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Hen Fever
Lydia Wraxhall is on her best behavior every day of the year—except one: the annual Bickerton Christmas Poultry Show. On that day she brushes her birds, sharpens her tongue, and engages in the closest thing the village knows to war.
Harriet Boyne is a soldier’s widow reeling from the worst years of her life. She and her friends have inherited a manor on the village outskirts, and Harriet is looking forward to a quiet holiday far from the anguish of the battlefield.
But a dispute over a flock of loose chickens — a rare local breed, which Lydia thinks could be champions and Harriet thinks could be delicious — draws Harriet into the competition under Lydia’s grudging guidance. Harriet’s frozen heart is thawed by Lydia’s gentleness, and lonely Lydia blossoms under Harriet’s keen regard. But the day of the poultry show is fast approaching, and everyone’s drawing up battle lines. And in the contest between secret love and public glory, there can only be one winner.
Harriet Boyne is a soldier’s widow reeling from the worst years of her life. She and her friends have inherited a manor on the village outskirts, and Harriet is looking forward to a quiet holiday far from the anguish of the battlefield.
But a dispute over a flock of loose chickens — a rare local breed, which Lydia thinks could be champions and Harriet thinks could be delicious — draws Harriet into the competition under Lydia’s grudging guidance. Harriet’s frozen heart is thawed by Lydia’s gentleness, and lonely Lydia blossoms under Harriet’s keen regard. But the day of the poultry show is fast approaching, and everyone’s drawing up battle lines. And in the contest between secret love and public glory, there can only be one winner.
94 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 11, 2022
31 people are currently reading
1452 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Waite
19 books1,226 followersOlivia Waite writes queer historical romance, science fiction, and fantasy. She is the romance fiction columnist for the New York Times Book Review.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
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April 8, 2023Delightful short Victorian Sapphic romance, sweet and hot, set in an English village just post Crimean war. It's about loss and recovery and collateral damage, and also about how the same events can divide us or unite us, and it's up to us to choose a path. Combines a bleak backstory of war, loss and familial neglect with a very silly chicken-show plot, which works perfectly because it's so deftly handled.
A lovely warm read, and beautifully written, which is a relief after DNFing two allegedly British historical romances for grating Americanisms. This book gets it right. Charming.
A lovely warm read, and beautifully written, which is a relief after DNFing two allegedly British historical romances for grating Americanisms. This book gets it right. Charming.
December 20, 2022
Olivia Waite truly has a beautiful way with words. Even in this shorter novella, the fullness of the descriptions and conversation is so charming!
I really enjoyed this story. I'm sure being a lover of birds of all kinds helped, but I feel even if you aren't; this unique tale will capture something special.
It just has a real environment to it, and almost a haunting quality. The two main female protagonists are both grieving from losses and trying to find their ways in the Victorian world as it is, for a Spinster and Widow.
If you're a lover of historic fiction and Olivia Waite's other novels such as The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics I'm sure you will be engrossed in this tale.
I really enjoyed this story. I'm sure being a lover of birds of all kinds helped, but I feel even if you aren't; this unique tale will capture something special.
It just has a real environment to it, and almost a haunting quality. The two main female protagonists are both grieving from losses and trying to find their ways in the Victorian world as it is, for a Spinster and Widow.
If you're a lover of historic fiction and Olivia Waite's other novels such as The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics I'm sure you will be engrossed in this tale.
December 20, 2022
Oh, this was just WONDERFUL. I love Christmas romance novellas as a subgenre, honestly, but this was just a stellar novella for any subgenre - so beautifully written, full of hilarity but also deep feeling, with both aspects combining into a truly swoon-worthy historical romance with an ending that made me glow with happiness. I'll be re-reading this one every year!
November 27, 2023
This is wonderful. A snowy Christmas historic tale with sapphics, found family and chickens. Heart-warming, charming, and balanced by the backdrop of loss. I couldn't love it more.
August 12, 2023
A charming sapphic historical romance novella involving the raising of prize chickens, while also processing the grief and trauma of war. I wasn't expecting the heavier elements of this book, but it is a really lovely romance between two older women who didn't expect to find love in a small town.
