In writing this novel I drew inspiration from a number of books, in particular Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman, The Queen’s Conjuror by Benjamin Woolley, and Rogues, Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars edited by Arthur F. Kinney.

This book was mostly written during my first child’s second year and my second child’s birth and first year. There would be no book without childcare. Thank you to everyone at the BBCDC, especially Kimberly Dalton. And to Natalie Mayne and Leah Gonsalves for bouncing on the ball. For hours. And there would be no childcare without my day jobs, so thank you to the fine people at the Neighborhood Playhouse and American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and to my (at this point) hundreds of former students for making those jobs pretty damn pleasant.

Thank you to the Salyers Hurand family for their unflagging support. My profound gratitude goes to my parents for valuing my voice and to my sisters for sharing theirs. Last and most to A, K, and G for being my folk.

Praise for The Sin Eater



‘A dark and thrilling page-turner that turns a dystopian eye on the past in an unnervingly contemporary way.

All hail Megan Campisi’

Emma Donoghue, author of Room and The Pull of the Stars

‘Rich with imaginative and historical details, The Sin Eater is ultimately a timeless story of one woman regaining her power. I loved it from beginning to end’

Christina Dalcher, author of Vox

‘A riveting description of hard-won female empowerment that weaves together meticulous research, unsolved murder – and an unforgettable heroine. Exhilarating . . . great storytelling . . . reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale’

Washington Post

‘Magnificent . . . Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies brought new vividness and insight to the court of Henry VIII; in The Sin Eater, Megan Campisi brings as much or more energy to the court of Elizabeth I . . . The only disappointment it offers is the absence of a massive body of work waiting for the reader to devour when this first book ends’ New York Journal of Books

‘The atmospheric, historical fantasy setting combined with May’s jarringly eccentric personality creates a novel as strange as it is captivating’

BuzzFeed

‘Captivating . . . An original melding of mystery and alternate history’

Booklist

‘Richly imaginative and strikingly contemporary [and] very much reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale’

Kirkus Reviews

‘[A] rousing, impressive debut . . . Spellbinding’

Publishers Weekly

‘Dark and evocative’

POPSUGAR

THE SIN EATER

Megan Campisi is a playwright and novelist. She has previously received the French Alfa and ADAMI prizes for her plays, which have been performed in France, China and the United States. In 2019 she received a Fulbright Specialist Award to give masterclasses at Tatbikat Sahnesi in Turkey. She holds a BA from Yale and a Diplôme (MFA) from L’Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. The Sin Eater is her first novel.