'A Gothic novel with a flourish of the speculative ... a tale so gripping it’s hard to believe this is a debut' Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind

You aren't a real person until you have a secret ...

Growing up in the Squares, Dre Archer was always told human history was over. Until the day she is plucked from all she knows, and recruited as governess to an enigmatic five-year-old boy. Albie is rash, emotionally obtuse, and possibly a genius. He also believes the year is 1884—two centuries before Dre was born. Everyone working at his family’s grand Victorian manor strives to maintain the illusion, keeping the modern world safely outside their doors. Dre is expected to follow along and not ask questions.

At first, Dre works hard to embody her role as ‘Miss Archer’, with comportment lessons and corsets. But somewhere along the way, the performance begins to feel real—as does her bond with this singular boy. Slowly she is overwhelmed by questions: Why the weird adherence to the 19th century, when it’s the dawn of the 22nd? Why has she never met Albie’s elusive parents? Who are her shadowy employers? And what is her job, really?

In her mounting determination to unlock these mysteries, Dre finds herself flouting the draconian rules of the house. As a series of Russian doll-like revelations brings her closer to the truth, Dre must go to dangerous lengths to protect her young charge, who she has, without quite meaning to, come to love as her own.

Miss Archer is an audaciously original and propulsive debut that deftly explores our yearning for the analogue world as we tumble into the future, and asks what it truly means to be human.

© Jordan Harrison 2027 (P) Penguin Audio 2027