Eine kleine Schwindelei

by Rosanna Pike, Natalie Mukherjee (Narrator), Susanne Höbel - Übersetzer

Tudor-England, wie Sie noch nie von ihm gelesen haben, samt unvergesslicher Heldin – Tibb Ingleby!

Die erste Regel des Bleib nicht zu lange an einem Ort, sonst fällt es den Mistkerlen auf

Tibb Ingleby hat kein Zuhause, keine Familie, niemanden, der sie beschützt – nur die Regeln, die ihre Mutter sie gelehrt hat. Als junge Vagabundin trickst sie sich durchs Leben, naiv, aber alles andere als dumm, furchtlos, aber mit einer gehörigen Portion Misstrauen gegenüber der Welt, allen voran den Männern darin. Doch auf ihrem Weg durch die Wälder und Felder des spätmittelalterlichen Englands trifft sie nicht zuletzt auf ebenso verlorene wie liebenswerte Außenseiter, Ausreißer und Schausteller. Tibb lernt, dass ein Zuhause nicht unbedingt ein Dach über dem Kopf bedeutet. Und endlich nicht mehr allein wagt sie ihre bisher größte Schwindelei.

Pikes Debütroman ist unglaublich frech und gleichzeitig tief bewegend wie zeitlos.

»Tibb Inglebys frische, respektlose Stimme ist schlichtweg brillant.« Bonnie Garmus, Autorin von Eine Frage der Chemie

» Eine kleine Schwindelei ist witzig, sprachlich einfallsreich und wütend über all die richtigen Dinge.« Sandra Newman, Autorin von Julia

»Versuchen Sie gar nicht erst, sich der ungezügelten Energie und dem frechen Humor dieses schelmischen Tudor-Romans zu entziehen – erzählt aus der Perspektive der großherzigen, fluchfreudigen Tibb.« The Bookseller, Editor's Choice

Sunday-Times-Bestseller

Nominiert für den Women's Prize for Fiction

Shortlist des Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, LGBT, Queer

Audible Audio

First published August 1, 2024

Reviews

[Ceecee]

Tibb Ingleby’s Ma dies in childbirth, the result of a desperate bid to ‘buy’ a roof over their heads as they’ve never had one. Vagabond Tibb tells us her story as she berates the big-man-God on more than one issue and does her best to survive and find shelter. As she crosses the lands of early Tudor England she meets Ivo, the pair wandering from place to place until Ivo moves on. What is in store for Tibb now? Quite a few adventures it turns out and a scrape or two to wriggle out of, using all the ingenuity she has learned from her Ma.

This is an unusual book and a good one too as it gives a different view of the early 1500’s through the eyes of the forgotten. Tudor laws are harsh not only for vagabonds but also for those perceived to have strayed from the ‘straight and narrow’. It’s a very different novel, it’s creative and original with Tibb as narrator it has a colourful vibrant tone which gives plenty of amusement. She goes on an emotional journey, at times it’s sad but others it’s joyous and funny, there’s hatred and the danger of the discovery of life threatening secrets that require more than a little clever ‘trickerie’ to overcome bigotry and prejudice. It’s a pacey read, told through little vignettes, constantly surprising and keeping me engaged. You get a good tour of England too with locations described well.

Tibb is a lively companion for this book journey with the author creating a memorable character. She’s a bold, imperfect diamond (maybe that should be a pearl) in the rough, she has baggage which is the traumatic kind but an excellent heart full of love. Al the characters she encounters even briefly are portrayed strongly and spring to life before your eyes.

Overall, I like this imaginative and at times ribald tale which is in keeping with both Tibb and those she encounters. This is an excellent debut and an interesting new voice in fiction. If you like HF it’s worth picking this one up.

Ps I do like the mystery historical ‘solution’ …. means and opportunity??

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm)]

Tibb is an unforgettable protagonist. 🤍

👉 Check out my 2025 Women's Prize reads on BookTube. 📚🐛



"Once I was a vagrant and a sister and a daughter and now I am none of those things. And I have been a pearl and a goddess and a songbird and an angel since then..."

The protagonist of A Little Trickerie is a fourteen-ish girl named Tibb Ingleby, and her singular voice is what makes this book sing.

