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Bog Queen
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The story of an anthropologist's monumental discovery and the clash of civilizations it sets off over the fate of the land that holds us
When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. But this body is not like any she has ever seen: Although its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved.
Soon Agnes is drawn into a mystery from the distant past, called to understand and avenge the death of an Iron Age woman more like her than she knows. Along the way she must contend with peat-cutters who want to profit from the bog and activists who demand that the land be left undisturbed. Then there is the moss itself: a complex repository of artifacts and remains with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes faces the deep history of what she has unearthed, she is also forced to question what she thought she knew about her talent, her self-reliance, and her place in the world.
Flashing between the uncertainty of post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era, Bog Queen brims with contemporary urgency and ancient wisdom as it connects two young women learning to harness their strange strengths in a mysterious and complex landscape.
When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. But this body is not like any she has ever seen: Although its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved.
Soon Agnes is drawn into a mystery from the distant past, called to understand and avenge the death of an Iron Age woman more like her than she knows. Along the way she must contend with peat-cutters who want to profit from the bog and activists who demand that the land be left undisturbed. Then there is the moss itself: a complex repository of artifacts and remains with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes faces the deep history of what she has unearthed, she is also forced to question what she thought she knew about her talent, her self-reliance, and her place in the world.
Flashing between the uncertainty of post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era, Bog Queen brims with contemporary urgency and ancient wisdom as it connects two young women learning to harness their strange strengths in a mysterious and complex landscape.
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 14, 2025
30 people are currently reading
10128 people want to read
About the author
Anna North
12 books756 followersAnna North is a novelist and journalist. She is the author of the novels Bog Queen (October 2025), Outlawed (a New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick), The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, and America Pacifica. She has been a writer and editor at Jezebel, BuzzFeed, and the New York Times, and is now a senior correspondent at Vox.
Follow her on Bluesky or Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 1, 2025
Budding forensic anthropologist Agnes is nearing the end of a research project in England. She’s weighing up her future options, reluctant to return home to America but not confident she can secure a permanent footing elsewhere. The discovery of an eerily well-preserved body, in a bog close to Ludlow in Shropshire, presents an unexpected opportunity. Agnes is called in to aid in its identification. At first it seems the body is that of a woman missing for decades who may or may not have been murdered. But Agnes rapidly challenges that assumption, believing the body to date much further back in time. As Agnes becomes part of a wider investigation into the body’s origins and cause of death, Anna North’s narrative moves backwards and forwards in time. She primarily alternates between a distanced representation of Agnes’s experiences and a more intimate first-person account by the long-dead woman who once inhabited this newly-uncovered body.
The woman buried in the bog was a druid priest during the later stages of the Iron Age - but well before Boudicca’s time. She travelled between nearby communities providing counsel and performing ceremonial rites. As North’s story unfolds, she parallels the druid’s and Agnes’s experiences. The women are both portrayed as socially awkward, isolated and grappling with difficult family dynamics. Neither find diplomacy and negotiation easy. Both are living through periods of change, confronted by forces beyond their control. The Iron Age woman is invited to meet with a ruler based in Camulodunon (present-day Colchester); a Briton allied with encroaching Roman interests. As a result of which she’s caught between warring tribes and competing ambitions – those who want nothing to do with the Romans and those who do. Agnes meanwhile is living in an England in the throes of Brexit. Agnes also comes into contact with opposing interest groups: environmentalists concerned with the destructive impact of digging on endangered land and companies seeking to profit from peat harvesting.
Into this mix, North inserts a third perspective, that of the sphagnum moss essential to the formation of the wetlands which provide a unique habitat for a diverse range of species. The moss operates as a collective chorus, a networked organism that’s witnessed centuries of human activity, including those that threaten its continued existence. Its gnomic, lyrical pronouncements reminded me of Seamus Heaney’s memorable poem Bog Queen – which may well be an inspiration. Here it highlights historical continuities as well as issues around conservation, climate change and devastating corporate practices – the urgent need to ban the use of peat, to preserve and restore wetlands have been significant talking points in the UK in recent years. Like her earlier work, North’s intent on disrupting genre boundaries mixing the oral/poetic and eco-fictional with traditional historical fiction wrapped up with a play on the conventional murder mystery. All of which combines to form a broader cultural and political critique.