Lydia is always perfectly behaved and a dutiful daughter, except for once a year at the annual Christmas Poultry Show where she lets out a competitive streak with her prize-winning chickens.
Harriet is a war widow who has recently moved to town but keeps to herself. Then a dispute over wild chickens ends up bringing her and Lydia closer than they expected...
I really enjoyed this. It's a lovely little novella with a heartwarming romance!
Lydia is always perfectly behaved and a dutiful daughter, except for once a year at the annual Christmas Poultry Show where she lets out a competitive streak with her prize-winning chickens.
Harriet is a war widow who has recently moved to town but keeps to herself. Then a dispute over wild chickens ends up bringing her and Lydia closer than they expected...
I really enjoyed this. It's a lovely little novella with a heartwarming romance!
October 19, 2025
What a fantastic novella! I went in expecting a light romance and chickens, and I got a light romance and chickens and also commentary on war and grief (this is set in 1856, after the end of the Crimean war).
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
December 29, 2022
Charming ff Victorian historical romance set during a cutthroat English village chicken competition.
May 29, 2023
so this was kind of perfect. but what else did i expect?
what i'm trying to say is that I LOVE YOU OLIVIA WAITE<333
what i'm trying to say is that I LOVE YOU OLIVIA WAITE<333
December 28, 2022
I enjoyed "The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics" by this same author, and so I thought I'd give "Hen Fever" a try. I'm so glad I did! It's my favorite holiday read of the year and features a delightful wlw romance set in the Victorian English countryside.
Although this is a novella, the author manages to flesh out the characters quite well, and the plot is both heartwarming and satisfying. It doesn't feel too rushed or too thin. There is a nice level of detail to the setting and even the side characters get some chances to shine.
Overall a charming holiday treat, highly recommended.
Although this is a novella, the author manages to flesh out the characters quite well, and the plot is both heartwarming and satisfying. It doesn't feel too rushed or too thin. There is a nice level of detail to the setting and even the side characters get some chances to shine.
Overall a charming holiday treat, highly recommended.
August 5, 2024
Hen Fever is my second Olivia Waite work, and I enjoyed this much more than The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics.
The premise and opening of this novella will lead you to believe this is a story about a Christmas poultry-showing competition, so I admit to being a little disappointed that there wasn't more about that in the narrative. That's where it starts and where it ends, but the meat is in the middle, and while the competition is loosely guiding the plot, it wasn't really about that.
What Hen Fever is really about is how small Lydia Wraxhall's life in Brickerton is--how after the death of her brother, who has died heroically in war, her only happiness is the chickens she raises for the annual poultry show. She's a disappointment to her parents as she's now a spinster (and a burden). It's also about Harriet Boyne and her companions--a found family formed around the trauma of war--who have moved into a stately manor near Brickerton. Like Lydia's brother, Harriet's husband died in the war, so she and her friends are trying to make the best of a life together. And then she meets Lydia.
Hen Fever is such an odd story, but I really liked it for its oddity. The dialogue was a lot of fun and the hijinks around the poultry show were hilarious. It's a ridiculous story, but it was so much fun I didn't care.
The premise and opening of this novella will lead you to believe this is a story about a Christmas poultry-showing competition, so I admit to being a little disappointed that there wasn't more about that in the narrative. That's where it starts and where it ends, but the meat is in the middle, and while the competition is loosely guiding the plot, it wasn't really about that.
What Hen Fever is really about is how small Lydia Wraxhall's life in Brickerton is--how after the death of her brother, who has died heroically in war, her only happiness is the chickens she raises for the annual poultry show. She's a disappointment to her parents as she's now a spinster (and a burden). It's also about Harriet Boyne and her companions--a found family formed around the trauma of war--who have moved into a stately manor near Brickerton. Like Lydia's brother, Harriet's husband died in the war, so she and her friends are trying to make the best of a life together. And then she meets Lydia.
Hen Fever is such an odd story, but I really liked it for its oddity. The dialogue was a lot of fun and the hijinks around the poultry show were hilarious. It's a ridiculous story, but it was so much fun I didn't care.
