Karen Brooks rewrites women back into history with this breathtaking, scrupulously researched tale set in 17th-century London.  

Damnation has never been so sweet.... 

When Rosamund Tomkins enters the world with her darkling eyes and strange laughter, the midwives are afraid, believing her a changeling. But Rosamund's life is set to be anything but enchanted.... 

Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a transformation, as her husband recognises in Rosamund a magic she does not know she possesses but which affects almost all who encounter her. Presiding over a luxurious chocolate house where men go to be seen, exchange news and indulge in the sweet and heady drink to which they have become addicted, Rosamund feels blessed.  

But disaster strikes, and Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve. Forced to make a choice, she can either walk away from all she has grown to love with her soul intact or make a deal with the devil.... 

Set against the backdrop of Restoration London, the plague and the Great Fire, this is a tale of cruelty, revenge, redemption, love and hope, and the sweet, sinister temptation of chocolate.