North is a skilled, fluid storyteller. I liked her careful reworking of events surrounding the discovery of Europe’s bog people. Her plot intersects with aspects of the real-life unearthing of Cheshire’s so-called Lindow Man which became entangled with an inquiry into the disappearance of Malika de Fernandez – prompting a spontaneous confession by her killer. But I wasn’t entirely taken with Agnes’s character, she fell a bit flat for me, her backstory didn’t mesh well with her forensic investigations. There was a tendency to fall back on stereotypes at times – why are environmental activists so often portrayed as inherently belligerent and spiky? I found the druid’s sections far more compelling and atmospheric – although I wish the timeline and historical context had been a bit less hazy. North raises some fascinating ideas around our duty towards the past, historical research versus the ethics of disturbing the dead. She also gestures towards intriguing tensions between archaeology and conservationists - which I’d liked to have seen explored in more detail. I was also uncertain about elements of the connections being traced between the Iron Age woman and Agnes’s circumstances. Opposition to the Iron Age woman’s support for closer links to Rome was suggestive of Brexit and resistance to sustaining ties to Europe. If that connection was intentional then North’s arguments seem a bit muddled - there’s a not-insignificant asymmetry between modern-day ties to Europe and an Iron Age in which Rome was essentially a colonising, imperial force. But, although this wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, I still enjoyed it, it was immersive, innovative, often entertaining, frequently informative.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Weidenfeld and Nicholson for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
The woman buried in the bog was a druid priest during the later stages of the Iron Age - but well before Boudicca’s time. She travelled between nearby communities providing counsel and performing ceremonial rites. As North’s story unfolds, she parallels the druid’s and Agnes’s experiences. The women are both portrayed as socially awkward, isolated and grappling with difficult family dynamics. Neither find diplomacy and negotiation easy. Both are living through periods of change, confronted by forces beyond their control. The Iron Age woman is invited to meet with a ruler based in Camulodunon (present-day Colchester); a Briton allied with encroaching Roman interests. As a result of which she’s caught between warring tribes and competing ambitions – those who want nothing to do with the Romans and those who do. Agnes meanwhile is living in an England in the throes of Brexit. Agnes also comes into contact with opposing interest groups: environmentalists concerned with the destructive impact of digging on endangered land and companies seeking to profit from peat harvesting.
Into this mix, North inserts a third perspective, that of the sphagnum moss essential to the formation of the wetlands which provide a unique habitat for a diverse range of species. The moss operates as a collective chorus, a networked organism that’s witnessed centuries of human activity, including those that threaten its continued existence. Its gnomic, lyrical pronouncements reminded me of Seamus Heaney’s memorable poem Bog Queen – which may well be an inspiration. Here it highlights historical continuities as well as issues around conservation, climate change and devastating corporate practices – the urgent need to ban the use of peat, to preserve and restore wetlands have been significant talking points in the UK in recent years. Like her earlier work, North’s intent on disrupting genre boundaries mixing the oral/poetic and eco-fictional with traditional historical fiction wrapped up with a play on the conventional murder mystery. All of which combines to form a broader cultural and political critique.
North is a skilled, fluid storyteller. I liked her careful reworking of events surrounding the discovery of Europe’s bog people. Her plot intersects with aspects of the real-life unearthing of Cheshire’s so-called Lindow Man which became entangled with an inquiry into the disappearance of Malika de Fernandez – prompting a spontaneous confession by her killer. But I wasn’t entirely taken with Agnes’s character, she fell a bit flat for me, her backstory didn’t mesh well with her forensic investigations. There was a tendency to fall back on stereotypes at times – why are environmental activists so often portrayed as inherently belligerent and spiky? I found the druid’s sections far more compelling and atmospheric – although I wish the timeline and historical context had been a bit less hazy. North raises some fascinating ideas around our duty towards the past, historical research versus the ethics of disturbing the dead. She also gestures towards intriguing tensions between archaeology and conservationists - which I’d liked to have seen explored in more detail. I was also uncertain about elements of the connections being traced between the Iron Age woman and Agnes’s circumstances. Opposition to the Iron Age woman’s support for closer links to Rome was suggestive of Brexit and resistance to sustaining ties to Europe. If that connection was intentional then North’s arguments seem a bit muddled - there’s a not-insignificant asymmetry between modern-day ties to Europe and an Iron Age in which Rome was essentially a colonising, imperial force. But, although this wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, I still enjoyed it, it was immersive, innovative, often entertaining, frequently informative.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Weidenfeld and Nicholson for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
August 18, 2025
Audiobook review coming soon! Thank you, Libro FM for the ALC
Title/Author: Bog Queen by Anna North
Format Read: ALC from Libro FM
Pub date: October 14th, 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Page Count: 288
Affiliate Link: Format Read: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978163557...
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
- Bog bodies- a naturally preserved human corpse found in a peat bog, often dating back thousands of years.
- Historical fiction- post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era
- Dual timelines
- light romance
- Science/Environmental
__
Minor complaints:
- This wasn't exactly what I was expecting/anticipating-I thought maybe there would be more mystery/suspense
- I was entertained but it was pretty slow
- I felt like I needed more from the main character
Final recommendation: Thank you, Libro FM for the advanced listening copy. I think I might have enjoyed and ultimately finished this book because I listened to the audiobook. I might have had a harder time staying invested if I was reading the physical book. I thought the beginning was stronger than the rest of the book--really engaging set-up. I liked the historical narrative more than the present-day one with Agnes.
I thought the POV from the peat moss was so clever--I found myself anticipating those interludes. I'm kind of a junky for bog body stories but most of the ones I have read were horror or dark & disturbing so this one left me wanting more from the mystery--some intricately plotted twists or turns--maybe something sinister? But it fell just shy of that expectation. Readers who love historical fiction and forensic science should be pleased with this one, it's well written, it just wasn't quite what I was looking for
Comps: Greater Sins by Gabrielle Griffiths, Mere by Danielle Giles
Title/Author: Bog Queen by Anna North
Format Read: ALC from Libro FM
Pub date: October 14th, 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Page Count: 288
Affiliate Link: Format Read: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978163557...
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
- Bog bodies- a naturally preserved human corpse found in a peat bog, often dating back thousands of years.
