Publication Date: February 17, 2026
From bestselling author Louise Fein comes a new historical novel set in a world of banned books and censorship, in which an encrypted manuscript unleashes a chain of consequences across 400 years, perfect for fans of Weyward and The Briar Club.
1552, PARIS: The printÂing press is quickly spreading new ideas across Europe, threatening the power of church and state and unleashing a wave of book burning and heretic hunting. When frightened ex-nun Lysbette Angiers arrives at Charlotte Guillard’s famous printing shop with her manuscript, neither woman knows just how far the powerful elite will go to prevent the spread of Lysbette’s audacious ideas.
1952, NEW YORK: Milly Bennett is a lonely housewife struggling to find her way in her new neighborhood amidst the paranoid clamors of McCarthy’s America. She finds her life taking an unexpected turn when a relic from her past presents her with a 400-year-old manuscript to decipher, pulling her into a vortex of danger that threatens to shatter her world.
From the risky backstreets of sixteenth-century Paris to the unpredictable suburbs of mid-twentieth century New York, the stakes couldn’t be higher when, 400 years apart, Milly, Lysbette, and Charlotte each face a reality where the spread of ideas are feared and every effort is made to suppress them.
Dramatic and affecting, and inspired by the real-life encrypted Voynich manuscript, Book of Forbidden Words is both an engrossing story about a timeless struggle that echoes through the ages and a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dare to let their words be heard.
An encrypted manuscript lands in the hands of an American housewife in the 1950s, unleashing radical thoughts dating back 400 years.
Author Louise Fein delivers a dual storyline, shifting between 1552 France and 1952 United States in Book of Forbidden Words. As Milly leverages the skills that have gone rusty since the war, she discovers insight into the minds of educated 16th-century women.
The creation of the printing press enabled ideas to be shared among all people, which built the foundation for the fictional Parisian segment featuring Lysbette Angiers and her dangerous request to Charlotte Guillard for a printing commission.
The volatility of the religious community at that time can be contrasted with the political upheaval 400 years later, as McCarthyism swept through the U.S. Whispers of equality for women started well before the 20th century.
Book of Forbidden Words, inspired by a famous, unencrypted manuscript, offers a rallying cry against censorship that resonates through the ages.
Louise Fein is the author of Daughter of the Reich, which has been published in thirteen territories, the international bestseller The Hidden Child, and The London Bookshop Affair. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from St Mary’s University. She lives in Surrey, UK, with her family.
