Thanks to the folks at Razorbill Canada for their exclusive share of Sarah Henstra's debut novel, Mad Miss Mimic, which goes on sale in May. We're very excited about this book, and look forward to featuring Sarah on 49th Shelf when the book is published. But in the meantime, can we just take a moment to marvel at this excellent cover? 

*****

Are you ready? 

Really ready? 

Check it out.

The cover for Mad Miss Mimic by Sarah Henstra. 

Revealed!  

About the book:

London, 1872. 17-year-old heiress Leonora Somerville is preparing to be presented to upper class society—again. A curious speech disorder causes her to stutter and also allows her to imitate other people's voice flawlessly. Servants and ladies alike call her "Mad Miss Mimic" behind her back and watch as Leo unintentionally scares off one potential husband after another. That is, until  her brother-in-law's new business partner, Francis Thornfax, arrives. Successful, forthright, and devastatingly handsome, Thornfax seems immune to gossip about Leo's madness. But their courtship is endangered from the start. The mysterious Black Glove opium gang is setting off explosions across the city. The street urchins are dying of overdoses. And then there is Tom Rampling, the working-class boy Leo can't seem to get out of her mind. As the violence closes in around her, Leo must find her own voice.

About the author: 

Sarah Henstra is a professor of English at Ryerson University, where she teaches courses in Gothic Literature, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, and Women in Fiction. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two sons (one teen, one tween) and a poodle named Nora. Mad Miss Mimic is her first novel.