- Historical fiction- post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era
- Dual timelines
- light romance
- Science/Environmental
__
Minor complaints:
- This wasn't exactly what I was expecting/anticipating-I thought maybe there would be more mystery/suspense
- I was entertained but it was pretty slow
- I felt like I needed more from the main character
Final recommendation: Thank you, Libro FM for the advanced listening copy. I think I might have enjoyed and ultimately finished this book because I listened to the audiobook. I might have had a harder time staying invested if I was reading the physical book. I thought the beginning was stronger than the rest of the book--really engaging set-up. I liked the historical narrative more than the present-day one with Agnes.
I thought the POV from the peat moss was so clever--I found myself anticipating those interludes. I'm kind of a junky for bog body stories but most of the ones I have read were horror or dark & disturbing so this one left me wanting more from the mystery--some intricately plotted twists or turns--maybe something sinister? But it fell just shy of that expectation. Readers who love historical fiction and forensic science should be pleased with this one, it's well written, it just wasn't quite what I was looking for
Comps: Greater Sins by Gabrielle Griffiths, Mere by Danielle Giles
June 24, 2025
BOG QUEEN is a delicately wrought, quietly moving story of progress and preservation—cultural, historical, and ecological. The narrative weaves past and present in a rich tapestry that depicts two intelligent women trying to see across time, one forward and one backward.
Agnes is a forensic anthropologist called to help with evaluating a body recovered from the bog. At first, it’s assumed to be the body of a woman who went missing fifty years ago, but Agnes realizes the woman is far older: her body has been mummified by the moss and peat all this time. Agnes’s story is interwoven with the story of a young druid, trying to lead her people through a period of change brought on by the arrival of the Romans to what is now the northern part of England. And it’s interspersed with the perspective of the moss colony itself, which has endured so many centuries of ecological change.
It’s a story that combines mystery, history, and a thoughtful meditation on how we value the world and its constituent stories, so many lost inevitably to time. I really enjoyed this. Thank you to the publisher for a free ARC through NetGalley.
Agnes is a forensic anthropologist called to help with evaluating a body recovered from the bog. At first, it’s assumed to be the body of a woman who went missing fifty years ago, but Agnes realizes the woman is far older: her body has been mummified by the moss and peat all this time. Agnes’s story is interwoven with the story of a young druid, trying to lead her people through a period of change brought on by the arrival of the Romans to what is now the northern part of England. And it’s interspersed with the perspective of the moss colony itself, which has endured so many centuries of ecological change.
It’s a story that combines mystery, history, and a thoughtful meditation on how we value the world and its constituent stories, so many lost inevitably to time. I really enjoyed this. Thank you to the publisher for a free ARC through NetGalley.
they-told-me-to-read-it
August 3, 2025
June 18, 2025
“A colony of moss does not experience emotions like fondness or intimacy, but if it did, it might say this: We held her. We kept her safe under the surface, in our bath of earth, for many times her lifespan. That we give her up now may seem to be purely random, an accident of excavation. In fact, the hour of her service is at hand.”
📚
After a bog body is unearthed in northwest England, American forensic anthropologist Agnes is called in to investigate. Unlike any body she’s examined before, this one is almost entirely preserved, and the bones indicate it was buried during the Iron Age, more than two thousand years ago. What was the woman’s story, how did she die, and how did she come to be entombed beneath the peat?
To solve this ancient mystery, Agnes must excavate the bog and exhume whatever artifacts remain. The stakes are sky-high, as standing in her way are destructive, corporate peat-cutters and a group of preservationist activists. Can Agnes find her place in the world, prove her talent and self-reliance, and bring to light the land’s dark stories before it’s too late?
Moving between timelines and points of view, Bog Queen is a beautiful and devastating tale that gradually unfurls primeval secrets and ageless struggles through the past (a European Celtic druidic order at the start of the Roman era), the present (England in April–May 2018), and the unique, timeless vantage point of a moss colony. The narrative imparts an omnipresent sense of urgency, juxtaposing the heartless essence of capitalist destruction, the desperate fight of preservationism, the enduring perils of politics, and the all-seeing wisdom of nature. These elements seamlessly combine to form a storyline pulsing with weight and realism, imparted via two women attempting to navigate their lives and utilize their skills in fraught and mysterious environments.
Gorgeous writing, concise chapters, and a cast of vulnerable, believable characters make for an arresting and binge-worthy account that transcends time. The gravity of each woman’s challenges feels relatable and universal. How does one balance personal struggle and aspiration amid larger issues — warring civilizations, clashing communities, dying planets — and can a contemporary society truly understand or avenge a woman who lived so long ago?
Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for sharing a physical ARC of this incredible forthcoming novel (won via Goodreads giveaway), which releases on October 14, 2025. It’s a quietly powerful, deeply resonant reading experience that utterly enraptured this reader.
📚
After a bog body is unearthed in northwest England, American forensic anthropologist Agnes is called in to investigate. Unlike any body she’s examined before, this one is almost entirely preserved, and the bones indicate it was buried during the Iron Age, more than two thousand years ago. What was the woman’s story, how did she die, and how did she come to be entombed beneath the peat?
To solve this ancient mystery, Agnes must excavate the bog and exhume whatever artifacts remain. The stakes are sky-high, as standing in her way are destructive, corporate peat-cutters and a group of preservationist activists. Can Agnes find her place in the world, prove her talent and self-reliance, and bring to light the land’s dark stories before it’s too late?
