Philippa Stockley

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Genre Fiction

Set in late eighteenth-century England, Philippa Stockley’s American debut gives us a wickedly delightful but deadly serious battle of the wills and the sexes.

It begins with the arrival in London of the mysterious Mrs. Fox–on the run from a scandalous French past–who takes a new identity, determined to reinvent herself. She must pit her formidable skills for revenge against Earl Much, a British aristocrat with no less notorious a past and easily her match in sinfulness and intrigue. Between these two swirls a story featuring venal lords, wronged maidens, and reprobate clergymen, transporting readers from bawdy houses to country estates–places where the pleasures of the flesh are both high comedy and serious business.

A Factory of Cunning takes readers to the world immortal-ized in Dangerous Liaisons. And, like Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White, the vividly rendered setting and characters give the thrill of a fresh discovery.

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Genre Fiction

London, 1784. A stinking metropolis. One freezing April morning, a veiled woman steps off the boat from Holland. She is a former French aristocrat, on the run and in fear for her life.

But she is far from helpless. With the deceitful ease with which she has played so many roles before, she assumes an alias befitting one who is hunted: she becomes the alluring Mrs Fox. It takes Mrs Fox little time to insinuate herself into London society. Immoral and beautiful, she has always manipulated others for her own gain or amusement and begins to revel in this pastime once more. It is only when she encounters the degenerate predator Earl Much that she discovers an adversary whose sadistic viciousness is a match for her own. In a dark, quick world of liars and lechers, where infidelity and intellect cross swords with desire and death, the two begin a deadly game.

Murderous Liaisons is a sequel to the classic Les Liaisons dangereuses.

“What makes [Murderous Liaisons] such a great pleasure, apart from its uncanny ability to inhabit the past, is its glee in its own lack of moral heart . . . Virtue has never seemed so unappealing, nor quite as badly dressed”
- The Guardian

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Genre Fiction

Born worlds apart, Lily and Zenobia unite and fight to survive in murderous 17th century London, in a hard-edged, glittering novel.

In late seventeenth century London two women, one white, one black, stake everything to prevent a manipulative mogul destroying them.

Zenobia, born in poverty, grasps that her only hope of controlling her own life is to capitalise on her looks; Lily, brought to London on a sugar and slave ship as a toy , educated alongside her mistress but used by her master, lives as a kept woman. As their story weaves and folds through a murky and merciless London, both find themselves pitted against a ruthless man the world knows as John Crace.

London’s rich but festering possibilities as a rapidly-changing multinational city are breathtakingly painted, and pungent milieux ranging from plague pits to prisons to pastry kitchens and Pickled Herring Stairs – are vividly brought to life.

“A fascinating and debauched romp, moving with dream-like speed through an incredibly vivid seventeenth-century London. Surely the best-written bodice ripper ever published.”
- Andrew Martin

“Make no mistake, this is a sharp and quickly-paced story.... Black Lily is a deliciously satisfying read and, like the sweetmeats, on eco be gobbled up greedily.”
- Country Life

“Black Lily would clearly make a terrific TV series. Both women, lazily dismissed as “toys” by men, get their revenge. Stockley’s deftly plotted novel has a sting in the tale too. You have to go back to the first chapter to see how beautifully she’s set the whole thing up.”
- Evening Standard

“...an historical manual of sexual excess, perversion, manipulation and cruelty.. If you want a story to warm cold winter nights, look no further.”
- Crime Review

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Genre Fiction

Gilver Memmer is running short of time.

He is an enormously gifted painter, staggeringly good-looking, and profoundly self-involved, a cross between every woman’s dream and every woman’s worst nightmare.

Great though his creative gifts may be, they cannot save him from dissolution. No longer the London art scene’s wunderkind, he is getting by on the fumes of his former luck and sliding inexorably-though with a certain self-destructive elegance-toward oblivion.

Into Gilver’s life come two women: one who wants to push him into the grave he has been digging for himself and another who just might save him from it.

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Non-Fiction

The stories of sixteen London houses, most of them Georgian, rescued from oblivion and restored to a new beauty.

This is an informed, visual record of Georgian London houses that become rarer and more precious by the day. Clusters still exist in the East End of London: in Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Shadwell, Mile End. They are mostly Grade II-listed, and some are approaching their 300thbirthday.

Their owners, who come from all walks of life, are proud of the rare beauty of the houses they live in, and find that modern life easily coexists with Georgian beauty and practicality. Some of the houses in the book were saved from demolition thanks to vigorous campaigning and the work of the Spitalfields Trust, and Stockley describes the sensitive work and loving restoration that each owner has done to make them liveable again.

Each house serves as a graceful and important reminder to those who make things that won’t last or that cannot be recycled. These homes perfectly exemplify the current movement towards saving the planet through using and caring for natural renewable materials.

In each of these varied and memorable domestic interiors, time has immeasurably enriched and enhanced their beauty.   Restoration Storiesis a sensitive record and celebration of those enrichments and enhancements.

“If ever there was a publication that could convert people to the merits of reclamation in this disposable age, it is surely this.”
- Country Life

“An exquisite celebration of period patina to read in these drawing-in days.”
- Sunday Times

Author: Philippa Stockley

Genres: Non-Fiction

When writer and artist Philippa Stockley bought her tiny Georgian house at auction, it needed just about everything doing to it, but, as with most people these days, money was tight.

So, all the things she could tackle herself she did. And found that not only did this save money, it meant she could also control the pace of work and what materials were being used and help save the planet by saying no to needless plastics, aggressive chemicals and unnecessary waste.

Philippa shares projects from her own house to inspire you to create something in yours – whether replicating exactly or perhaps interpreting in your own way. The sixteen projects in this book, described and illustrated step by step, range from painting – panels, murals and floor coverings – through simple carpentry, to sewing and bottling, whether for yourself or as a gift. They vary in style from historically inspired to contemporary, and in complexity from beginner level to relatively advanced.

From this book you will learn how to create and make in your own home. As Philippa says, ‘making stuff is magical.’