December 24, 2023
4.5/5
This was a perfect (and perfectly timed) Christmas Eve read as the heartwarming, tender and gentle climax takes place exactly on Christmas Eve. It's amazing how many lovely little details and layers are stuffed into this under 100-page novella.
The first chapter is basically the reverend of this little town preaching restraint to the hen fevered parishioners.
He cleared his throat, braced himself, and began: “Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.”
Please, he wanted to beg them in plainer language. Please remember that there are more important things than chickens.
We get a highly comical and concentrated setup of the rivalries in this chicken judging competition and then... There's the meet cute, which of course, happens through chickens (and a rooster!) as well.
I loved that both Lydia and Harriet had greying hair and were mature women with their own experiences - Harriet, a widow with PTSD from the Crimea War, and Lydia, a spinster yearning to be seen. I hope that this will end up being a series, because all of the characters were quite charming and Harriet, along with four other intriguing people, are the heirs of the nearby estate. I really want to get all of those backstories in the future!
Also, I love the symmetry of reading Get Thee Off My Lawn: A Regency RomCom with a Swan Problem at the beginning of the year and then reading Hen Fever: A Sapphic Victorian Romance near the end of the year, both adorable novellas involving hilarious birds!
This was a perfect (and perfectly timed) Christmas Eve read as the heartwarming, tender and gentle climax takes place exactly on Christmas Eve. It's amazing how many lovely little details and layers are stuffed into this under 100-page novella.
The first chapter is basically the reverend of this little town preaching restraint to the hen fevered parishioners.
He cleared his throat, braced himself, and began: “Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.”
Please, he wanted to beg them in plainer language. Please remember that there are more important things than chickens.
We get a highly comical and concentrated setup of the rivalries in this chicken judging competition and then... There's the meet cute, which of course, happens through chickens (and a rooster!) as well.
I loved that both Lydia and Harriet had greying hair and were mature women with their own experiences - Harriet, a widow with PTSD from the Crimea War, and Lydia, a spinster yearning to be seen. I hope that this will end up being a series, because all of the characters were quite charming and Harriet, along with four other intriguing people, are the heirs of the nearby estate. I really want to get all of those backstories in the future!
Also, I love the symmetry of reading Get Thee Off My Lawn: A Regency RomCom with a Swan Problem at the beginning of the year and then reading Hen Fever: A Sapphic Victorian Romance near the end of the year, both adorable novellas involving hilarious birds!
December 25, 2022
3.75 stars rounded up
It feels rather a slow-start, but once Lydia trying to take back her Snortington's Red, Walter, and meets Mrs. Harriet Boyne, it becomes quite engaging.
I love the tenderness between the two women. I love that the book also has "family-by-choice" trope in terms of Harriet's other residents of Thornycroft Hall.
I think this is a romance with MOST CHICKENS that I've ever read in my entire life 😅 . Yes, so many talks about chickens - but I really find them amusing!
It feels rather a slow-start, but once Lydia trying to take back her Snortington's Red, Walter, and meets Mrs. Harriet Boyne, it becomes quite engaging.
I love the tenderness between the two women. I love that the book also has "family-by-choice" trope in terms of Harriet's other residents of Thornycroft Hall.
I think this is a romance with MOST CHICKENS that I've ever read in my entire life 😅 . Yes, so many talks about chickens - but I really find them amusing!
April 10, 2023
Such a unique short story. I enjoy it thoroughly!
March 23, 2023
“Hen Fever: A Sapphic Victorian Romance” by Olivia Waite is about two women living in the small town of Bickerton in England in 1856. One woman, Harriet Boyne, is a widow. Her husband passed away in the Crimea Wars. The second, Lydia Wraxhall, is a single woman whose brother passed away in the same war. Harriet only recently relocated to Bickerton since the war ended. Their initial introduction is awkward and mysterious. Lydia is middle-aged and still lives at home with her family. She raises chickens for the annual Bickerton Christmas Poultry Show. Harriet is also middle-aged, but is only looking to eat chickens. Harriet and Lydia stumble upon a rare breed of chicken in the forest, but Lydia claims them. Eventually she teaches Harriet and Harriet’s household how to raise chickens and it becomes quite the mentor/mentee situation. I’ll leave it there as to not spoil anything.