Tibb and her Ma are vagrants. They wander and steal and sometimes eke out a small life in the barn of one lustful man or another, whom Tibb's Ma satisfies with sexual favors. When Tibb's Ma dies in childbirth, the girl is orphaned and must set out in search of new family and a place to call home.

All Tibb wants is a roof over her head, and as the story progresses, the meaning of the word "roof" shifts and evolves and transforms into something beautiful. Tibb finds herself in increasingly bizarre situations, some of her own making, others beyond her control. Pike infuses a great deal of levity in these situations, even when the circumstances are quite serious or disturbing. And they all play out against a backdrop of raging homophobia and religious hypocrisy in Tudor England.

There were times when the story moved so slowly that I found it easy to put this book down and other times when I picked it up and felt I'd been reunited with a friend I wanted to spend hours with. Tibb's voice is so strong and her irreverent humor so delightful, that she materialized before me like a real person, a resilient girl with a ghostly pallor and cascades of white hair.

The ending was sweet and a little too neat, but I appreciate how Pike brought the story full circle in such a touching way.

Here is a story of trickery and friendship, trauma and love told by an unforgettable protagonist. Highly recommend for fans of darkly comedic historical fiction!

[Sarah Kimberley]

I absolutely inhaled the sublime proof of A Little Trickerie. This is one girl’s hilarious, dark and impactful story. Tibb Ingleby is iconic. A potty mouthed, medieval vagabond traversing Tudor England with a charming naivety to her. Gutsy Tibb sneaks around the fields and forests of the medieval countryside/villages with a will to survive and picking friends up along the way. We are very much entangled in her every whim, plodding through “shit land called England” as the reader is transported through a constant stream of Tibb’s own thoughts. ⚜️

Always in hot water at fourteen and scraping by after the death of her mother. Her character was completely mesmerising. I was completely hooked until the end.
She’s had a hard life but by god she’s electric. You’ll never meet another character quite like her. Witty, sharp and believable. Rosanna Pike’s writing is captivating, shining a lens on mental health and sexuality. I love how much of an ally Tibb was for a sixteenth century gal!

[Anna]

This is a fine debut in many ways. It is entertaining. It has a clear narrative voice. It tells a suspenseful story, and while the flash-forward narrative is far from exciting or new, it works to create suspense because we know the plan will not go as planned. Once I convinced myself to really get reading, the pages went fast.

However, I read this as a nominee for the Women's Prize for Fiction, and as a literary offering I thought there was quite a bit that went wrong. Tibbs is a character made to be loved by a modern audience, a plucky, self-possessed young woman who comes into her own and defies contemporary common sense. But she is not a character who makes sense in the world she lives in. In historical fiction, I have no problem meeting extraordinary characters, people who are different. But I didn't believe for a second that these protagonists lived anywhere near the Middle Ages.

Then there is the trauma dumping. Tibbs not only loses her mother and sister, she has also experienced sexual violence at a young age, lives on the streets under the constant threat of pain and suffering, and finds herself in situations that threaten her with horrific (sexual) violence. But not only does she remain strangely innocent in all of this - all of these situations resolve themselves without her suffering any violence or negative consequences. The threat of rape becomes a means, an instrument to raise the stakes without any tangible price. Even her past trauma is resolved with a little patience and a good talk. If you decide to put your characters in terrible situations, you have to take them seriously, but nothing really seems to happen to harden, hurt or educate Tibbs (or, really, her companions).


This is another thing: yes, we like diverse, found-family characters. But again, they don't seem to live in a real world. They all pair off and find their happily ever after with a good, solid love interest. I mean - I am not against happiness. But this view of the world is so naive that I am unable to see these characters as fully realised. There are no real interpersonal conflicts within the group; there are no real, identifiable negative qualities in any of them. If you need a cute, gay love interest to follow the other cute, gay character to the ends of the earth, there will be one, and he will be pure and in love within the turn of a page.

The plot itself is also thin. The priest is arrested on suspicion of fraud, the lover is arrested, but no one dares touch the angle that shits in the pews? This part seems like pure fiction and makes no sense. Then, of course, the one piece of information needed to turn the whole thing around just happens to be there. Again, nothing reads like it could have happened in the Middle Ages (or any other time, really). It's wish fulfilment with horrible violence as illustration, not motivator, which isn't necessarily bad - but I couldn't take this book seriously as literature.

