I adore Kate Foster’s writing, so was very excited to read her latest retelling of a real-life event that has scant details remaining in the public record.

In this wonderful book, we meet Maggie Dickson in Edinburg in 1724, as she wakes up after having been hanged for concealing a pregnancy. The narrative then splits into two timelines, with Maggie after waking up after the hanging, and the earlier timeline unfolding the events that led Maggie to find herself convicted of this crime.
The description of the time and place are so vivid, and Maggie as a character is incredibly real and well-drawn. The supporting characters are also so well realised, and I was completely engaged in this devastating tale.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Kate Foster has very quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

I was always familiar with Half-Hanged Maggie, but only with the story of her "execution" and how she seemed to rise from the dad. Although I'm aware The Mourning Necklace is a fictional account, Kate Foster has brought colour to a a fascinating story.

If you enjoy historical fiction, particular Scottish historical fiction, I recommend you pick up a copy of The Mourning Necklace!

I really enjoy to read a historical fiction now occasionally, and the description of this book sounded right up my street.

The book started well and I was quickly engrossed. I did find that the pace did slow down, however, overall it was a good read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster

Inspired by an infamous real-life case, The Mourning Necklace is the unforgettable feminist historical novel from the Women's Prize-longlisted author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.

They said I would swing for the crime, and I did . . .

1724. In a tavern just outside Edinburgh, Maggie Dickson’s family drown their sorrows, mourning her death yet relieved she is gone. Shame haunts them. Hanged for the murder of her newborn child, passers-by avert their eyes from her cheap coffin on its rickety cart.

But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door.

It is Maggie. She is alive.

Bruised and dazed, Maggie has little time for her family’s questions. All that matters to her is answering this one: will they hang her twice?

What a brilliant advocate Kate Foster is for the women she finds in historical documents, often in dire situations at that time for ‘crimes’ it’s hard to comprehend today. Although, in our heroine Maggie’s case, this has some relevance to a modern day America seemingly reverting to the Puritan values that were last seen when the first settlers arrived and James VI of Scotland was on the throne. In some states we have seen women arrested after stillbirths or miscarriages, something I find disturbing and deeply traumatic for a bereaved woman in her most vulnerable state. This is the fate that awaits Maggie, but first Kate takes us back to how Maggie ended up in this terrible situation. Maggie and her younger sister Joan have grown up in a village known for its fishing and the strong, hardworking women that mend the nets and clean the fish ready for market. It’s a hard life and not one that Maggie wants forever, she dreams of living in London and making her own life there. So, when Patrick Spencer walks into their cottage one evening, with his sparkling eyes and easy charm Maggie sees someone like her, who wants to make their own luck. He has come to ask father if he could store some items in their safe - something the family do from time to time for tea merchants. These are altogether different ingredients, they are ingredients for perfume. Patrick wants to open his own perfume shop and will occasionally be passing through with expensive ingredients, could they agree a price to store them? Maggie knows she isn’t the beauty of the family because anyone can see that’s Joan. She isn’t even the favourite, but she does know that if Patrick is looking for a wife to support and help him in business that she’s the best choice. When he takes her out walking one evening she hopes that perhaps he’s seen someone as ambitious and hardworking as he is. Their courtship and marriage are a whirlwind and they’re soon living in a bungalow closer to the centre of the village. Married life is not what Maggie expected, after all her only example is her mother and father and they’ve always come in third place after his drinking and his temper, but she’s in thrall to Patrick. So, it’s a terrible shock when she hears the news that a press gang has visited the hotel bar in town and they’ve taken Patrick into the navy.
Maggie doesn’t have many choices. She’ll need income in a short while or she must return to her family. Maybe this is the only chance she has of getting herself to London and as the days go by she’s ever more sure that she’s having a baby, it must be now. Her mind is made up by a terrible betrayal and she sets off, reaching as far as K?? where she picks up some work in the inn, concealing her pregnancy and living in an upstairs room. However, the truth always finds a way out and it’s not long before she finds herself standing in front of the justices to answer charges of concealing a pregnancy and infanticide.

