Kate Foster has done it again. After the success of 'Maiden' and 'The King's Witches', Foster writes about Margaret Dickson who is hanged in 18th century Scotland for murdering her baby. Once again, Foster uses real-life events and people as the basis for her fiction, and she creates an engrossing portrait of a woman trapped by her circumstances. Foster is an expert at writing stories about desperate women who have few if any options. Foster was longlisted for the women's prize for her first novel, 'Maiden' and 'The Mourning Necklace' equals that novel in its brilliant storytelling. 'The Mourning Necklace' is a definite recommendation.

This is another excellent novel based on real life events by this author. Kate Foster writes so well, evoking the period and the personalities of her characters. You are totally immersed in the sights and sounds of the locations. The King’s WItches was the first novel I read by this author and I loved it, The Mourning Necklace is possibly even better. I love historical fiction and this is up there with the best. Highly recommended

This was a fascinating read, especially as it was based on a true event. The story starts with the hanging in 1724 and then goes back to the previous year for events leading up to it. The story also tells what happened afterwards. The main character, Maggie, had a hard working life in her fishing village, living with her parents and sister. She had always done what was requested of her but longed for a different life. I liked the way that Maggie became a stronger person as her story progressed. She was determined to make a better life for herself. In the story, women are treated as inferior, not even being in charge of their own bodies. This is a story that will remain with me for a long time. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own,

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this eCopy to review

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster, is an engaging and vivid read, offering a fascinating glimpse into a harrowing yet inspiring true story.

The novel follows Maggie Dickson, a Scottish woman condemned to death in 1724 for allegedly murdering her newborn child. After being hanged, her family mourns her loss—only for Maggie to appear at their door, miraculously alive. What follows is a gripping battle for justice, survival, and identity as Maggie fights against a system that has already sentenced her once. Foster’s storytelling brings 18th-century Scotland to life, immersing me in its harsh realities and the resilience of its people.

What I really appreciated was the depth of the historical setting and the emotional weight of Maggie’s journey. Foster's writing is atmospheric, and her portrayal of Maggie’s strength made her a truly compelling character.

The Mourning Necklace is a thought-provoking read with a powerful message about injustice and survival.

I really enjoyed this book. Great characters and very well written. I was hooked from beginning to end. Really interesting to see that Maggie was based on a real character and event. I'll be in Edinburgh later this year and looking forward to going to the pub named after Maggie in Grassmarket. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy.

Loosely based on a true story it tells the story of Half hanged Maggie who was hanged but still survived. It's a book about the way women were treated in the 18th century and also to a degree still now. Maggie was a hardworking fishwife who was hung for hiding her pregnancy and accused of murder. She was a strong woman and really stood up to the men who would abuse her. It is a grim story but has moments of lightness and humour. An absorbing story.

The Mourning Necklace is a gripping and often moving historical novel set in 18th century Scotland. Maggie Dickson is a young woman with her sights on a better life than she can expect as a fish wife, but her attempts to achieve it will bring her to the brink of death.
I loved Maggie, and her powerful instinct for survival. Her story resonates in today’s world, where women’s rights and working conditions are still so often not what they should be.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this thought-provoking and skilfully written novel.

Maggie Dickson, a young fisherwoman, is hanged for the murder of her newborn baby. Yet, a few hours later, Maggie walks into a tavern. Apart from the rope burn around her neck, nothing shows the ordeal she’s just been through. Maggie is not a zombie, in case you wondered, this isn’t that kind of tale. She’s very much alive. But how did she get here? And now that she is very clearly not dead, will they hang her again?

The fishing community where Maggie grew up is a harsh place. Day in day out, full of blood and guts, hands all red and raw, and not making nearly enough money to move ahead in life. Maggie can see what this life has done for her mother and the other women in the community, and she longs for something very different. She wants to travel to London, make a life for herself there, move up the social ladder. So when she meets Patrick Spencer, who sweeps her off her naive little feet, Maggie thinks a change is finally going to come. She couldn’t possibly be more wrong.

