COMING FEBRUARY 2026
Book of Forbidden Words
From bestselling author Louise Fein comes a new historical novel about an encrypted manuscript that unleashes a chain of consequences across 400 years, set in a world of banned books, fear of new ideas, and the dangers of censorship, perfect for fans of The Briar Club and Weyward.
"What power lay there in words on a page. And with that thought, Charlotte knew she would not rest until she had seen what was in the manuscript that Lysbette so desperately wanted to preserve in print.”
1552, Paris: Against a backdrop of turmoil, suspicion, and paranoia, the printing press is quickly spreading new ideas across Europe, threatening the power of church and state and unleashing a wave of book burning and heretic hunting. When frightened ex-nun Lysbette Angiers arrives one day at Charlotte Guillard’s famous printing shop with her manuscript, neither woman knows just how far the powerful elite will go to prevent the spread of Lysbette’s audacious ideas.
1952, New York: Milly Bennett, lonely and unmoored, is a seemingly ordinary housewife with a secretive past. Balancing the day-to-day boredom of keeping house and struggling to find her way with the mothers at her children’s school, she finds her life taking an unexpected turn as conspiracies spread amidst the paranoid clamors of McCarthy’s America. When a relic from her past presents her with a 400-year-old manuscript to decipher, she is reluctantly pulled into a vortex of danger that threatens to shatter her world.
From the risky backstreets of sixteenth-century Paris to the unpredictable suburbs of mid-twentieth century New York, the stakes couldn’t be higher when, 400 years apart, Milly, Lysbette, and Charlotte each face a reality where the spread of ideas are feared and every effort is made to suppress them.
Dramatic and affecting, and inspired by the real-life encrypted Voynich manuscript, Book of Forbidden Words is both an engrossing story about a timeless struggle that echoes through the ages and a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dare to let their words be heard.
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PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“A taut, gripping story of three extraordinary women linked across centuries by an encrypted manuscript. Fein is brilliant at creating an atmosphere of creeping menace. It's hard to judge who to trust as the net closes in. I love her courageous characters, her immersive writing, and the vivid descriptions of printing and coding techniques. The Book of Forbidden Words is a stunning achievement.” — Gill Paul, bestselling author of A Beautiful Rival
“A powerful and beautifully crafted story about the importance of the written word. I loved it!” — Nicola Gill, author of Swimming for Beginners
“How I wish I’d written this thrilling and often terrifying story about women across the centuries, who risk everything for the importance of words and ideas. I was gripped from the first page to the last as the women face all manner of threats and dangers in different times of book banning and witch hunting. This timely novel is a resounding cry for freedom of thought and the courage of women. It is also a chilling reminder of how easily books and ideas can be suppressed and how fragile women’s hard-won freedom might be. The research behind it is impressive, giving vivid life to the settings and characters from Henry VII’s court to 1950s America.This book is both important and engrossing - a rare combination.” — Maggie Brookes, author of The Prisoner’s Wife
“Spanning 400 years, Louise Fein’s new novel Book of Forbidden Words, is a powerful, eloquent testament to the importance of free speech and the dangers of censorship. Three women across time - author Lysbette, printer Charlotte and decoder Milly - converge to create, conceal, decode and save an encrypted book filled with ‘dangerous’ thoughts about a utopian world. Fein expertly pitches the paranoia of 16th century Paris, as new ideas that challenge church and state are printed in secret, against the life-destroying witch-hunts of McCarthy’s 1950s America.
Beautifully drawn female characters explore everything it means to be a woman, but with such a lightness of touch and authenticity that is seamless. The plot is equally clever and compelling, and as you enter the public and private worlds of Lysbette, Charlotte and Milly, you can’t help but experience every high and low, twist and turn alongside them. A richly depicted, memorable story with themes so relevant right now that I’m still thinking about it days after reaching the end. Both historical fiction, and Louise Fein, at their very best. Highly recommend.” — Eleni Kyriacou, A Beautiful Way to Die
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