If you want a fun romp and like quirky narrative voices, this might be for you. But I really hope this remains on the long list. I might pick up a second book by Pike if I stumble across it, but I am quite sure her brand of novel is not quite my kind of book. I am baffled by the great reviews, but very happy that others enjoyed Tibbs a great deal more than I did.

[nettebuecherkiste]

4,5 stars.
Em, it is extremely difficult to summarise my experience with this book without spoiling anything. I really enjoyed it, though :-)

[pages_amour]

“Is it better to live in a small way, or not to live at all?”

A bold and unique historical fiction, with a highly original narrative voice that shines against the backdrop of Tudor England.

Tibb is such a refreshing protagonist, brash, and opinionated, but with such an openly loving and accepting heart, you fall in love with her and her rough edges instantly, as you follow her journey across the years to find the meaning of what it is to have a home.
The cast of characters are varied and well crafted, with a comforting found family aspect unfolding, but the relationship that is the most deeply affecting of the novel is that between Ivo and Tibb. That fierce kind of unconditional love that forms between them, forged through the bonds of being each other's person when they had none, their arc is beautiful and heart wrenching at times, and not something you’d typically see in a historical fiction of the era and it is all the richer for it.

Exploring themes of prejudice, superstition versus true belief, overcoming grief and trauma, and learning to accept and love oneself, the story is riddled with emotional notes and heavy themes that are handled with care, although do be warned for ample trigger warnings.

A vivid, unflinching, historical fiction debut, with one of the most unique narrative voices I’ve read, Tibb is not a protagonist soon to be forgotten!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the arc!

[Elaine]

This book was very mindless, and I ended up skimming some of it. It was saved from a dismal 1 star by a fast-moving, if entirely silly, plot.

I suppose I am an old stick in the mud, but I hate historical fiction which is not historical in the least but just some 21st century projection back in time by an author too lazy to use Google. Although A Little Trickerie has as its seed the historical episode of the Maid of Leominster, it is riddled with factual anachronisms and errors (a lot of reference to trade with the Spice Islands or enjoying cocoa or a fad for Black trumpeters, all of which seem to fail to understand that 1500 to 1505, when the novel was set, was really early in the age of exploration and none of these were in England yet (well Black trumpeters? on a time machine from the jazz age?)), as well as the (to me) very annoying trait of character and atmospheric anachronism, where characters march around espousing world views that are straight from a 21st century Pride parade (among many other such things, one character, briefly a priest, expresses the idea that God is compassionate and kind and, despite the Church, would embrace the idea of same-sex love -all in 1505 England!) The theme of the triumph of the marginalized in the book (with a heaping amount of solidarity with gay people (all of whom want to marry) and even gratuitously a perhaps proto-trans cross dresser) finds its counterpoint in the portrayal of Henry VII's England as a brutally violent homophobic place obsessed with rooting out sodomy and punishing it violently (as well as with punishing religious fraud violently). This too is ahistorical, with homosexual acts not being officially criminalized until 1533 and prosecutions for the crime in the late Medieval period being relatively rare. Indeed, the tone of the violent vilified churchmen throughout seems more Puritan than late-Medieval Catholic. I could go on and on.

I am always disappointed when authors project on to their characters starkly 21st attitudes. It would be much more complex, and to my mind more interesting, to write about a love between two men in an era where being gay wasn't really a fixed identity as it is now, but much more fluid and related to acts themselves, and where the separation of the sexes in many spheres meant homosocial friendship was prized above all, even as physical acts had to be kept hidden.

Anyway, that clearly wasn't Pike's project. She wanted to write a fable about an early 16th Century girl-boss and her gay BFF and she did. She seeks to entertain and history is only a decoration, not a substance. Lots of people want novels to reflect themselves and their own attitudes and value a novel on whether it matches those values they see as correct. Clearly, this is true for a wide audience of readers, and so I should stop wanting history in my historical novels (not everyone can be Hilary Mantel!).