‘The Mourning Necklace‘ is inspired by the true story of Maggie Dickson, who became something of a local celebrity in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was given the nickname “Half Hangit” Maggie by the locals. Unsurprisingly, had it not been for the hanging-gone-wrong, nobody would have given two hoots about her as up until that point she had lived quite the unremarkable life. Nobody knows what really went wrong (right?) on Hanging Day, but I felt Kate Foster gave it a truly plausible explanation.

Did Maggie really murder her baby? Did she deserve what came next? Was her sentencing warranted? I have my own opinions, as I’m sure you will have too once you’ve read this story. And like me, you will probably look her up on the internet once you’re done reading and you too will see that the author has brought this rather dark tale to life perfectly.

Kate Foster has quickly become one of my favourite historical fiction authors. I can’t truthfully say that ‘The Mourning Necklace‘ was my favourite novel by her, but I’m putting the blame with myself rather than the book. And in hindsight, while writing this review, it occurred to me I enjoyed it more than I thought I was while reading it. If that makes sense. ‘The Mourning Necklace‘ is a story of survival, of mothers and women, featuring a most memorable character, and tackling topics that went slightly deeper than I at first expected.

This is a wonderul historical fiction novel. There is so much within the novel, the descriptions of Musselburgh, Kelso and Edinburgh, the intruiguing plot, lots to say about women, bodily autonomy, relationships and best of all for me was the vivid, flawed, yet loveable main character; Maggie Dickson.

The novel grabs you right from the first sentence and you have no choice but to read at pace to find out what has happened. The emptions are palpable throughout and although the author starts by telling us that Maggie was found guilty of killing her baby and hanged, you are compelled to find out how she got there.

I really enjoyed the feminist perspective we can see as chinks of light that still stayed true to the period of the book and makes us consider why we're still havent to fight misogynist views now, when we should have 100s of years of improvements behind us.

I nearly forgot a genuine gem within the book and its the use of the word Mibbie. Not Maybe. It genuinely alters the flow and makes the English feel much more Scottish, because the rhythm is just so different. I absolutely loved this decision.

A wonderful novel, that is gripping, touching and stirring.

The Mourning Necklace gives us a fictional background to a very real woman in the 1700s, Half-Hanged Maggie. Sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of her baby, we follow Maggie Dickson's tale before the hanging and after the hanging and gently unravel the mystery as to what exactly happened to get her there in the first place.

I loved how rich the prose is in The Mourning Necklace. I loved how the plot was so engaging. And I loved how historically correct the story was. My only gripe with this was the character of Maggie herself. She is presented as an incredibly forgiving person - moreso than is believable, and this took me a little out of the book towards the end.

Nevertheless, Kate Foster is rapidly becoming one of my top historical fiction writers and I can't wait for her next book. Highly recommend!

The was my first book by this author and loved it! Hooked on every page and loved the fact it’s based on true events. Never boring despite it being historical fiction, very well written, dark and atmospheric

‘Half-Hanged Maggie’ holds the promise of a tale that must be told – and it is related so well by Kate Foster. Based on a true story from the 1720s, when it was illegal to hide a pregnancy, the author captures the atmosphere and challenges of life in rural Scotland. The deft descriptions and historical facts embrace compelling and marvellous characters and events. Foster’s empathetic handling of the survival skills needed by women is a salutary tapestry to progress, hard-earned and hard-won by being strong, loyal and determined.

Another banger of a hit from Kate Foster. Was hooked on every page, tough to read at times, but atmospheric and gripping.

