Sin Eater: A Novel
Page 25
Something niggles. Another old body who took a list of foods. The Willow Tree. He collected the foods from Corliss’s Recitation and the Painted Pig’s. He could have added deer heart to the lists, mayhap Tilly Howe’s too, then delivered the parchments to the clerk in the royal kitchen with none the wiser. Except me. Tilly said in her Recitation that he had been a tutor in Katryna’s household. Mayhap he knew of Queen Bethany’s pregnancy and her ladies’ deception in keeping the baby alive. Or mayhap he read the secret years later in the tapestry. What I do know is that he staked his life’s work on Bethany’s reputation as a virgin and her continuation as queen. He must have placed hearts on the coffins to keep her from knowing the babe was alive.
The revelation sends mustard seeds shooting out my nose. The folk at the Eating mutter and sputter, but the old sin eater keeps on chewing her leek, even when I start to laugh. Nothing surprises her.
In the evening, the other sin eater and I sit on our stools by the hearth together, me hoping the closeness of our space will someday become a closeness of spirit. It almost works. If it doesn’t yet match the sorts of company I’ve had before, at least I’m not alone. And, with luck, we’ll have more company soon. I’ve drawn the sign for sanctuary on our door, the one I once scrubbed off a different door. I’m hoping folk who need safe haven will find it. And that word will spread. Mayhap even all the way to Brida and Paul.
At night as I crawl into bed, I decide I’ll name the old sin eater Bessie because it feels nice. Someday, mayhap, I’ll learn her real name. I curl up under an old rug that Bessie the sin eater found for me. Mouse, my cat, curls up too. My collar’s sitting in my box by the bed. As I fall asleep, I am May again. Just May.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank my agent Stephanie Cabot, as well as Ellen Goodson Coughtrey, Rebecca Gardner, Will Roberts, and everyone at the Gernert Company. Thanks to my editor, Trish Todd, along with Kaitlin Olson and the team at Atria Books. And to Araminta Whitley of the Soho Agency and Sam Humphreys of Mantle. I am grateful to my early readers Carol Doup Muller, Jay Dunn, Nikki Reisch, Silvère Boitel, and the inimitable Boomie Aglietti. To my writing group, Soren Kisiel, Jenny Hagel, Dava Krause, Julia Price Baron, and Michelle Walson: thanks for the beer and noticings.
In writing this novel I drew inspiration from a number of books, in particular Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman, The Queen’s Conjuror by Benjamin Woolley, and Rogues, Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars edited by Arthur F. Kinney.
This book was mostly written during my first child’s second year and my second child’s birth and first year. There would be no book without childcare. Thank you to everyone at the BBCDC, especially Kimberly Dalton. And to Natalie Mayne and Leah Gonsalves for bouncing on the ball. For hours. And there would be no childcare without my day jobs, so thank you to the fine people at the Neighborhood Playhouse and American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and to my (at this point) hundreds of former students for making those jobs pretty damn pleasant.
Thank you to the Salyers Hurand family for their unflagging support. My profound gratitude goes to my parents for valuing my voice and to my sisters for sharing theirs. Last and most to A, K, and G for being my folk.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Megan Campisi is a playwright and novelist. She has previously received the French Alfa and ADAMI prizes for her plays, which have been performed in France, China and the United States. In 2019 she received a Fulbright Specialist Award to give masterclasses at Tatbikat Theatre in Turkey. She holds a BA from Yale and a Diplôme (MFA) from L’Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. The Sin Eater is her first novel.
First published 2020 by Atria Books
an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
This electronic edition first in the UK 2020 by Mantle
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5290-1908-7
Copyright © Megan Campisi 2020
Cover design and illustration Mel Four,
Pan Macmillan Art Department.
The right of Megan Campisi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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