Pros? It was short?! It was creative in that it revolved around chickens, the Victorian era, and romance. I feel like Waite must have played a Russian Roulette game before writing and landed on this random criterion and came up with this story. Cons? There were too many characters introduced in the beginning that I had a difficult time juggling who they all were - even the main two characters. Harriet was written so coldly and standoffish that I couldn’t picture her or relate to her. Lydia was written warmer. I could connect with her character more. I didn’t really feel how quickly they became attracted to each other and eventually, ya know…
Overall, it was a short and easy (random) romance. Not my favorite, but also not terrible.
3/5 stars…
Pros? It was short?! It was creative in that it revolved around chickens, the Victorian era, and romance. I feel like Waite must have played a Russian Roulette game before writing and landed on this random criterion and came up with this story. Cons? There were too many characters introduced in the beginning that I had a difficult time juggling who they all were - even the main two characters. Harriet was written so coldly and standoffish that I couldn’t picture her or relate to her. Lydia was written warmer. I could connect with her character more. I didn’t really feel how quickly they became attracted to each other and eventually, ya know…
Overall, it was a short and easy (random) romance. Not my favorite, but also not terrible.
3/5 stars…
December 14, 2022
4 stars. Olivia Waite just dropped a sapphic short story out of nowhere so of course I had to pick this up immediately. I have no regrets. Beautifully written and the romance between Lydia and Harriet is well told for this to be under one hundred pages. I bought into their chemistry and thought they were both likable and well crafted characters. This was a great novella with a bit of emotions and lots and lots of chickens. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
December 17, 2022
2022 Winter Bingo (#SnowInLoveBingo❄️): Community
3.5 stars. Did not give a damn about the chickens, but still an engaging read.
3.5 stars. Did not give a damn about the chickens, but still an engaging read.
May 1, 2025
Mostly it’s about overcoming trauma and learning to love. But also it’s a little bit about birds.
I enjoyed every moment.
I enjoyed every moment.
December 15, 2023
Beautifully written, hot, charming, so many chickens. Loved it.
December 20, 2022
Historical chicken romance wasn't a thing I knew I needed but I'm so glad it exists now. Found family of folks traumatized by war is the sweetest and most healing variant of the Found Family trope and I hope it becomes a trend.
Lydia going on an emotional journey to realize she can live her own life is still so fucking relatable today.
Also Walter and the Bickerton Greys for Best Supporting Chickens,!!!!
Only thing that would have made this better would have been links to photos or illustrations of the chicken varieties bc google wasn't much help!!!
Lydia going on an emotional journey to realize she can live her own life is still so fucking relatable today.
Also Walter and the Bickerton Greys for Best Supporting Chickens,!!!!
Only thing that would have made this better would have been links to photos or illustrations of the chicken varieties bc google wasn't much help!!!
December 17, 2023
Over 40 MCs sapphic Victorian romance! Sign me up! This was fun and chaotic. Perhaps a few too many characters to keep track of in the introduction, and while I enjoyed how some of those extra characters played out, I felt they distracted me overall.
Harriet and Lydia were wonderful - older women who know exactly what they want are heartwarming to read. I could have used a little more tension though!
Harriet and Lydia were wonderful - older women who know exactly what they want are heartwarming to read. I could have used a little more tension though!
March 6, 2023
Quirky read, but the best characters were the chickens. Unfortunately it went a little too slow for me, even only being one hundred pages and I just wasn't very invested with the story. The ending was nice though.
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December 27, 2023Olivia Waite is by far my favorite historical romance author, so when I originally discovered Hen Fever, I was tempted to read it immediately, regardless of the time of year. But I exercised restraint, imagining the cozy idyll of me reading it snuggled under a blanket on Christmas Eve, and saved it.
This novella was surprising to me. It does deliver some coziness, centered around a small town poultry show and the various rivalries among the competitors. However, it packs more emotional weight than I expected. The heroines have both been shaped by war and loss, and the themes of grief and trauma are not what I've come to expect from Christmas romances. Waite does it well, though, and it's satisfying to watch her characters find their commonalities and help one another.