Moving between timelines and points of view, Bog Queen is a beautiful and devastating tale that gradually unfurls primeval secrets and ageless struggles through the past (a European Celtic druidic order at the start of the Roman era), the present (England in April–May 2018), and the unique, timeless vantage point of a moss colony. The narrative imparts an omnipresent sense of urgency, juxtaposing the heartless essence of capitalist destruction, the desperate fight of preservationism, the enduring perils of politics, and the all-seeing wisdom of nature. These elements seamlessly combine to form a storyline pulsing with weight and realism, imparted via two women attempting to navigate their lives and utilize their skills in fraught and mysterious environments.
Gorgeous writing, concise chapters, and a cast of vulnerable, believable characters make for an arresting and binge-worthy account that transcends time. The gravity of each woman’s challenges feels relatable and universal. How does one balance personal struggle and aspiration amid larger issues — warring civilizations, clashing communities, dying planets — and can a contemporary society truly understand or avenge a woman who lived so long ago?
Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for sharing a physical ARC of this incredible forthcoming novel (won via Goodreads giveaway), which releases on October 14, 2025. It’s a quietly powerful, deeply resonant reading experience that utterly enraptured this reader.
May 16, 2025
Beautiful and wise.
August 17, 2025
I’ve read a few bog woman books within the last few years that were either horror or horror adjacent. By the time I started listening to Bog Queen, I’d either forgotten the synopsis, or else I hadn’t really read it at all, as I fully expected a creepy story here. Instead, it was a beautiful tale of two women who pushed the boundaries of societal expectations, centuries apart from each other.
Had I entered into this with proper expectations, I may have enjoyed it more. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for, but Anna North‘s lush prose sang to my poet heart. I also found all of the forensic anthropology details deeply fascinating, so much so that I’m ready to go back to school to earn a degree in that field. (My desire to go back to school for whatever fixation I’m currently stuck on is one that surfaces frequently, so don‘t get your heart set on me following through with this, haha.)
3.5 stars
I am immensely grateful to Libro.fm and Bloomsbury Publishing for my copy. All opinions are my own.
Had I entered into this with proper expectations, I may have enjoyed it more. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for, but Anna North‘s lush prose sang to my poet heart. I also found all of the forensic anthropology details deeply fascinating, so much so that I’m ready to go back to school to earn a degree in that field. (My desire to go back to school for whatever fixation I’m currently stuck on is one that surfaces frequently, so don‘t get your heart set on me following through with this, haha.)
3.5 stars
I am immensely grateful to Libro.fm and Bloomsbury Publishing for my copy. All opinions are my own.
May 15, 2025
4 stars.
First, thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and Goodreads for the free ARC and opportunity to read this book!
I was really impressed with this book and hope it gets a lot of attention when it releases! Part mystery, party historical fiction, part eco-lit, Anna North is extremely effective in her effortless blending of genre and style here. The story is presented in a dual narrative, switching between an ancient druid woman's story in roughly 50 BCE and present day forensic anthropologist who has unearthed the body of the druid, which has been preserved in a bog.
The discovery is used as a touchstone to bring multiple parties together and is the main source of conflict. You have the pro-environment protesters who are fighting to protect the bog alongside the competing corporate interest who are extracting the peat and causing ecological destruction in the area. I am a sucker for books that weave in environmental issues, particularly without being heavy-handed, and the commentary in this book is insightful and engaging.
I highly recommend Bog Queen and am excited for what Anna North does next.
First, thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and Goodreads for the free ARC and opportunity to read this book!
I was really impressed with this book and hope it gets a lot of attention when it releases! Part mystery, party historical fiction, part eco-lit, Anna North is extremely effective in her effortless blending of genre and style here. The story is presented in a dual narrative, switching between an ancient druid woman's story in roughly 50 BCE and present day forensic anthropologist who has unearthed the body of the druid, which has been preserved in a bog.
The discovery is used as a touchstone to bring multiple parties together and is the main source of conflict. You have the pro-environment protesters who are fighting to protect the bog alongside the competing corporate interest who are extracting the peat and causing ecological destruction in the area. I am a sucker for books that weave in environmental issues, particularly without being heavy-handed, and the commentary in this book is insightful and engaging.
I highly recommend Bog Queen and am excited for what Anna North does next.
June 2, 2025
In the northwest of England, a body is uncovered in a peat bog. Work is halted while an expert, an American forensic pathologist, is called in to examine the body to help determine how old the body is and how she died. The woman’s body is remarkably well-preserved, and Agnes becomes drawn into her story and the secrets of her life and death contained in her remains. While the experts search for answers, controversy simmers in the town over the future of the peat bog. Environmentalists want the bog left intact to regenerate, while the harvesting company wants to dig it up. Meanwhile, the bog quietly sits and awaits its fate, as it has done for centuries.
Bog Queen alternates between the England of two vastly different times – 2018 and 2000 years previous to the early days of the Roman occupation of England. In 2018, Agnes, intelligent but socially awkward and naïve, struggles to establish an independent life and career in the north of England. The possibility of neurodivergence is hinted at, but never explicitly stated. She desperately wants to be successful on her own terms and not have to return to her father’s house. Meanwhile the reader learns about the Bog Queen, also struggling to find her power and lead her people with confidence, while the Romans encroach on their lands and other aspiring leaders scheme and plot to gain power.
