“You know Miss Havisham.

The world’s most famous jilted bride.

This is her daughter’s story.

Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave.

She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing?

As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, hatred hardens into a core of vengeance and when she finds herself married to the abusive Drummle, she is forced to make a deadly choice:

Should she embrace the darkness within her and exact her revenge?“

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke. Estella’s Revenge was published by Hera Books on 17th October 2024 and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Estella’s Revenge but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Keshini at Hera Books for sending me an eARC.

I love a spot of gothic fiction! Even more so when the author behind that gothic fiction is one of my favourite thriller writers. If you’re a regular visitor to the blog then you may recognise the name Barbara Copperthwaite. I have been a HUGE fan of Barbara’s writing for many, many years now. So when I discovered Barbara was going to publish something a little different, a Dickensian retelling no less, then I absolutely jumped at the chance to read it. A new name and a new direction, how exciting!

Now, there are a couple of things I need to tell you. The first thing is that I actually read this book last year (I won’t say when as it’s getting embarrassing now!). Long story short, I ended up taking an unplanned, unwelcome break from the blog. Since then I have been working hard to catch up with my reviews (but I am only now starting to get somewhere!).

The second thing I need to tell you is that I haven’t read Great Expectations. There! I said it. I’m embarrassed. However, I enjoyed Estella’s Revenge so much that upon finishing, I started watching the BBC adaptation of GE (starring a very young Olly Alexander!). I didn’t have to do that. I knew the character of Miss Havisham and that was more than enough basic knowledge to enable me to read and thoroughly enjoy this book. So if you’re in the same situation, please don’t let not having read Great Expectations influence you.

Estella’s Revenge is beautifully written, highly immersive and hard to put down. The story is dark with an exquisite, overarching, deeply ominous tone that I just couldn’t get enough of! Satis House, in all of its dusty, neglected glory is everything you hope it will be in Havelocke’s hands. A character in its own right! Vividly drawn and highly unsettling. The reader watches as Estella grows from a young girl, trapped at Satis House with her odd, cruel, hateful mother, to a young woman stepping out into London society, ready to find a husband. Can Estella escape the trappings of her tortured upbringing or will the Havisham darkness follow her into adulthood? All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Estella’s Revenge. Estella is a complex, multi-layered and utterly fascinating character. I felt desperately sorry for her at times, but I could never claim to like her. So very believable, so utterly compelling and so emotionally charged. A true reading experience. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Estella’s Revenge. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke was published in the UK by Hera Books on 17th October 2024 and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Barbara is an international bestselling author, whose books have topped Amazon and Kobo, and also appeared on the USA Today chart. ESTELLA’S REVENGE was nominated for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025.

The follow up, ESTELLA’S FURY, will be published on 13 November 2025, and is available to preorder now.

As BARBARA HAVELOCKE she creates dark, tense Gothic historical thrillers set in the early Victorian era. Her contemporary psychological thrillers – including the Amazon Number 1 bestseller The Perfect Friend – are published under the name BARBARA COPPERTHWAITE.

For over twenty years Barbara wrote for & edited national magazines & newspapers, talking to victims of crime – and its perpetrators. Her fiction reflects this: she creates realistic characters, and often explores moral grey areas.

When not writing at her home in Birmingham, UK, Barbara spends time with her dogs, Scamp, Buddy, and Arty, or takes wildlife photographs which inspire her artwork.