Any gripes I have about this are my usual novella pacing complaints. The first half was perfection, while the second half felt a bit rushed, having to wrap up not only the main romantic plot, but also tie up all the other threads relating to the chicken show competitors and their squabbles, and resolve what happens with the competition itself.
But I still really enjoyed Hen Fever, and I'm glad I managed to read something Christmassy this year.
This novella was surprising to me. It does deliver some coziness, centered around a small town poultry show and the various rivalries among the competitors. However, it packs more emotional weight than I expected. The heroines have both been shaped by war and loss, and the themes of grief and trauma are not what I've come to expect from Christmas romances. Waite does it well, though, and it's satisfying to watch her characters find their commonalities and help one another.
Any gripes I have about this are my usual novella pacing complaints. The first half was perfection, while the second half felt a bit rushed, having to wrap up not only the main romantic plot, but also tie up all the other threads relating to the chicken show competitors and their squabbles, and resolve what happens with the competition itself.
But I still really enjoyed Hen Fever, and I'm glad I managed to read something Christmassy this year.
May 5, 2023
It was one thing to read war stories in print, at a distance. Quite another to hear them from someone who’d lived through them. There was the frightening chance to ask all manner of probing, too-intimate questions: Were you afraid? Do you feel changed by what you’ve seen? Are you still grieving?
Did he suffer terribly at the end?
Worse still: the possibility that you might get an answer.
probably my new favourite olivia waite book to date! this is a book about chickens, but it also surprised me by being poignantly about war, grief, and discovering self-worth and love through loving someone else. it has a wonderful romance between two middle-aged women who have the most delightful chemistry but are each so unique on their own. the town feels alive and real with its connections and the elegant prose brings the landscape to life. the levity makes the heavier moments hit all that much harder. SO charming. aa I loved this, it was so much more than I thought it'd be
Did he suffer terribly at the end?
Worse still: the possibility that you might get an answer.
probably my new favourite olivia waite book to date! this is a book about chickens, but it also surprised me by being poignantly about war, grief, and discovering self-worth and love through loving someone else. it has a wonderful romance between two middle-aged women who have the most delightful chemistry but are each so unique on their own. the town feels alive and real with its connections and the elegant prose brings the landscape to life. the levity makes the heavier moments hit all that much harder. SO charming. aa I loved this, it was so much more than I thought it'd be
May 2, 2024
3.5 stars. A charming, brief read. It would have been interesting to have had more on the development of the relationship, the chickens, the parents…really this was a starter-size portion of something I would have enjoyed as a main, but what is here is very nice indeed.
The book could have done with a better copy editor, sadly.
The book could have done with a better copy editor, sadly.
December 10, 2023
Delightful! In the middle, I felt like the relationship got a bit over-written - heavy on the analogies, and maybe mixing in cultural echoes of the world wars rather than the Crimean one - but the conclusion was very soft and silly and comedic and that's the feeling I'm taking away from it.
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January 24, 2023:DDDDDD
(yes I did take a break from reading book club book for this, but it's only 90 pages! i deserve it!)
(yes I did take a break from reading book club book for this, but it's only 90 pages! i deserve it!)
January 26, 2023
my one complaint is that there wasn't more of it
August 29, 2024
I loved this so much that I read it two times back to back -- the chicken theme is hilarious. The Pastor trying desperately to defuse village tension is hilarious. The gorgeous characters, the steamy romance, the deep pathos of the Crimean war survivors -- it's got a lot of beautiful thoughts all wrapped up in a short package. And I love Walter the Snortington's Red and his fierce phalanx of Bickerton Grays. Good times.
April 5, 2025
all good except for that one bit. to more cozy middle-aged yuri!
April 18, 2023
Look, I’m just going to read every queer romance Olivia Waite puts out. I absolutely love them, so far they have all delivered what I wanted, and her period research is top notch.
I’m not much of a romance reader, but wait’s novels are the exception. If you want something comforting and compelling with characters to root for, you really can’t do better.
I’m not much of a romance reader, but wait’s novels are the exception. If you want something comforting and compelling with characters to root for, you really can’t do better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews