Mischief Acts

'A work of extraordinary ambition, brilliantly realised' OBSERVER

'A mesmerising journey down the byways of English folklore' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Verbally dextrous, inventive, and hugely entertaining' THE TIMES

'Enchanting' TLS

Herne the hunter, mischief-maker, spirit of the forest, leader of the wild hunt, hurtles through the centuries pursued by his creator.

A shapeshifter, Herne dons many guises as he slips and ripples through time – at candlelit Twelfth Night revels, at the spectacular burning of the Crystal Palace, at an acid-laced Sixties party. Wherever he goes, transgression, debauch and enchantment always follow in his wake.

But as the forest is increasingly encroached upon by urban sprawl and gentrification, and the world slides into crisis, Herne must find a way to survive – or exact his revenge.

With its intoxicating, chameleonic voice and boundless imagination, Mischief Acts is British folklore as you've never read it before: dangerous, sexy, troubling, daring, savage, an exhilarating race through time and space, weaving together the ancient and the contemporary.

'A dark-dazzling archive of enchantments, pursuit, and desire' ELEY WILLIAMS

'This is the most adventurous, stylistically magnificent thing I've read for years. Nobody does fantasy like Zoe Gilbert' NATASHA PULLEY

'Mischief Acts is brimming with magic ... The story of Herne, like the forest itself, transforms, entangles and enchants' LUCY WOOD

'A dazzling new take on an ancient myth, reminding us of the wildness within. I adored it' KERRY ANDREW

'Superb. A work of shimmering allure' IRENOSEN OKOJIE



Genre: Literary Fiction

"Mischief Acts is a deeply lyrical, century-spanning polyphony of voices; a dazzling new take on an ancient myth, reminding us of the wildness within. I adored it." - Kerry Andrew

"Superb. A work of shimmering allure. By turns beguiling and mercurial, Gilbert takes British folklore to new heights." - Irenosen Okojie