Join us in conversation with Naomi Kelsey about her gripping new historical fiction novel, The Darkening Globe, a page-turning psychological mystery set in Elizabethan England.
We’re excited to welcome Naomi Kelsey back to the Book Tree to discuss her atmospheric and pacy historical fiction novel,
The Darkening Globe!
Those who joined us the last time Naomi visited the Book Tree in 2023, or read
The Burnings, will know what a great storyteller she is. Her books are infused with historical detail and pack a page-tuning punch. Part Gothic mystery, part ghostly thriller,
The Darkening Globe is no exception.
The shop door will be open from 7pm and the event will start at 7.30pm in our atmospheric upstairs event space. We’ll chat with Naomi about the book (spoiler free!), her writing, research and inspiration. There’ll also be a chance to ask your questions and Naomi will sign copies of the book at the end of the evening.
Tickets are free, but please book places by filling out the form at the end of this page, or by contacting us in the shop. We hope to see you there!
About the Book
An Elizabethan psychological thriller - who could ask for more? Confident, vividly imagined, infused with historical detail and riven by dramatic tension, Naomi Kelsey’s The Darkening Globe will make your head spin - and keep you turning the pages late into the night — Annie Garthwaite, author of
Cecily
Each time the globe turns, murder strikes…
1597, London. When Beatrice’s husband returns from exploring the New World, he comes home with unexpected company: a mysterious woman, and an enormous painted globe.
As Hugh refuses to explain who their female guest is, Beatrice’s foreboding grows. The unwieldy globe now strikes her as sinister – a reminder of the world of secrets pervading her household.
Then one night, the great, hulking globe begins to turn of its own accord. Terrifying new illustrations appear on its face – and when untimely deaths ensue, Beatrice is convinced that the drawings are connected.
Desperate to prove that she is not paranoid, Beatrice risks everything to uncover the truth. What sinister force is behind these killings? What really happened on Hugh’s excursion to the Americas? Who is the strange woman who won’t leave her house? And on this otherworldly map of murders, who will be painted as the final victim?
Deliciously gothic and twisty, Naomi Kelsey has crafted a deeply haunted mystery novel that I found impossible to put down. The Darkening Globe is filled with chilling and beguiling prose, and right at the centre, an atmospheric and stirring mystery keeps the ghostly pages turning — Lucy Rose,
Sunday Times bestselling author of
The Lamb
About the Author
Naomi Kelsey is the winner of two Northern Writers’ Awards and of the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Competition in 2021. Her fiction has been published in Mslexia magazine and shortlisted for several further awards including the Bridport Prize and the Bristol Prize.
Her first novel
The Burnings, which tells a gripping story set amidst the North Berwick witch trials, was first published in June 2023.
Naomi’s second novel, set in Elizabethan England, was published in April 2025 by HarperNorth.