This is the third Kate Foster historical novel of which I have now read two. Her last book “The King’s Witches” (2024) impressed with its late 16th Century setting, its sense of paranoia over witchcraft, its three first-person narratives, including the real-life Princess Anna of Denmark, betrothed to James VI of Scotland, and its sheer readability.
Her latest novel feels less ambitious in scope featuring one character’s first-person account set in Scotland, mainly in the 1720s. This is the tale of Maggie Dickson, who I didn’t know until the Historical Note at the end was a real person, still well known in the Edinburgh area who fell foul of a law which existed then both in Scotland and England which prohibited the concealment of a pregnancy.
We begin this novel at what seems like the end on the occasion of her hanging but miraculously she comes to in her coffin, having already been declared dead, and makes her entrance at the own wake. Celebrated as “Half-Hanged Maggie” this is the story of events leading up to and after the grisly event.
The facts are real but the author develops a highly readable fiction around these, creating a family and new characters who lead to her downfall or help and support her with coming to terms with living with the reputation of having cheated death whilst still bearing the branding of the rope burns around her neck.
Around this are issues regarding what it was to be a working-class woman at this time, her rights, what was expected of her and the options open to her. Maggie, from the fishing village of Fisherrow, Musselburgh from generations of those who catch, gut and sell fish yearns for a different existence in London and when a man arrives in the village who seems to offer such possibilities she is soon taken in.
Like all the best historical fiction the past of Maggie’s life resonates with our own centuries later. The law she was convicted by may be long gone but some of the issues she faces still ring very true.
So, although the focus is very much narrowed down from her previous novel of royalty and witchcraft I found this equally enjoyable with Kate Foster proving to be a thought-provoking story-teller who can convincingly flesh out real characters and incidents from the past.

The Mourning Necklace is published by Mantle, an imprint of Pan Macmillan on 29th May 2025. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

The book is based on the real story of Half Hanged Maggie that became folklore in Scotland. The emphasis of it is life of women in the eighteenth century. None of women in the book had easy life because of poverty but all of them were able slowly to transform themselves to the better version of themselves, stronger and able to survive and support others living in the world where women had not many rights.

Our journey with Maggie Dickson starts in 1724. Not an easy time to be a woman, especially for those who aren’t blessed to be born to wealth. Maggie falls fowl to a ludicrous law of the time. A law which controls women and their bodies, and results in the loss of further life. Maggie miraculously survives her sentence.

The story takes a meandering journey through a tumultuous time in Maggie’s life. It is quite the rollercoaster for her, and the reader too.
The characterisation is deep and rich, they were all very much alive to me. Fisherrow and the back streets of Edinburgh provide an immersive backdrop, showing the murkiness of the time in all of its grubby glory.

When the name of the book is mentioned within the story, it’s meaning is very poignant and moving.

The epilogue is short, but sweet, and incredibly touching. It brought a tear to my eye. It was while reading the author’s historical note, that I discovered Maggie is a historical figure, not a fictional one. This made me feel more emotional, now knowing a little of all that she, and others, endured.

Kate Foster tells the most beautiful stories, through wonderful writing, with a distinct feminist voice. Easily 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really like how Kate Foster takes real women who are often overlooked by history and gives them their own story.

The Mourning Necklace follows Maggie who survives being hanged (I can’t believe that actually happened!)

This book was well written and incredibly depressing (as you’d imagine from this sort of subject matter).

I did enjoy Foster’s The Maiden more (I thought it was excellent) however this is still a great historical fiction book giving a story to a woman may have otherwise been forgotten.

I was so moved, both by Maggie's storyline and all she goes through but also by learning this is based on a real life event. The laws made surrounding women and pregnancy in the past seem scarily close to becoming a reality again with people choosing theology and morality arguments over science and autonomy.
The way the storyline is crafted is so beguiling and you feel instantly in the thick of the action and the horror that Maggie is living. When you see her story is not quite as it seems, how many times she is betrayed and put in harm's way through no fault of her own, it is haunting. The depth of the characters is charming and the writing just beautiful. The Mourning Necklace is a stunning book, ripe for a TV or film adaptation.

This novel is based on the true story of Scottish Maggie Dickson, a woman hanged in Edinburgh in 1794 for concealment of pregnancy. However, she survived the hanging and Morton begins her tale at this point, going back to the events leading to the hanging. Maggie is a strong young woman who works as a a gutter of fish and who dreams of going to London to better her life but is faced with adversity in a society dominated by men and their laws which do not favour women. She suffers betrayal by both those close to her and acquaintances, being dealt several blows but is determined to overcome the obstacles and harshness of life that get in her way. She is portrayed as a feminist of her time.
This is a compelling and emotional novel thanks to Morton’s excellent story telling skills. Highly recommended.
Thank you to the publishers for the ARC.

Absolutely superb. Kate Foster cannot put a foot wrong in this genre. She finds the most fascinating stories and knows instinctively how to bring them to life through her characters. I finished this a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it. Wonderful.