Bookseller Reviews
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Masterful Setting
Giles' take on early medieval England was really original and explored areas of the period I hadn't seen before, without feeling ahistorical. I really like... READ MORE
Atmospheric slow-burn of a novel
This was an original, atmospheric novel that I genuinely enjoyed. Set in 990 AD and following Hilda, the Infirmarian in a remote, troubled abbey, this tell... READ MORE
Exquisite
This book is incredible, one of my favourites so far this year. It was such a joy to pick it up knowing absolutely nothing about the story and discover it ... READ MORE
A profound and deeply moving historical novel
Haunting and harrowing, there’s something incredibly visceral about this book. You live and bleed with the sisters, and alongside them, you become ever mor... READ MORE
Eerie and poetic.
Eerie and poetic debut about dysfunctional nuns living in an isolated convent slowly losing their minds. The writing here was brilliant. It transformed me ... READ MORE
Sapphic nuns, folk horror, what more do you need?!
This debut took me by surprise and sucked me in, what a treat to discover! Set against a bleak suffocating landscape, this story observes a power struggle ... READ MORE
A dark historical debut with an uncanny edge
I loved this historical tale of queer medieval nuns and an isolated community trying to survive out on the fens in the face of escalating bad luck, or is i... READ MORE
Supernatural and historical debut
A historical and often witty debut novel of Hilda who was raised in a convent and her sisters in 990AD . I found the story very atmospheric with a running ... READ MORE
A Small Mistake Unlocks Years Of Fragile Peace As The Mere Watches On.
Through the forest a small monestery of nuns work...
The mere looks on holding secrets.
A group travelling the mere lose a young boy and so starts a myst... READ MORE
Eerie and haunting
If you’re looking for an eerie, atmospheric read where the environment is just as much a character as the people, this is the book for you. It was so moody... READ MORE
Synopsis
A Sunday Times Book of the Year (December 2025)
'Beautifully written . . . A dark and disturbing tale' – Laura Shepherd-Robinson, bestselling author of The Square of Sevens
Mere by Danielle Giles is a hypnotic historical novel about fear and survival, power and position, and a love that takes hold in the darkest of places.
Norfolk, 990 AD. Deep in the Fens, isolated by a vast and treacherous mere, an order of holy sisters make their home. Under the steely guidance of Abbess Sigeburg they follow God’s path, looking to their infirmarian, Hilda, to provide what comfort and cures she can.
But when the mere takes a young servant boy, Sigeburg’s grip falters and Hilda quickly realizes this place holds secrets darker and more unholy than she can fathom.
Then proud Sister Wulfrun, a recent arrival to the convent, has a vision: a curse is upon them and change must be brought. Is she saint or serpent? To Hilda, Wulfrun is a signal bolder and brighter than any fire set – one she cannot help but follow . . .
'Chilling, dark and immersive' – Rosanna Pike, bestselling author of A Little Trickerie
'Haunting and beautiful’ – Lucy Rose, bestselling author of The Lamb
'A gem of a novel' – Costanza Casati, bestselling author of Babylonia
Publisher information
- Publisher: Pan Macmillan
- ISBN: 9781035051229
- Number of pages: 384
- Dimensions: 224 x 147 x 35 mm
- Weight: 486g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allRocky
Apologies for the semi-short review, but unfortunately, my experience with Mere wasn't a spectacular one. But it did have some positive aspects.
The bo... READ MORE
Fear and superstition
It is close to the end of the first millennium and in the wet fens of East Anglia a small convent is struggling to survive. Into their midst comes Wulfrun... READ MORE
A Haunting Masterpiece Set in the Mists of Time
Mere by Danielle Giles is the kind of novel that wraps itself around you like the creeping fog of the Fens—at once beautiful, chilling, and impossible to i... READ MORE
Captivating
Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for a digital copy of Mere by Danielle Giles in return for an honest review.
Mere is set in the Fens of Norfo... READ MORE
A tale of atmosphere which you won’t want to put down
A real treat of a book. Set within the walls of a convent, some time around the 7th Century we were given an insight into how the sisters within the conven... READ MORE
Early Medieval Spooky Done Well
I liked the oppressive setting of this book, the strangling isolation creeping around this already isolated place. But the people are far from isolated, ev... READ MORE
Verified Purchase
Spooky, emotional and immersive
Set in Norfolk in 990, Mere follows Hilda, an infirmarian (healer) in an isolated convent that’s surrounded by almost impassable marshland.
There’s a ... READ MORE
Mysterious and thrilling
I really enjoyed this read, a gripping, mysterious novel set in 990AD in the Norfolk fens – a forbidding and dangerous marshy landscape, in the midst of wh... READ MORE
A miniaturist masterpiece of dread and hope
In Britain, we call the Middle Ages the Dark Ages because the written record is sparser than during the Roman occupation or the Norman era afterwards, but ... READ MORE
Not a peaceful existence
Not a peaceful existence.
This story takes place in Norfolk 990 A.D.
I always thought that an Abbey would be a peaceful place to live, engaging in simple... READ MORE
Ridiculously good. Absolutely mesmerising.
So sublimely atmospheric it had my fingertips tingling and toes curling from the first page. I admit I came for the brooding marshland, but I stayed for th... READ MORE
An immersive story of convent life
In the year 990, Christianity is well established in England but the old rites are buried deep in collective memory. Whatever prayers are sent to God, what... READ MORE
Mysterious goings on in a medieval convent.
Mere by Danielle Giles
England 990 AD. Lying at the edge of a mysterious and sinister mere, sits an austere convent. What evil emanating from the adjac... READ MORE
Gay Nun Book of the Year
I hereby crown Mere Gay Nun Book of the Year. [some spoilers, I guess?] That sounds sarcastic and mean, but hey—we had Lauren Groff's Matrix (2021), now we... READ MORE
a compelling read with interesting characters
I am not sure why it took me so long to read this book. 400 pages is usually the work of a 2 or 3 days for me. But this one took me 5. It's a compelling st... READ MORE
Debut
Thank you to the publishers for this review copy.
Pleased to report that this is a well written debut and consequently I will be eagerly watching out for ... READ MORE
A suspenseful and unnerving tale
In her debut novel, Giles’ lyrical prose brings to life a waterlogged and forgotten corner of medieval England where the ever-present mere threatens to cla... READ MORE
Fabulous debut
A fabulous debut; thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for the opportunity to read this book.
Set in 990AD Norfolk, we follow the lives of sisters in a... READ MORE
Atmospheric
Having lived near the fens and knowing how remote and bleak they can be, it was easy to take myself back to 990AD.
An isolated convent ruled by the Abbes... READ MORE
Dark and atmospheric gothic delight
A dark and atmospheric novel set in 990AD in a convent built on the edge of the fens in Norfolk. A time when although Christianity is well established the ... READ MORE
Holy terror at its most unholy!
Atmospheric and visceral this is holy terror at its most unholy... and I am obsessed.
Mere is a medieval folk horror gem of a novel that drags you deep... READ MORE
Interesting tale.
I enjoy folklore and fantasy and learning about herbal remedies as a change from thrillers and more demanding reads but did find it hard to involve myself ... READ MORE
A great reimagining of life at a distance
A well-paced, delicate exploration of a forgotten time and place, as christianity takes over from the old gods and fear is never far from belief. The setti... READ MORE
Worth reading
Beautifuly written full of belivable detail this novel deals with the period in Britain when belief in the old gods vied with belief in christianity & find... READ MORE