I was fascinated by Maggie’s story immediately, desperate to find out how she survived the gallows and whether she could advocate well enough to avoid a second hanging. She’s a dreamer, but she’s also determined and incredibly intelligent. It’s this combination of qualities that Patrick sees in her and why he thinks she will be a good partner to him. Although his wandering libido destroys their chances all too quickly. Maggie’s ambition to carry on her plans after his disappearance has all the impetuosity and ignorance of youth. She would never be able to hide her pregnancy for long, if she’d been honest about being pregnant and her husband deserting her I had a feeling that the innkeeper at Kelso might just have given her a chance anyway. There is curiosity about her though and an attempt at friendship teaches her that there are far worse ways to live than being a fishwife. It also puts her in the path of a local doctor who is so unpleasant that I wanted to wash my hands just reading about him. However, it’s the early arrival and sudden death of her daughter that has her transported to Edinburgh. This is a capital case and must be heard by the best justices in the land, although it’s common knowledge they drink at lunchtime. What’s amazing about Maggie is her ability to adapt and keep going. Despite being dealt a terrible hand, her will to survive and to appreciate the humble life she once had is admirable. She is a match for any man, whether it’s a hangman, the justices, her husband or even her violent and drunken father. She will make sure she has her dues from Patrick Spencer and that she will remove her mother and sister from the cottage where they’ve spent their lives fearing payday and her father’s visit to the inn. She is a better woman than me because I’d have left my sister there. Joan is one of those characters you want to slap, but I think that Maggie can see she was just another starry eyed girl being manipulated by a man used to getting his way.

As always Kate’s novels are rich with description, placing us very firmly in Scotland and in very different establishments. Maggie’s family live in a one room cottage and all of them work incredibly hard, but they need the extra money they make from holding onto goods for those avoiding the law or the tax office. Despite a poor existence the family have a rich community around them and a long tradition of fishwives. When she’s in Kelso Maggie learns that the women of Fisherrrow are well thought of and known for their hard work. It’s the heritage she wants to escape that gets her first job. The cottage where she lives with Patrick is a step up but still a world away from the women who would buy his perfumes. The doctor in Kelso has a grand house, but once Maggie knows what takes place within its walls she could never envy it. All of is thrown into stark relief by the squalor of where she’s held awaiting trial. It’s filthy, filled with vermin and women willing to exchange sexual favors with the guards for extra privileges. Maggie would rather go hungry. Each of these worlds is beautifully rendered and I could see it all very clearly in my mind’s eye.

I am amazed by the talent of Kate Foster that she is able to find these cases from Scottish history and breathe life into them. She takes them from a simple story in a news sheet of the time and like many of us who aspire to write she thinks ‘this would make a good novel’ and actually fleshes out these characters and places with what must be endless research. She creates women who feel like they could be one of us. Instead of being a distant newspaper headline they become real, with hopes and dreams and make incredibly relatable mistakes. Having lost my own babies I felt so much for Maggie at that moment and understood completely her need to say her own goodbye. For a long time it has been just the two of them and I could see that it would feel strange to involve others, they’d never known her anyway. I flew through the rest of the novel to find out how Maggie would move on from her moment on the gallows, should she be successful in arguing for her life first. Would she go back to her fishing village and the shared room with her parents? Would she make bold choices in order to remain independent? Or would she look for the man who set all this in motion and look for revenge or reparations? I loved the idea of the scar round her neck as a mourning necklace. There’s something about setting making inner wounds visible that resonates very strongly with humans. How many of us go on to have a tattoo after a traumatic or memorable event? Anyone who has gone through a profound experience has a sense of being stationary as the rest of the world keeps turning. When recently bereaved I wondered why people couldn’t see just how changed I was and I was frustrated by my inability to explain. Losing a baby is so hard because you are a mother, but because you don’t have a child no one ever sees you that way. Maggie could see her scar as a mark of shame, to be covered. However, she chooses to wear it with pride because it is proof that her little girl lived. I felt proud of Maggie, which might be a strange thing to say about a fictional character, but I was so happy that she took the path she did. Hardened by experience, she thinks of her fellow women first, but doesn’t allow that experience to completely rob her of a future. This is the best of her novels so far and that’s a high accolade considering how good they were.

An interesting part of feminist and Scottish history that I had never heard of before. Whilst I did enjoy reading about Maggie and her life I am not sure it really filled a whole book. I found the Dr/ Mrs Rose story line a bit unnecessary and didn't add very much to what was happening to Maggie.

Maggie's family gather to see her swing, convicted for a crime. The family are shamed of Maggie's actions, the murder of her new born child.

Whilst they drown their sorrows and mourn her soul at a local inn, there life is about to change.

Maggie is at the door of the inn.

She has survived her death. The mourning necklace is the rope marks left from that fateful day.

This book takes us to before that time, the background of Maggie and how she got to be in Edinburgh that day in 1724 and then what happened afterwards.

An excellent piece of historical fiction, from a time that I know little about and I learnt from this book, not only of Maggie but of Musselburgh and the lives that were led in the 18th Century.

Highly recommended and perfect for fans of Sara Sheridan novels.

The Mourning Necklace is a historical novel based on the true story of Margaret Dickson. You go for every single emotion reading this but ultimately it is a beautiful story with great writing. I had never anything about Margaret Dickinson before and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring a piece of history previously unknown to me. This is perfect for anybody who loves historical fiction.

he Mourning Necklace is a gripping and immersive historical novel based on the true story of Margaret Dickson, who survived being hanged in 1724 for concealing a pregnancy and murdering her baby.

The story is prefaced with a Public Notice, stating that:

" Notice is hereby given that, on the 2nd of September 1724, at the Grassmarket Gallows, Edinburgh, at eleven o'clock in the morning, there will be an Execution by Hanging of sundry criminals, for miscellaneous offenses, including, Murder, Coining, Robbery, and Concealment of a Pregnancy. [...]

"Any of the Hanged criminals whose bodies are unclaimed by next of kin will be taken by the Anatomists of Edinburgh for dissection at the Incorporation of Surgeons and Barbers."

The story opens with Maggie regaining consciousness after being hanged, lying in a coffin in a cart that awaits pick-up by the anatomists. She escapes from her coffin and, dressed only in a shroud and with a rope burn around her neck, she goes to the nearest pub where her family are drowning their sorrows. So begins an absolutely page-turning story of Maggie's life and imprisonment, both before and after the hanging.

Vivid and compelling

This is historical fiction of the highest order. To say it's immersive is an understatement. You can practically feel the wound on Maggie's neck and smell the stench of the streets. It's a story to lose yourself in. I was captivated from the opening pages and my suspension of disbelief was total.

Foster does an amazing job at fleshing out the little that's known about Margaret Dickson and building a rich and detailed story that brings the era and places to life. Maggie grew up in a poor family in Fisherrow, a fishing village in Scotland, where the family scrapes a living by selling fish and occasionally serving as intermediaries in smuggling operations. Maggie dreams of escaping this hard life, and when she is wooed by a man visiting the village, her head is turned and she marries him.

While much of the story is thrilling fiction rather than documented fact, like all great fiction The Mourning Necklace captures universal aspects of the human condition, in particular hardships experienced by women, illustrated through a unique story.

Oh my goodness, another GORGEOUS book by Kate Foster.
I genuinely don't know where to begin with this, because I loved everything about The Mourning Necklace. It had me hopeful, it had me sad, it had me angry, and everything in between. I've read Kate's other novels, which are truly just as beautiful, her style is so descriptive and emotive, and always written in a way that you fully understand the turmoil, the heartache, the determination, upset, and resilience of her main female characters.
The Mourning Necklace is hands down my favourite book of the year so far, and I'm already looking forward to whatever this brilliant author produces next for us to devour.

A story that starts in the middle... with life after hanging. It tells the tale of a Fisherrow fishwife, desperate to escape the life generations of her family have followed before her. It leads her to the streets of Edinburgh, back to Musselburgh via happiness, sadness and jail. It's an illustration of women's lives controlled by men and a woman's will to rail against this and make her own narrative. Based on a true story its a page-turner to the end. 5 star rating.

The Mourning Necklace is Kate Foster's retelling of Maggie Dickson's life before, during after the hanging she survived.


It opens strongly, and expectedly, in the middle of the story. This helps build curiosity about what had happened to poor Maggie and her family prior to this point...
But as Maggie recants the background to her tale to the reader, I struggled to stay interested.

Part of this is because I felt the relationship between the sisters felt inconsistent and there didn't seem to be any real resolution between any of their falling outs and the way it felt like Maggie thought she was better than everybody.
But her character does seem to grow by the end, and I found her more likeable... but not as charismatic as Mrs Rose.