Interestingly, the peat bog is a character all its own – quietly bearing witness to the petty human triumphs and tragedies playing out around it. It bears a ceremonial and religious significance to the druids and reverently holds the body of the Bog Queen until she is discovered. The story of the peat bog is the story of our planet and all its wild green spaces, awaiting their fate at our hands.
Bog Queen alternates between the England of two vastly different times – 2018 and 2000 years previous to the early days of the Roman occupation of England. In 2018, Agnes, intelligent but socially awkward and naïve, struggles to establish an independent life and career in the north of England. The possibility of neurodivergence is hinted at, but never explicitly stated. She desperately wants to be successful on her own terms and not have to return to her father’s house. Meanwhile the reader learns about the Bog Queen, also struggling to find her power and lead her people with confidence, while the Romans encroach on their lands and other aspiring leaders scheme and plot to gain power.
Interestingly, the peat bog is a character all its own – quietly bearing witness to the petty human triumphs and tragedies playing out around it. It bears a ceremonial and religious significance to the druids and reverently holds the body of the Bog Queen until she is discovered. The story of the peat bog is the story of our planet and all its wild green spaces, awaiting their fate at our hands.
August 12, 2025
I love bogs, and bog bodies. I love history, and archaeology and anthropology where they concern ancient, difficult-to-know histories. I love women's stories, especially. I was so hopeful that I would love this book because it has all of these things, but I think, unfortunately, this book would have been much more fun if I didn't know anything about any of those topics.
Anna North gets quite a few things wrong, and her depiction of ancient Britain is heavily dependent on her own speculation and on the fact that she just made a bunch of stuff up. I thought the split perspective was interesting at first because it gave readers a chance to see a potential perspective for this fictional bog body, and I thought giving the moss its own POV chapters was also unique, but it all felt rather pointless and incredibly boring about halfway through. Not to mention how frustrating it was to read any of the "bog queen's" chapters and wonder, "Now why did North write THAT?"
This book was fine, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who actually knows anything about bogs and bog bodies, or to any anthropologists or anyone considering becoming an anthropologist, unless they're deliberately looking for a pretty bad depiction of anthropology. I would also never call this "historical fiction." If I could offer one piece of advice to the publishers, it would be this: change how you're marketing the book. Call it YA. Scrap the "historical fiction" genre tag. Then you're home free.
Anna North gets quite a few things wrong, and her depiction of ancient Britain is heavily dependent on her own speculation and on the fact that she just made a bunch of stuff up. I thought the split perspective was interesting at first because it gave readers a chance to see a potential perspective for this fictional bog body, and I thought giving the moss its own POV chapters was also unique, but it all felt rather pointless and incredibly boring about halfway through. Not to mention how frustrating it was to read any of the "bog queen's" chapters and wonder, "Now why did North write THAT?"
This book was fine, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who actually knows anything about bogs and bog bodies, or to any anthropologists or anyone considering becoming an anthropologist, unless they're deliberately looking for a pretty bad depiction of anthropology. I would also never call this "historical fiction." If I could offer one piece of advice to the publishers, it would be this: change how you're marketing the book. Call it YA. Scrap the "historical fiction" genre tag. Then you're home free.
Read
June 18, 2025Anna North comes up with some unique, but fun, tales. There are three voices telling her latest story - In 2018, Agnes, a forensic scientist, has a special gift for studying and analyzing dead bodies to try and determine who they were and what happened to end their life. Some 2000 years ago, a young woman has become a Druid - a spiritual leader of her people living on the edge of a bog in what is now England. The third voice is the moss of the bog - observing life long before and during the Druid's and Agnes' lives. A well-preserved female body has been found in the bog. It's presumed to be the body of a woman killed by her husband in the 1960s. Agnes is flown in from the states to use her expertise to positively identify the body. The druid's and Agnes' stories, involving conflicts between the moss, environmentalists, archeologists, and land developers evolve and converge. Cool and nuanced.
August 18, 2025
4 1/2 stars
A dual timeline of unusual young women trying to find their way through power struggles and changing times. In Northern Britain the body of a woman is unearthed, thought to be that of a murder victim buried in 1961. Agnes, a forensic bone specialist, is brought in to date and identify the body that ends up dating back all the way to the Roman Age. Agnes is more comfortable with the dead than with social situations with the living but she does her best to solve the mystery even as she gets caught up in a battle between those preserving the peat moss bog and developers who want to build on it. The second voice is of the bog woman herself as she is caught in a power struggle of her own between the old ways and her family's role as druid and the incoming Romans. The third voice is that of the moss and the bog as it ponders why it is given metal objects for nourishment instead of the fruit it wants. Themes of female power struggles, old ways vs. new and the connection of nature and humans as a keeper of secrets and treasure trove of knowledge. The audiobook narration was spot on and what could have been a difficult transition between characters and time periods was seamless. Readers of magical realism, climate change and historical fiction of ancient times will appreciate this.
My thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm for the advance copy.