But even holding that aside, the writing substitutes hyphenated quirks for style (God is the "big-man" to give but one example used on nearly every page), as well as lots of profanity to tide over any lack of narrative art (and here again, clunky anachronism - did Medieval Britons curse, to be sure - and even used the F word, but did they say "I do not give a F?" as our characters do repeatedly, no they did not; same with F off (a 20th Century locution but a fave in this book) and "give two shits")).

I should stop already- it was a lame book - but a quick read and a kind of amusing plot if you suspend every form and fashion of disbelief!

[quillnqueer]

Publishers will release the most soul crushing, devastating novel and then have a quote on the front that says "uplifting!"

----------------------------

'I think you were a good sister'
BAWLING

'I don't know what you are running from, but can I run with you?' 'I would like that, Tibb.'
gonna throw myself in the SEA

[Justin Pickett]

“And have I not always said to beware the fuckers?”

I was excited to read this, but it doesn’t work. The novel is set in the 1500’s, but filled with modern language (e.g., horse-shit, fucker) and social concerns. The author tries simultaneously to be funny and to address serious issues, like religious hypocrisy and gay rights. Count me as a supporter of the cause, but an unentertained reader.

“If the Lord did make these urges inside of me, then you are saying our creator is not himself perfect, though the Lord of your reckoning is most perfect!”

The protagonist, Tibb Ingleby, is a teenage orphan and vagrant whose dead mother was a serial killer and prostitute. That is interesting, for sure. The main problems with the novel are that the setting lacks any historical substance and the tone of the dialogue gets tiresome quickly.

“And here is the first rule of vagrancy: do not stay long in one place else the fuckers will catch on.”

[buchdate]

(Rezensionsexemplar)

Unsere Protagonistin Tibb ist auf sich allein gestellt: ihre Mutter erst kürzlich verstorben, der Vater seit jeher unbekannt und ein Dach über dem Kopf hat sie auch nicht. So lebt sie im Jahr 1500 das Leben einer Landstreicherin und versucht, die Regeln ihrer Mutter umzusetzen, um zu überleben.

Was für ein außergewöhnliches Debüt!
Nachdem ich kurz gebraucht habe, um mit der Sprache und dem Schreibstil klarzukommen, war ich richtig im Flow und konnte das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Tibb ist eine charakterstarke und vielschichtige Protagonistin - ein Freigeist, der versucht sich im alten Tudor-England durchzuschlagen (und wie sie das tut)!
Mir hat vor allem die Art gefallen, wie die Autorin die verschiedenen zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen dargestellt hat. Ich liebe es so, wenn sich Charaktere ganz echt anfühlen und man richtig an ihren Schicksalen hängt 😩

Fazit:
Ein großes Debüt über weibliche Selbstbestimmung, das Patriarchat, gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe und eine kleine Schwindelei - nicht zu Unrecht mit dem Women’s Prize For Fiction ausgezeichnet ⭐️🤭

[Audrey Haylins]

4.5 ⭐️

When you read over 200 books a year across multiple genres, it’s very rare to come across something refreshingly unique. Kudos, then, with a cherry on top, to debut author Rosanna Pike for conjuring up this delightful romp of mischief and chicanery that has landed itself amongst my favorite reads of the year.

Set in 16th century, Tudor England, A Little Trickerie tells of the adventures of teenage orphan Tibb Ingleby, who following the death of her mother is left alone to survive in a hierarchical society where vagabonds are vilified and forever shackled to their lowly status.

That is, until one day an opportunity presents itself to Tibb and her new-found friends to change their destiny through an audacious hoax, one that proves successful beyond their wildest imaginings, but which is very nearly their undoing.

I loved everything about this story, from the vivid evocation of Tudor England to the bawdy humor to the magnificently drawn characters, in particular Tibb, whose quirkiness, distinctive voice and unique blend of innocence and guile made for the most likeable, memorable of heroines.

There’s nothing quite like having an underdog to cheer for, and I was there with pom-poms and high kicks aplenty to egg on Tibb as she sought to take on the rotten hand life had dealt her and turn it into winner.

Make no mistake, though, this tale is much more than a romp with a predictable ending. Pike’s writing is richly layered, exploring along the way themes of belief and superstition, friendship and found family, and the downtrodden versus the establishment.