There are some dark subjects throughout the story, but beware - the epilogue may just make you cry tears of joy and sadness 😭


Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan Mantle for providing me with an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Propulsive historical thriller
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Based on history, Foster’s latest novel is a propulsive thriller of empowerment and determination set in Georgian Scotland, the mostly true story of Maggie Dickson, hanged for the death of her newborn daughter, but who survives the hanging and, having faced death and beaten it, has nothing to lose. She’ll get her worth out of the world and woe to any standing in her way. This is feminist empowerment before there was feminism, a novel for readers who might not usually read historical fiction, led by a smart character whose plans are five, ten steps further forward than the reader’s. Of course the historic origin and setting are front and centre, but it’s the pace of the action, the confidence of the characters, and Foster’s robust writing that gets this high up there in historic fiction.

A real winner: four and a half stars

Some people become famous for their remarkable lives and others for their remarkable deaths. Maggie Dickson is one of the latter – although technically, it wasn’t really a death at all! Known as ‘Half-Hangit Maggie’, Maggie Dickson was sentenced to death in 1724 and hanged in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. As her family gather in a nearby tavern, they are shocked to look up and see Maggie herself standing at the door. Other than a rope burn around her neck, she seems unharmed by her ordeal and determined to make the most of the second chance she’s been given. But while everyone has questions for her – how did she survive and how did it feel to be so close to death? – there’s only one question that matters now to Maggie: will they try to hang her again?

Maggie Dickson was a real person and the story of her survival is a true one, still remembered three hundred years later; Maggie Dickson’s Pub in Edinburgh is named after her and she is often featured in Edinburgh walking tours. In The Mourning Necklace, Kate Foster builds a fictional story around this amazing woman and her near-death experience, using her imagination to fill in the gaps around the historical facts.

The year before she receives her death sentence, Maggie is living with her parents and younger sister, Joan, in Fisherrow, a small fishing community in Musselburgh, Scotland. The Dickson family have made their living from fish for generations, but Maggie doesn’t see a future for herself as a fishwife and wants something different out of life. Her marriage to Patrick Spencer, a perfume trader, seems to offer the opportunities she’s looking for, but when things don’t go according to plan, she takes control of her own fate and sets out alone for London. However, she gets no further than Kelso in the Scottish Borders before she is forced to make a series of decisions that will lead her back to Edinburgh and the gallows.

I enjoyed Kate Foster’s last novel, The King’s Witches, but I thought this one was much better and I connected with Maggie Dickson in a way that I didn’t with the women in the other book. There’s also a strong cast of supporting characters, including Joan, whose actions as a sister disappoint Maggie over and over again; Mrs Rose, who betrays Maggie for reasons of her own but at the same time is one of the few people to offer her friendship; and the wicked Dr McTavish, one of the book’s villains. All of these people have key parts to play in Maggie’s story, which is divided into three sections: the events leading up to her arrest, the hanging itself, and the path her life follows after she escapes death.

Maggie’s crime is something that will surprise a lot of modern readers as, although she unknowingly broke the laws of the time, today we wouldn’t really consider her to have committed a crime at all (at least not if Kate Foster’s interpretation is close to the truth). At first I assumed that as the death sentence was usually given as ‘hanged by the neck until dead’, it would be decided that Maggie had not served the sentence and would be hanged again. However, it wasn’t as straightforward as that because it seems that the sentence at that time was simply ‘hanged by the neck’ and the additional words were added later to avoid ambiguity in cases like hers.

This is a fascinating novel, with some great descriptions of 18th century Musselburgh, Edinburgh and Kelso. We also learn a little bit about the tea smuggling which was widespread down the east coast of Scotland and England due to high taxes on imported tea. I loved it and must find time to go back and read Kate Foster’s first book, The Maiden.

Kate Foster continues on a theme with The Mourning Necklace of shining a light on the real women behind court cases from historical Scotland. Foster is masterful at taking what are probably scant material sources and embellishing them into thoughtful, character-led novels that centre women’s experiences.

The Mourning Necklace explores the case of Maggie Dickson, who survived her own hanging in 1724.

Maggie was a Fisherrow fisherwoman, an incredibly tight-knit community set apart from other residents of Musselburgh and remembered for their incredibly hard work ethic and their distinctive dress.

But Maggie dreamed of a different life, and when a smuggler invites her to afternoon tea, the trajectory of her life will change dramatically.

As with all Foster’s novels, the historical world building and attention to detail is excellent. Maggie’s suffocation with the life laid out for her and her naive but determined character kept me hooked as her story unravels, full of twists and turns in what was a fascinating case.