A dual timeline of unusual young women trying to find their way through power struggles and changing times. In Northern Britain the body of a woman is unearthed, thought to be that of a murder victim buried in 1961. Agnes, a forensic bone specialist, is brought in to date and identify the body that ends up dating back all the way to the Roman Age. Agnes is more comfortable with the dead than with social situations with the living but she does her best to solve the mystery even as she gets caught up in a battle between those preserving the peat moss bog and developers who want to build on it. The second voice is of the bog woman herself as she is caught in a power struggle of her own between the old ways and her family's role as druid and the incoming Romans. The third voice is that of the moss and the bog as it ponders why it is given metal objects for nourishment instead of the fruit it wants. Themes of female power struggles, old ways vs. new and the connection of nature and humans as a keeper of secrets and treasure trove of knowledge. The audiobook narration was spot on and what could have been a difficult transition between characters and time periods was seamless. Readers of magical realism, climate change and historical fiction of ancient times will appreciate this.
My thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm for the advance copy.
August 29, 2025
This was a yes for me! Dual timeline story of two women: an ancient druid and a modern day forensic anthropologist, and a bog in northwest England. I enjoyed the concise way this story was told. It was visually stunning without being too long. I think it would make a great choice for book clubs. (I noticed, on the Bloomsbury website, a downloadable reading guide for book clubs!) Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for advance access to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
August 19, 2025
3.5-3.75 ⭐️
a really interesting novel, and unlike anything i’ve read before. i really appreciated how this story centered around flawed, brave women. i also loved how the three perspectives meshed together. the prose was lovely as well!
a really interesting novel, and unlike anything i’ve read before. i really appreciated how this story centered around flawed, brave women. i also loved how the three perspectives meshed together. the prose was lovely as well!
September 2, 2025
3/3.5
August 26, 2025
I love the storytelling and layers this Novel provides. I listened to the book courtesy of Libro.fm as a ARC.
I stayed engaged through out the book, and was on my toes to the very end.
I stayed engaged through out the book, and was on my toes to the very end.
August 11, 2025
Bog Queen is haunting, atmospheric literary fiction where ancient mystery collides with modern unrest. Anna North weaves a lush, unsettling tale of a perfectly preserved Iron Age woman, the forensic anthropologist determined to uncover her truth, and the living forces, human and otherwise, fighting over the bog’s fate. A masterful blend of folklore, feminist power, and environmental tension, this is a novel that lingers like mist over dark water.
July 14, 2025
I love everything about this book and appreciate my win
July 9, 2025
Eco fiction. A Druid and a forensic anthropologist connected across 2000 years via a bog in northwest England.
August 6, 2025
Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook via Libro.fm's librarian ALC program.
I was fascinated by this story of an American forensic anthropologist called in to investigate a body found in northwest England. We're also given the perspective of the woman found, who belonged to a druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era. The third perspective is that of the bog moss itself, which has survived and witnessed centuries of human impact and ecological change. The story unfolds thoughtfully - and a bit slowly at times - as Agnes tries to understand who the body is and how they died, interspersed with the story of the Druid's life leading up towards the moment of their death. The parallels between the two women and the period of change they are each navigating while also trying to balance personal struggle and ambition were interesting. The broader commentary of environmentalism, historical preservation, and climate change were incorporated into the story poignantly. A couple of the characters and story lines felt undeveloped, but the writing was beautiful and the genre-bending story captured and kept my interest.
My biggest complaint - and it's a big peeve of mine - is that there is no authors note. I hope that this is added in before publication, because honestly I think they ought to be required for all historical fictions. I need to know what parts are based on true events/people and where the fiction then deviates from fact. Leaving the reader to figure all of this out on their own is annoying.
I was fascinated by this story of an American forensic anthropologist called in to investigate a body found in northwest England. We're also given the perspective of the woman found, who belonged to a druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era. The third perspective is that of the bog moss itself, which has survived and witnessed centuries of human impact and ecological change. The story unfolds thoughtfully - and a bit slowly at times - as Agnes tries to understand who the body is and how they died, interspersed with the story of the Druid's life leading up towards the moment of their death. The parallels between the two women and the period of change they are each navigating while also trying to balance personal struggle and ambition were interesting. The broader commentary of environmentalism, historical preservation, and climate change were incorporated into the story poignantly. A couple of the characters and story lines felt undeveloped, but the writing was beautiful and the genre-bending story captured and kept my interest.
My biggest complaint - and it's a big peeve of mine - is that there is no authors note. I hope that this is added in before publication, because honestly I think they ought to be required for all historical fictions. I need to know what parts are based on true events/people and where the fiction then deviates from fact. Leaving the reader to figure all of this out on their own is annoying.
September 5, 2025
Bog Queen by Anna North
Agnes has grown up in a sheltered, highly curated environment with her doting father. Now a forensic pathologist, she is summoned to the northwest of England to investigate a body buried in peat moss. When the body is discovered to be much more ancient than expected, Agnes is forced to examine her own life and the risks she takes for herself and for others. Told from the perspective of the ancient woman and even the peat moss, this is a narrative told with tenderness and affection for the earth and the people who connect us to it across the centuries. Beautifully narrated by Lilly Newmark, this is a slower paced novel that gives time for characters to develop and interweave their stories. Newmark seamlessly switches from Agnes’s American accent to the British Colchester accent that is her native British tongue. Her slower cadence and tender touch as she articulates the care that Agnes feels for the bodies she investigates invites the listener to slow down and catch the rhythm of the moss and the earth that we inhabit. This is highly recommended for listeners who enjoy literary and environmental fiction in the style of Liz Moore, Lily King, or Karen Russell.