It’s a story that sucked me in from the opening pages and held me alternately chuckling and teary eyed in its thrall, until its suspenseful but ultimately heartwarming conclusion, which proved that adversity CAN be overcome, with courage, imagination … and perhaps just a ‘little trickerie’.

As with all great debuts, this is going to be a hard act to follow, but I for one shall be waiting eagerly to see if Rosanna Pike is up to the challenge.

[Graham Dauncey]

The latest Prem1er read from Goldsboro. This just wasn't for me. I tend to struggle with stream of conscious style narrations, particularly when it is presented from a relatively simple minded persons point of view. The challenge of applying that to historical fiction is that it can frequently take on a decidedly anachronistic bent. I just found the somewhat modern language and attitudes incredibly jarring with the setting. The other challenge of working with this style of character is making them likeable enough, and honestly I mostly found the MC somewhat annoying.

The story follows the tale of Tibbs, a vagabond forced to make her own way against the background of 15th century England after her mother dies. There is certainly some emotive power to the earlier parts of the novel, but for the most part the overly cheerful outlook of Tibbs tends to make it more lighthearted despite some of the meatier topics presented. Ultimately it is the story of the relationships Tibbs makes that form the bulk of the story, faced off against the prejudices present in society at that time.

Thematically there is plenty I can enjoy, but I just struggled with this stylistically. The whimsical nature of it just felt off, particularly with some of the more unpleasant imagery taken up at times. I found myself reminded of the style of Butcher's Boy - admittedly a very different themed book, but the same stream of conscious style of prose. I can see this getting critically lauded. But at the same time it is a case of not everything will please everyone and I just couldn't gel with it.

[Victoria (Eve's Alexandria)]

3.5* but in the best possible way.

Our narrator, Tibb Ingleby, is a delightfully original voice - ribald, naive, incisive; caught between tides of hope and despair. Raised by a murderous but loving mother, she has suffered terrible childhood trauma, and when we meet her she is 14, orphaned and roaming the countryside as a vagrant. It’s 1500; Henry VII is on the throne, and it’s as bad a time as any to be poor, alone and unusual in England. And Tibb is different: not only strange in manner and demeanour, but also white as snow from her hair, to her eyebrows, to her skin. By chance, she meets a kindly boy on a beach in Norfolk, also apparently a vagrant but of a rather well-to-do kind. And so begins the strange and wonderful tale of her life on the road.

There are lots of beguiling things about A Little Trickerie. Tibb is enormous fun to spend time around, with her off-beat way of seeing the world. Against the odds, she draws to her a group of kind people, each outcast in their own way, that create a charming found family. There are hijinks and narrow escapes and mysteries to be solved. The writing is quick and witty, and has a good ear for an approximation of the period (although the story isn’t all that interested in the history of its historical setting).

However, there were two significant things I objected to. The first was the treatment of child sexual abuse, especially the way Pike seeks to ‘resolve’ Tibb’s trauma at the end. The second, more generally, was the tragedy-baiting that propels the reading experience. All the way through the novel we’re made to observe Tibb’s suffering, and the suffering of her friends - this story has CWs at every turn - in gratuitous detail; when we’re not observing it, we’re asked to imagine what it was or will be like. At the same time, the book has a kind of bare-faced earnestness that feels jarring. It’s at once a hard-nosed reflection of the cruelties of the early 16th century, especially for those with disabilities or differences, for women and for queer people. While, at the same time, it’s a hopeful fantasy about survival, love and dreams coming true. It’s like Bridgerton got crossed with a gritty HBO series. In the end I wasn’t quite convinced that these two vibes came together in a meaningful way - for me, it belittled the traumatic reality, which in turn tainted the happy fantasy. I found myself resenting the positivity of the ending, even though I love a happy ending and was dreading a sad one. That said, I did admire Pike’s complete commitment to the ridiculous way it came about.

Was A Little Trickerie a bawdy fantasy in a Chaucerian vein or an exploration of trauma in Tudor England? I still can’t decide. I did like it though - Pike is a plucky writer and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

CWs: parental death; death of an infant sibling; child sexual abuse; sexual assault and attempted rape; genital mutilation as punishment; homophobic violence and slurs; ableist violence and slurs.