As an aside - the Fisherrow Fishwives are so interesting - I’ve included a picture of them courtesy of the @JohnGrayCentre website, which gives a brilliant overview of them that’s full of their personality. I recommend you check it out too!

Thank you to @katefosterauthor and @panmacmillan for an advance #gifted copy of The Mourning Necklace, which is out now!

I will post on my instagram page @charlottereadshistory 10 July.

I absolutely loved the author's previous novel The Kings Witches and she is fast becoming one of my favourite writers in the historical fiction genre.
The Mourning Necklace is set in 1724, in the period before and after the hanging of Maggie Dickson for the murder of her new born child. Once again the author really captures the period and this is another beautifully written and atmospheric novel. Foster is a clever and original story teller and her writing flows seamlessly, I was completely immersed in Maggie's story and in eighteenth century Scotland. Maggie is a sympathetic and believable character and the the supporting characters are also brought to life so well. It's a twisty and unexpected read that I raced through over the course of 24 hours.
A stunning novel that I would highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Early 18th century Scotland was a hard place for a woman. Maggie was hangrd for the crime of concealing a pregnancy but to her family's surprise she rises from her coffin. Will she be hanged again for her 'crime' or walk free?
Based on the true events of Half-Hanged Maggie this book keeps you turning the pages to discover her story!

When Maggie Dickson stumbles into The Sheep’s Heid Inn, in Edinburgh in 1724, wearing little more than a thin smock, she gives her family the shock of their lives, for Maggie was hanged earlier that morning and as her family drown their sorrows so they begin to contemplate what happens next. Will Maggie be hanged twice for the same crime? As Maggie waits for the Edinburgh magistrates to debate the issue, she reflects on the events which brought her to her death.

Based on the true story of Half-Hangit Maggie, this beautifully imagined story gives us a fictional version of Maggie’s life, before, during, and after her hanging, from her rough upbringing with her family at Fisherrow Harbour in Musselburgh, to her early marriage, and subsequent escape to a border town, where the crime she is accused of takes place. Suffused with atmosphere Maggie's story resonates from the first page, time and place come so gloriously alive that it’s possible to walk in the footsteps of this strong woman, experiencing both the high, and incredible, low periods of her eventful life. The story flows so beautifully that I was totally invested in the story and couldn’t put the book away until I had discovered how this version of Maggie’s life played out. Gritty, and dark, in places, there is never a moment when the story doesn’t tug at the heart, from the harsh realities of life as a Fisherrow fishwife, to the damp and dismal condemned cells in Edinburgh’s notorious tollbooth, Maggie's life draws you in and doesn’t let go of your emotions until her fascinating story is told.

The Mourning Necklace is another masterclass in historical fiction from this talented writer who makes the history of ordinary folk come alive.

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster. Maggie wakes up after being hanged, quite alive and I loved the story of how she got there. Obviously there is a bad man involved and an accusation of murdering her own baby. I loved the Scottish setting and this is based on a true story which made me love it more. Everyone made horrible choices but I was rooting for her from the off.

Interesting to read how women could be hanged fr losing a child so soon after birth. This is essentially a well written historical novel with female heroes Not particularly my genre bit nevertheless engaging

I loved Kate Foster’s The Maiden and knew I would love this equally. This is a super read and once again the author has brought to life a real-life woman who lived - and died - in 1724 Edinburgh. Maggie Dickson was hanged in Grassmarket, Edinburgh for concealing a pregnancy. At that time it was against the law to conceal a pregnancy and if that concealed pregnancy resulted in the loss of life for the child, then the mother also lost her life. Maggie was hanged, but on the way to Musselburgh, she awoke in her coffin and went on to live another 40 years, gaining the name Half Hanged Maggie and there is a public house today on Grassmarket, Edinburgh that bears her name. This novel is a fictionalized account of Maggie’s life before and after her trial and execution. The young Maggie is in turns naïve, vulnerable and unbreakable. The emotions that she shows when faced with her own death - wonderful writing. The way she rebuilds and reclaims her own story is just gripping and although this is fiction, the period, in both setting and attitudes, is realistically portrayed. There are also some great characters in here, Mrs Rose for one. This is a tale not just of survival but also one of emotional growth, the epilogue had me in tears. A 5* read.