Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil

Name: Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil
Price: 39.95 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781324130796

A Novel

Oliver Darkshire

$39.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Miscellaneous
14 April 2026

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Fantasy; Fantasy

In a tiny farm on the edge of the miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is trying to get on with her tiny, miserable existence. Dividing her time between tolerating her feckless husband, caring for the farm’s strange animals, cooking up “scrunge,” and crooning over her treasured pot of basil, Isabella can’t help but think that there might be something more to life. When Mr. Nagg returns home with a spell book purloined from the local wizard, she thinks: what harm could a little magic do?

This debut novel by beloved rare bookseller and memoirist Oliver Darkshire reimagines a heroine of Boccaccio’s Decameron in a delightfully deranged world of talking plants, walking corpses, sentient animals, and shape-shifting sorcerers. As Isabella and her grouchy, cat-like companion set off to save the village from an entrepreneurial villain running a goblin-fruit Ponzi scheme, Darkshire’s tale revels in the ancient books and arcane folklore of a new and original kind of enchantment.

A delightful and entertaining story of self-discovery—as well as fungus, capitalism, and sorcery—Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is a story for those who can’t help but find magic even in the oddest and most baffling circumstances.

By: Oliver Darkshire
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 137mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 214g
ISBN: 9781324130796
ISBN 10: 1324130792
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Oliver Darkshire is the author of Once Upon a Tome, a best-selling memoir about being an antiquarian bookseller at Henry Sotheran Ltd, and the first Household Gramarye novel Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil. He lives in Manchester, England, with his husband and his neglectfully curated collection of books.

Reviews for Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil: A Novel

""It will make you laugh and surprisingly tug on your heartstrings.… [L]eaves you with a feeling of hope and, dare I say it in these times, joy."" -- Vanessa Armstrong - Reactor ""Humorous and clever."" -- Becky Meloan - Washington Post ""[A] bubbling cauldron overflowing with imagination and charm."" -- Chris Sugden, creator of Victoriocity ""Witty and wry."" -- Caitlin Rozakis, author of Dreadful ""A clever fantasy that abounds with medieval mystery and misadventures."" -- BookPage