[Ceri Shorton]

I really loved A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike. Tibb is such an incredibly likeable character, her voice is completely unique and really will keep the story fresh in my mind. It’s rare to find a narrator who feels so distinct, but Tibb’s perspective is sharp, funny, vulnerable, and quietly heartbreaking all at once.

For historical fiction, I found this a really easy read. It never felt heavy or bogged down in detail, but you still feel fully immersed in Tudor England. The themes of identity, belonging, home, and found family really stayed with me. Watching Tibb navigate the world, constantly adapting, surviving, searching for somewhere (and someone) to belong, was both humorous and incredibly harrowing at times.

That said… I did find the ending a little frustrating. It felt tied up a bit too neatly, almost like everything was wrapped in a bow and ticked off a checklist. After such a complex and emotionally messy journey, I think I wanted something a little less tidy.

One thing I absolutely loved discovering was that the story is inspired by a real woman. Knowing there’s a historical truth behind it made the whole experience feel even richer and more powerful.

[Helen]

This was surprisingly good! A few pages in, I started to wonder if I’d made a mistake in choosing to read this book – the writing style was very unusual and I thought I was going to find it irritating – but once I settled into the story I fell in love with the narrator and was gripped all the way to the end.

The novel is set in the early Tudor period, during the reign of Henry VII, and begins with the death of Tibb Ingleby’s mother. Tibb has never known a home of her own; she and her mother have lived the life of vagabonds, moving from one place to another to escape the consequences of her mother’s con tricks or relationships with unsuitable men. Now, left alone in the world with her newborn baby sister to care for, Tibb sets off across the countryside with one aim in mind: to one day have her own roof over her head at last.

Tibb soon finds that making your own way in life as a young woman in 16th century England is not easy. She gets herself into trouble now and then and despite her wish to settle down in one place, she is forced to stay on the move. Along the way she meets a multitude of people including a troupe of travelling performers, a villainous farmer and even royalty. There’s also Ivo, a young man who, like herself, is an outcast who doesn’t feel he can conform to society’s expectations. She and Ivo become close friends and although most of the novel is narrated by Tibb herself, Ivo provides us with an occasional second perspective.

Tibb’s narrative style, as I’ve said, is unique and takes a while to get used to. She seems unaware of the correct words to describe things – a balding head becomes a ‘thinning-on-top-head’, being naked is ‘wearing a no-clothes outfit’, an empty room is a 'sad nothing-in-it room', all of which make sense but are not what other people would say. It fits with her portrayal as an illiterate, unsophisticated, naive young woman, but at the same time she’s certainly not stupid and I would have thought that with age and experience her language would have improved, yet she sounds the same at the end of the book as she does at the beginning. Still, the unusual narrative voice didn’t annoy me as much as I thought it would and I did love Tibb. One scene in the middle of the book even brought tears to my eyes, I was so emotionally invested in her story.

I had assumed Tibb was an entirely fictional character, so I was surprised to learn that she was inspired by a real-life woman known as the Holy Maid of Leominster who, like Tibb herself, engaged in fraud and ‘trickeries’ (although at least in Tibb’s case, she acted with the best of intentions). I really enjoyed this book and will look out for more by Rosanna Pike.

[Amy Levoir]

Absolutely stunning debut. So fresh and zingy and exactly what the genre of historical fiction needs to ruffle it up a bit. I received a proof copy from the bookshop I work at and I've never devoured and also tried to elongate the time it took to read a book like this before. I didn't want to leave Tibbs little universe or the other wonderful cast of friends and foes that Rosanna Pike has created. Favourite book of the year honestly.

[Anna]

Absolutely loved it and I had my heart in my mouth for the last 100 pages.

[ThatBookish_deviant]

4.5/5

“Fathers of the Church, this is some unruly little bitch.”

Oh my! Quite the debut from writer, Rosanna Pike. If you liked Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits, you’ll probably enjoy this book as well, I most certainly did!

‘This is one small life and you must try and make your heart sing.’ Wise words indeed from that woman my ma whose heart was not singing very often. ‘Live the life you dream, Tibb!” And ‘Would you let this short life slither past?’ No, Ma. I would not.

