We see her, as well as other women in the novel, experience emotional vulnerability and mental distress; they are not ‘perfect’ women, which makes them all the more interesting. Likewise, it reminds us that the so-called ‘mad’ women of the time have an identity and story behind them, with multifaceted experiences. Women at the time were so often subjected to scrutiny for being too emotional or reactive, and we get to see behind the curtain of ‘madness’ to the reality.

I really enjoyed this feminist perspective on Miss Havisham’s story, and especially that it had queer themes! I found the pace a little slow at times but this did not take away from my enjoyment; as events began to unfold I was invested and needed to know whether Charlotte would get her revenge, and possibly a happy ending.

Thank you to HarperNorth and NetGalley for the digital ARC and opportunity to review.

[Niniane · Rating 3 out of 5]

To begin with, I haven't read the original book. But I researched the plot and the characters in order to understand it better.

And I must say: I love what the author did with this story. She turned it on its head and it was lovely. The themes of trauma, abuse and breaking the cycles were cathartic. Love isn't pain. Children don't have to suffer from their parents' mistakes. People aren't defined by the abuse they suffered. A good life is still possible.

I see no issue with reclaiming such stories and giving them a hopeful twist. Turning them into instruments of healing is a powerful act. Because it is something we need to hear and see.

I love the fact that Charlotte and Molly raised Estella together! Yes, even back then there were happy lesbian couples. It's very important to say it, especially given how the Franchaela storyline in Bridgerton was received. People want happy endings, but not for the lesbians it seems.

So why the 3 stars? First of all, the style was very direct and the story lacked emotional impact. The dialogue felt clunky. Yes, it was satisfying to see the women take their revenge. But they pay it dearly at some point. That's really a mixed message here.

Also, Charlotte had strong moments, but Molly was only defined by the abuse she had endured. Her stay at the mental ward was handled in a particularly callous and insensitive manner.

In conclusion: I loved what this book did, but I didn't fully like how it did it.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! Havisham exceeded my expectations!!

As a huge Dickens fan, I was very intrigued to read this and it did not disappoint!

The classic Great Expectations saw Miss Havisham, a jilted bride, left in her own self pity and sadness, in the grandeur of Satis House, frozen in time with no will to carry on.

Enter Elle Machray and now we have Charlotte Havisham's own story and her quest to right wrongs and prove she is not what people assumed her to be. If you like strong female leads, justice, strength - and a bit of revenge - then this is the book for you!

This is a brilliant story, bringing Miss Havisham to life and showing us what happened long after Dickens had written his final words for her.

With familiar characters, Jaggers, Magwitch and Compeyson to name a few, I found something comforting from the original Dickens story, but this is not a rewrite - this is a new story, moving on from where the characters were left. It lets you into a brand new world, following their past experiences, showing what can happen long after you think you've said goodbye to classic characters and the author has written this one beautifully.

I often wonder what might have been for characters when I finish a book and Havisham is such a brilliant example of life after a story ends.

I have no hesitation in recommending this.
Out now!


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[Charlotte reads history · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was it madness – or the machinations of a conman bent on betrayal?

More reimagining than retelling, Havisham by Elle Machray transforms Dickens’s jilted spinster into a woman gaslit out of her own brewery business.

We meet Charlotte at rock bottom: mentally fractured after Compeyson’s betrayal, wandering her home in what should have been her wedding dress whilst her business crumbles.

I enjoyed watching Charlotte reclaim her life and story – a complete reframing of the ‘mad’ woman as someone who suffered calculated manipulation by a man she trusted. Joined by Molly and the lawyer Jaggers, she fights to expose Compeyson whilst he continues scheming through their social circle.

Molly and Charlotte’s relationship felt complicated on the page. Charlotte’s single-minded focus on revenge repeatedly endangered Molly and her daughter Estella, and the power imbalance in their romance made me uncomfortable.

The plot delivered satisfying twists and anticipating Compeyson’s next moves were genuinely chilling. Machray tackles several deeply traumatic themes – perhaps too many. A narrower focus might have sharpened the execution, but this remains a compelling reclamation of a maligned character.

Thank you to @harpernorthuk @harpercollinsuk for an advanced, gifted copy of Havisham for review, which is out now!

What’s your favourite reimagining of a classic novel? This one really made me rethink Miss Havisham.

[Trina Persyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had high hopes for Havisham, and I enjoyed it even more than I expected!

I read Great Expectations as a child, and while I’ve completely forgotten most of it, the character of Miss Havisham has always stayed with me. This isn’t a direct prequel, but it stands strongly on its own whilst still honouring the original source material.

This queer, feminist retelling explores Dickens’ enigmatic Miss Havisham, giving her depth, agency, and the revenge she deserves !!

I loved how natural the progression of Charlotte and Molly’s relationship felt. It wasn’t love at first sight, so their feelings felt like a natural development. The yearning levels are perfect !!! And it’s a slowburn which feels SO worth the wait.

I will also say I related a lot to Charlotte’s character from an autistic perspective, not sure if this was intentional, but it made me love the book even more.