Agnes has grown up in a sheltered, highly curated environment with her doting father. Now a forensic pathologist, she is summoned to the northwest of England to investigate a body buried in peat moss. When the body is discovered to be much more ancient than expected, Agnes is forced to examine her own life and the risks she takes for herself and for others. Told from the perspective of the ancient woman and even the peat moss, this is a narrative told with tenderness and affection for the earth and the people who connect us to it across the centuries. Beautifully narrated by Lilly Newmark, this is a slower paced novel that gives time for characters to develop and interweave their stories. Newmark seamlessly switches from Agnes’s American accent to the British Colchester accent that is her native British tongue. Her slower cadence and tender touch as she articulates the care that Agnes feels for the bodies she investigates invites the listener to slow down and catch the rhythm of the moss and the earth that we inhabit. This is highly recommended for listeners who enjoy literary and environmental fiction in the style of Liz Moore, Lily King, or Karen Russell.
May 9, 2025
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 🌱📚
This book got me thinking deep. It’s eerie, raw, and lowkey beautiful. On one side, there’s a forensic scientist in 2018, pulled into a body case that starts feeling way too personal. On the other side, there’s a druid woman in 50 BCE walking straight into danger—and power. And through it all? Moss. Like actual moss. Watching. Speaking. Remembering. Sounds wild, but it works. And it hits.
What really got me is how everything’s so connected—grief, memory, bodies, land. It don’t matter if it’s two thousand years ago or right now. The pain’s the same. The silence too. But this story doesn’t stay quiet. It unearths stuff we forget on purpose. And that moss? It ain’t just scenery. It’s a whole presence. Like the Earth itself is watching, whispering, keeping score.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿:
🧬 Intergenerational trauma
🌿 Nature as witness
🕰️ Dual timelines
🧙♀️ Female agency across eras
🧠 Memory and identity
If you’re into stories that feel ancient and present at the same time, this one sticks. Not fast-paced, but it lingers—in your chest, in your bones
🎉Thank you @bloomsburybooksus for sending me a copy!
This book got me thinking deep. It’s eerie, raw, and lowkey beautiful. On one side, there’s a forensic scientist in 2018, pulled into a body case that starts feeling way too personal. On the other side, there’s a druid woman in 50 BCE walking straight into danger—and power. And through it all? Moss. Like actual moss. Watching. Speaking. Remembering. Sounds wild, but it works. And it hits.
What really got me is how everything’s so connected—grief, memory, bodies, land. It don’t matter if it’s two thousand years ago or right now. The pain’s the same. The silence too. But this story doesn’t stay quiet. It unearths stuff we forget on purpose. And that moss? It ain’t just scenery. It’s a whole presence. Like the Earth itself is watching, whispering, keeping score.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿:
🧬 Intergenerational trauma
🌿 Nature as witness
🕰️ Dual timelines
🧙♀️ Female agency across eras
🧠 Memory and identity
If you’re into stories that feel ancient and present at the same time, this one sticks. Not fast-paced, but it lingers—in your chest, in your bones
🎉Thank you @bloomsburybooksus for sending me a copy!
July 25, 2025
Anna North has given us a beautiful, thought-provoking, and ingenious entry into the fairly new Eco-fiction genre and a look at a period of history I have never read about. She takes the multiple viewpoint perspective and uses it in a way that amazed me. Her viewpoints are from two women both fighting for self-respect and to fit into their rapidly changing worlds. One is a new Druid in Celtic Europe around 50 BCE at the dawn of the Roman age. A second viewpoint is in 2018 from Agnes an American forensic pathologist, who is tasked with identifying and trying to determine what happened to the ancient body that was unearthed in a bog in northern England. Agnes is probably neuro divergent and though brilliant has trouble fitting in. The third voice is that of the moss bog which tells the story of our planet and our green spaces and what we come to lose if environmentalists lose their fight with big business interests. The prose is so beautiful I kept wanting to write down phrases. This is a literary masterpiece that is extremely relevant to the world we currently live in.
June 23, 2025
(ARC - out 10/14/25 via Bloomsbury) This is a really interesting blend of mystery, eco-fiction, historical fiction, and general fiction that worked pretty well for me. In the present day we follow Agnes, a forensic anthropologist exploring the mystery of a bog body discovered in England. In the past timeline, we follow the woman who becomes said bog body, when she’s a druid in the Iron Ages. There’s a storyline involving environmental exploitation due to peat cutting and the moss itself exists as a character of sorts. I preferred the modern storyline to the past one, mostly because the language usage in the Iron Age sections felt too modern and threw me out of the past. I don’t really know how the author could have sidestepped that issue, so I’m trying not to be critical, but it was just something that affected my reading experience a bit. But the characters are well-built here and the story itself is really interesting. The cover is also stunning.
August 26, 2025
It’s weird… I dig it.
I was intrigued from the get go because I love me a peat bog and some historical fiction. I found the suspense and pacing solid, the dual timelines balanced and both interesting, and LOVED the POV from the moss that was my favorite part and those little vignettes were so beautiful. Outside of the moss pov, the writing was pretty simple and felt a lot of telling over showing, but the story was interesting enough that I didn’t totally mind. Felt very VE Schwab in theme and format just not in writing and she is one of my favs. Very excited to have recently been gifted Outlawed (thx Allie) because I want to read more of Anna North.
