The Wolf and His King

Madeline Miller meets Angela Carter in this spellbinding queer retelling of the 12th - century tale of Bisclavret the werewolf -- unmissable for fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden.

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A noble knight hiding the beast inside. A lonely king isolated by his courtiers. Between them an impossible gulf surmountable only by the twists and turns of relentless destiny in this spellbinding retelling of Marie de France’s classic 12th-century tale of romance and adventure.

The wolf-sickness strikes always without warning, stealing Bisclavret’s body and confusing his mind. Since boyhood, he hasn’t dared leave his isolated holdings--not to beg the return of his father’s lost estate, not to seek brotherhood among the court, not even to win the knighthood he yearns for. But when a new king ascends, Bisclavret must deliver his kiss of fealty or answer for the failure.

Half an exile himself, the young king is intrigued by this uneasy, rough-hewn nobleman. Bisclavret seems a perfect knight: bold, strong, and merciful. But he keeps his secrets close, and the king’s longings are not for counsel alone. As his fascination grows, the barriers between them multiply, until one day Bisclavret vanishes beyond reach. Battling desperation and grief, the king stands alone to face the greatest threats to his kingdom, with only duty to his people between him and ruin--duty, and the steadfast loyalty of the strangest wolf . . .

Finn Longman is an author and medievalist, originally from London. They write young adult and adult fiction, with a particular interest in genre-bending stories about identity, friendship, and monstrosity--of the metaphorical or the literal sort. They’ve spent most of their adult life alternating between working in libraries and studying for increasingly niche degrees in medieval literature, and can usually be found in the vicinity of a pile of books. Finn is currently a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, researching friendship and affection in the late Ulster Cycle. You can find them at finnlongman.com.