Tibb Ingleby, Holy Maid of Leominster, the most unangelic vagrant orphan there ever was. The book’s set in Tudor England and follows Tibb and her brother-from-another-mother pal, Ivo. These two wildly colorful, joyous characters perform an elaborate hoax that has everyone questioning their beliefs and superstitions. Trickeries and misadventure abound and it’s spelled out by Tibb in her captivating foul-mouthed fashion.

“Friends like these are like pert tits in a nunnery. You don’t find them often.”

Tibb and Ivo, rejected by society, amass a crew of ragtag friends and build their own unique found family. Other folks who’ve likewise been labeled, shunned and outcast become pillars of support for one another.

“There’s something different about this person. His edges are hazy like mine.”

At its heart, this story is an ode to hope in the face of bigotry and injustice. I think many of us could use some of that these days.

“This man spreads evil so quietly, he hardly needs to open those thin lips.”

[Michael]

4.5

A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike takes place in England during the reign of Henry VII, with Tibb Ingleby, a character for whom the word plucky was invented as its “plucky heroine.” Tibb, who doesn’t know her age but is presumably 12 or 13, becomes an orphan when her mother dies in childbirth. Because she and her mother were vagabonds, and vagrancy was a crime in this time period, she is unable to find enough milk for her sister and Henrietta, as she is named, soon dies. This is a lot of death in the first pages of the book.

However, while this novel is definitely dark—it contains instances of rape, murder, and castration—it is also very funny with many instances of happiness. Along the way, Tibb gathers around her a chosen family of the marginalized. There is man with a birthmark on half his body that Tibb finds beautiful, and another man who becomes her first real friend and who turns out to be gay. Tibb can’t understand why the Church condemns this type of love, since after all, love is love. There are more-characters good and bad who help or who try to harm.

Finally, there is one final trick, perhaps one could say one final con, that will enable Tibb and her chosen family to get away from England and the Church.

The writing style is odd and took me a few pages to get into, but when I did, it felt very natural. The novel is funny, sad, and whimsical. It is about ordinary people. And Tibb is such a unique character with a unique voice.

And finally, some have said that the ending is just a little too pat and a little too perfect. I would agree with this, but at the same time, I was so in the mood for a novel where the bad guys get punished, and the good guys live happily ever after, and this fits the bill. A wonderful novel.

[Sue Jones]

Interesting fairly unique book that overall did entertain although perhaps a bit slow at times. Great main character in Tibb , an unlikely heroine based in Tudor England . Sums up how hard life was, particularly with a dead mother, sister and no-one to call a friend, but somehow she makes a life for herself. As usual it tells the story of how cruel the church can be, and how unfair life was. Based on a true story of the ‘Holy Maid of Leominster’ which I didn’t realise until I had read the book.

[Sophie Rudd]

3.75⭐️

[Sarah]

Well, Tibb Ingleby and your trickeries, but you do tick all my boxes. ‘For these are the days and I should say…’that your readers will love you.
Tibb’s voice remains loud and clear long after finishing ‘A Little Trickerie.’ Rosanna Pike has created a uniquely memorable character in her vagabond teenager. Orphaned, with a new-born baby to care for, Tibb has only herself to rely on in a medieval England living by punitive Church laws and steeped in superstition. No wonder she has no time for the ‘big-man-God’.
We follow Tibb along the coasts of Norfolk and then Suffolk before heading inland. As she travels, she makes dear friends in Ivo and Maria, to name but two, but they both seem to let her down. Is there anyone she can trust? In a world where a belief in God seems more important than life itself, she learns that God is very unforgiving of difference and she sees for herself that the religious are both fearful and cruel.
In contrast, Tibb is curious, generous and warm-hearted. She wants her eccentric family to be happy. Is it really so wrong to use her talents to secure an earthly paradise?
This is a highly engaging read. The author uses her research wisely; we are steeped in the mire and sweat of medieval life whilst identifying with human desires that connect us across the centuries. Funny, fascinating and, ultimately, very moving. Highly recommended. What a wonderful discovery!
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Jennifer (JC-S)]

‘It is just a little trickerie, you know.’