Elle Machray has a beautiful style of writing; it feels almost like a classic but flows as well as modern day. You can really feel the depth of research and passion on every page. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperNorth & Elle Machray for gifting me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kirsty Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was captivated by Havisham from the start, with a narrative so immersive I felt like I was watching a screen adaptation unfold. Molly Green is tasked with stealing a letter from Charlotte Havisham, but what unfolds is a tale of revenge, ambition, and self-discovery.

Elle Machray's descriptive writing brings Victorian-era England to life, particularly the atmospheric brewery settings. The character development is impressive, especially considering the characters' complex histories. Charlotte's voice is powerful, revealing how Compeyson's manipulation led to her heartbreak.

This book reimagines Miss Havisham as a dynamic, passionate figure who refuses to be defined by societal expectations. The slow-burn of Charlotte and Molly’s relationship feels just perfect. It feels very natural, and the yearning is top tier.

Machray tackles tough themes like domestic abuse, societal injustices, and queer love with sensitivity, making the story both thrilling and thought-provoking. It's a must-read for fans of classic literature, feminist retellings, and sapphic romances.

This book is inventive, exciting, and hopeful and, has been added to my list of ‘forever recommending’.

Thank you to the author, Elle Machray, and Harper North for the advanced proof copy.

[Haxxunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Temper your expectations
—
It's difficult to follow a classic novel like Great Expectations, or Pride and Prejudice, or Jane Eyre (unless you take the road less travelled, like the Thursday Next novels), but it can be done. The Other Bennet Sister, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wicked: these are novels that truly reimagine the story as told by the original author. What the sequel (or prequel) author has to do is use as much of the original as possible, while introducing new and thoughtful characters and plot points, tying the whole into something with the flavour of the original.

As well researched as this is, it can only pale in comparison to Great Expectations; and so it does, using the names and the backstory as outlined in the original but failing to connect with the character of Miss Havisham that we all know. Yes, the main character is a jilted bride who wants to reclaim her life back from the gossip that society, and her untrustworthy ex-fiancé, have created; and the characters borrowed from Great Expectations are given agency and will that suits a modern audience. It is undoubtedly a well-written novel but your expectations need to be tempered.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Great Expectations and work in a school so this is widely read. I was pleased when NetGalley asked me to review.

Miss Haversham is a character who I always thought it would be good to know this lady before the jiting at the alter, the bereavement of this by being surrounded by the decaying wedding breakfast in the wedding dress she was to be married in.

Ellie Machray has interpreted this bitter and twisted lady as we know (and who could blame her at this time) into an ambious lady with desire but living in a mans world during the victorian era. The story highlights the deep betrayal of Compeyson. This is a woman who has to conform to society or she could end up on the streets. Yet she is jilted.
I was worried this story would seem false and out of kiter with Dickens classic but this is a trully atmospheric gothic story that could have been told by the man himself.

A really thought provoking story and on a different slant and good interpretation

Really recommended and due for publication on May 7th 2026.

[Megan Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic character reimagined.

So, I haven't read Great Expectations for a very long time and was concerned that this would impact on my enjoyment of the story, but I was so wrong. I really enjoyed the subtle hints to the original story and Miss Havisham's original story. It hinted well to the original whilst still being original and unique. I really enjoyed seeing the characters develop and was surprised by how much I became attached to them and their stories.

I don't really enjoy reading classics and sometimes find that the style in which they are written makes me lose engagement, something I was scared would happen with this book. However, I found it surprising how much the story still felt like a classic, in honour of the original, but had been written in the style of a much more modern story, to keep it relevant and engaging.

Overall, a story I enjoyed a lot more than anticipated and a book that had me engaged and invested in knowing how things would work out.

[Megs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Elle' first book Remember, Remember and was delighted when I heard she was writing a new book even more delighted when I was accepted on Netgalley to read it.

I've still not read Great Expectations and have only come across Miss Havisham in Barbara Havelock's novel Estella’s Revenge. As most readers will know, Miss Havisham is a jilted bride who roams the rooms of Satis House in her rotting wedding dress, frozen in time.

This book far exceeded my expectations and is one of the easiest five stars I have given this year. Elle reimagines Miss Havisham from the typically known gothic figure into a courageous woman who refuses to simply be remembered as "just mad." I could have devoured this book in a day if I'd had time. The writing is beautiful, the world-building fantastic, and the well developed characters were a joy to get to know. Elle will be an auto-buy author for me now. I look forward to her future books and my pre-order arriving to display on my shelf.

[Rach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this but honestly this just isn’t for me. It’s not a bad book I will add but personally did not click for me.

Havisham is a retelling of the character from Great Expectations showing more of a back story then we get in the Charles Dickens novel, there is a lot of artistic licence used here which for me just didn’t work.

There is some good links but it just missed the point of the original character, she’s not a hero or a villain but a women that was scorned, I did enjoy some of the subtle nods to the original material but for me this just didn’t work - I also won’t spoil this for anybody that does choose to read.

At points it’s overly long causing the story to drag whilst being overly repetitive and losing pace on plot points. It is easy to read but unfortunately that couldn’t save it for me.

I did receive this from NetGalley and HarperNorth, thank you for giving me the opportunity to read.