Monster by Robert Dinsdale

An imaginative retelling of the legend of the Minotaur from critically acclaimed author Robert Dinsdale.

Minotaur: mythical, monstrous, misunderstood. Every story needs a hero and a villain.

London, 1861. Ten-year-old Nell belongs to a crew of mudlarks who work a stretch of the Thames along the Ratcliffe Highway. An orphan since her mother died, leaving Nell with only broken dreams and a pair of satin slippers in her possession, she spends her days dredging up coals, copper and pieces of iron spilled by the river barges - searching for treasure in the mud in order to appease her master, Benjamin Murdstone.

But one day, Nell discovers a body on the shore. It's not the first corpse she's encountered, but by far the strangest. Nearly seven feet tall, the creature has matted hair covering his legs, and on his head are the suggestion of horns. Nell's fellow mudlarks urge her to steal his boots and rifle his pockets, but as she ventures closer the figure draws breath and Nell is forced to make a decision which will change her life forever.

From the critically acclaimed author of The Toymakers comes a spellbinding retelling of the legend of the Minotaur, the story of an unlikely friendship, love and redemption, and what it truly means to be human.

Robert Dinsdale was born in North Yorkshire and currently lives in Leigh-on-Sea. He is the author of five previous critically acclaimed novels including The Toymakers, which was his first venture into magic.