Meet Tibb Ingleby. She thinks she’s about fourteen years old. Tibb is a vagabond in Henry VII’s England, and her mother’s ambition is to have a roof to call her own. Alas, Tibb’s mother’s latest attempt goes horribly wrong, and she dies, leaving Tibb orphaned. Tibb, a rough diamond, is street smart but vulnerable. On her travels she meets up with Ivo, and they become friends. After Ivo leaves, Tibb falls in with a group of travelling performers. And while with this group, Tibb experiences both the best and worst of human behaviour.

What can I tell you about Tibb without spoiling her story for a first-time reader? I could mention that some of the shows put on by the travelling performers rely on human gullibility. I could mention that Tibb does not feel bound by big-man-God rules, and that this leads to a most audacious plan to make money.

And, having mentioned this, I will simply add that I thoroughly enjoyed how Tibb (and others) cocked a snook at the establishment. But when a small-scale act of trickery became subject to widespread fame, how did they avoid becoming victims of their own success? Read on. Tibb is an engaging hero, and her companions (especially Ambrose, Ivo, Maria and Flavio) each have a special place in this story.

‘My friends,’ I say, ‘I think we have pulled off the greatest falsehood the country has ever seen.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Karen]

Women's Prize for Fiction 2025 Longlist

Apparently inspired by the short Wikipedia post for the Holy Maid of Leominster this book centers on the character of Tibb and the people she meets through her diverse, and sometimes difficult life.

"Once I was a vagrant and a sister and a daughter and now I am none of those things. And I have been a pearl and a goddess and a songbird and an angel since then ..."

This was an interesting read and one I had quite mixed feelings about. Tibb is a strong narrator telling her story through a stream of consciousness style with many colourful and distinctive, sometimes alliterative phrases. On the whole I wasn't completely convinced by the historical setting, the belief systems explored seemed to come through a distinctly 21st century lens. I struggled with the early naivety of Tibb given all she had seen and been part of in her 14 odd years. I also struggled with the ultimate "happy" resolution. That said, Tibb is a forcible character and there were elements of the novel and the writing I enjoyed.

Not an easy book to read with various trigger warnings required re language, grooming, sexual assault, violence and more.

[Katy Wheatley]

I absolutely loved this book. A story told through a collection of pitch perfect vignettes, we see the life of our protagonist pieced together like scraps of a patchwork quilt. Humour, love, friendship, grief and what it means to be a woman are all facets of this journey and story. People weave in and out, time shifts, friendships morph over the years but love is a constant thing. This is such a perfect thing I wanted it to go on and on.

[Mab]

Just absolute nonsense. A deeply irritating book, full of people making silly decisions, barely any emotional heft, and such mannered prose. A new and inglorious entry to my mental list of 'books which pretend to be historical fiction but are actually modern people in costumes', one of my least favourite genres (Lessons in Chemistry is also very much on this list, and guess who's given this book a wildly positive cover quote?).

[Geonn Cannon]

People seem to either not like this book or think it's the BEST THING EVER WRITTEN. I'm somewhere in the middle. It's fine. A bit meander-y. I found my mind wandering more than once during it. The writing is solid and the characters are fine, but I never really engaged with what was going on with them or why. They were just doing things until, suddenly, they stopped.

[James Hulse]

Books “…such as these are like pert tits in a nunnery. You don’t find them often…” Just one of a number of brilliant excerpts that I could have referenced in this review!

Absolutely loved this. Tibb’s voice is completely unique; sharp, funny, bold, and impossible not to root for. The plot kept moving and never dragged, and the humour balanced perfectly with the darker moments. There is so much love in this book, in its most simple form.

I especially appreciated the surprising queer storyline, and that some of it was allowed a genuinely happy ending, which felt refreshing for historical fiction.

Such a lively, memorable debut. I think I’ll have Tibb’s voice in my head for a long time.

[Yulia Kazachkova]

Трагично, больно, пронзительно следить за поворотами судьбы девочки бродяжки в начале английского 16 века. Пикарескная элегия. Beautiful tribute to the differents and the outcasts. Поэма о маленьких людях на большой дороге.

[Hannah McCullough]

Not your usual historical fiction novel. The voice of Tibb Ingleby will stay with me a long time ♥️