I really enjoyed the ending, although I fear that will be controversial? Definitely going on my climate fic/eco fic lists and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this over the last week.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for an early review copy of this title.
I was intrigued from the get go because I love me a peat bog and some historical fiction. I found the suspense and pacing solid, the dual timelines balanced and both interesting, and LOVED the POV from the moss that was my favorite part and those little vignettes were so beautiful. Outside of the moss pov, the writing was pretty simple and felt a lot of telling over showing, but the story was interesting enough that I didn’t totally mind. Felt very VE Schwab in theme and format just not in writing and she is one of my favs. Very excited to have recently been gifted Outlawed (thx Allie) because I want to read more of Anna North.
I really enjoyed the ending, although I fear that will be controversial? Definitely going on my climate fic/eco fic lists and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this over the last week.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for an early review copy of this title.
September 5, 2025
Sentient bog moss! What clever way to portray what mankind has done and is doing to our beautiful earth. This is a slow moving novel with chapters of the current day discovery of a perfectly preserved female body in a bog in northern England alternating with chapters of a Druid town at the end of the Iron Age. Popping up occasionally are comments from the bog itself! There are several side stories that are interesting, including a demonstration to preserve the bog, an exceptionally brilliant young girl and her relationship with the forensic anthropologist examining the bog body, and parent/child relationships. I was hoping for a deeper background on the present day occupants. Much of the time it felt like a surface story with little emotion and motivation for the actions of the characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC to read and review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC to read and review.
July 29, 2025
Submitted to IndieNext!
Is it just me, or is moss having a moment right now? As our collective consciousness and appreciation for Earth's increasingly threatened biomes grows, Anna North delivers a beautiful story that gives life to the humble bog. Oscillating between the perspectives of a modern-day forensic anthropologist named Agnes, a druid from the Iron Age, and the moss itself, this genre-defying narrative creates a historical record of a bog in England that has astoundingly preserved so much of the past. Part fantasy, part eco-fiction, and part nature writing, North's BOG QUEEN will capture readers' hearts while simultaneously educating them on one of Earth's most fragile, albeit most sacred, natural phenomena.
Is it just me, or is moss having a moment right now? As our collective consciousness and appreciation for Earth's increasingly threatened biomes grows, Anna North delivers a beautiful story that gives life to the humble bog. Oscillating between the perspectives of a modern-day forensic anthropologist named Agnes, a druid from the Iron Age, and the moss itself, this genre-defying narrative creates a historical record of a bog in England that has astoundingly preserved so much of the past. Part fantasy, part eco-fiction, and part nature writing, North's BOG QUEEN will capture readers' hearts while simultaneously educating them on one of Earth's most fragile, albeit most sacred, natural phenomena.
July 31, 2025
Bog Queen was told from 3 different POV's. The first being the forensic anthropologist, Agnes, who has been brought in to identify a body found in a bog. It is thought that this would be a murdered sister that has been missing for 50 years. What she discovers is that she is looking at a remarkably well preserved body from nearly 2,000 years ago. The second POV comes from the Iron Age druid that Agnes has found. The third POV, oddly enough is the bog itself and its thoughts about the world around it.
Overall an interesting read. The characters did fall a bit flat at times but the story itself was an interesting take on the Iron Age and how history was shaped by those that lived in it.
Overall an interesting read. The characters did fall a bit flat at times but the story itself was an interesting take on the Iron Age and how history was shaped by those that lived in it.
August 18, 2025
3 stars. This was good but I got a little bored by the end. Agnes, a forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate a body found in a bog in England. The bones prove the body was buried more than two thousands, yet the body is almost completely reserved. We get two timelines, one which is current and is Agnes trying to respect the dead and figure out more information about her, and a historical timeline, which is about the body found in the bog and what she went through and how she died personally. This was interesting, it just fell a little flat for me. As always, thank you Orion Publishing Group for the earc.
August 28, 2025
4.5/5⭐️s
I really really enjoyed this book! You get a healthy blend of environmental activism, creepy corpse stuff, science and dual pov that’s spans thousands of years. I found this book refreshing in that there were female characters and we didn’t feel the need to add an unnecessary romance plot line that I feel like a lot of books are adding just to be able to get some romance readers. This story is great. I like that you follow both the story lines of a forensic anthropologist trying to figure out how the woman whose body they found died and everything about her, and the Druidic woman whose body she has discovered thousands of years after her death. I will say that the ending felt a little abrupt for me and I wish we would have gotten a little more there but all in all a great book, I definitely recommend!
I really really enjoyed this book! You get a healthy blend of environmental activism, creepy corpse stuff, science and dual pov that’s spans thousands of years. I found this book refreshing in that there were female characters and we didn’t feel the need to add an unnecessary romance plot line that I feel like a lot of books are adding just to be able to get some romance readers. This story is great. I like that you follow both the story lines of a forensic anthropologist trying to figure out how the woman whose body they found died and everything about her, and the Druidic woman whose body she has discovered thousands of years after her death. I will say that the ending felt a little abrupt for me and I wish we would have gotten a little more there but all in all a great book, I definitely recommend!
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