Mercutio

Coming in May 2026 from HarperVoyager UK.

Cover by Leo Nickolls. Edited by Jane Johnson.

From Sunday Times bestselling author of The Embroidered Book and The Valkyrie comes an opulent 13th century epic retelling of the life of Mercutio before he ever encountered Romeo and Juliet.

On the battlefield, as warring factions deal out death, young Mercutio chances upon the charismatic poet Dante Alighieri. In their desperate stand against the enemy, they inadvertently open a crack between our world and Faerie, literally changing the stars over Mercutio’s head, and creating a mysterious presence who will follow Mercutio for all the days of his life.

With new stars come new destinies for young men who will travel to the ends of the Earth to honour the bonds of love and friendship.

As outcasts and exiles, Mercutio and Dante find family in a band of fighters called the Montecchi, near Verona. With his friends at his side, Mercutio will battle to change his stars, and to free the changeling upon whose fate hangs the future of the human world.

Deftly confident, effortlessly poetic, MERCUTIO feels like a beloved and universal myth known for millennia, retold for modern readers. There are truths in this world; there are secrets; there are horrors; no one will teach us what is right to fear, and only stories can show us why love and loyalty still give us hope. Mercutio Guertio is an unforgettable hero – a young man both discovering and inventing himself, journeying fearlessly under all the wrong stars.
- Premee Mohamed

Part of the fascination of reading Kate Heartfield’s Mercutio, for me, is discovering the Shakespeare plots and characters woven skillfully throughout. It’s an extraordinary piece of writing, imbued with impeccable research. Yet the novel wears history lightly; you don’t need to be versed in the past or the play to enjoy this book. Inventive, brilliant, unsettling, and enchanting, Heartfield’s Mercutio limns a queer, gorgeous, self-made survivor cursed with a loyal heart – electric, contemporary, and tough. His acute awareness of the world’s injustices can’t save him from his blazing passion for life. He became my fierce best friend, and ever since finishing the book, I have missed him.
-Kate Story

Poignant, clever and playfully strange in a very medieval way.
- Jelena Dunato

But soft, what light through yonder oh my god, what did Kate Heartfield do to Shakespeare? This book is amazing. Justice at last for Romeo and Juliet's best character. For those who like their fae dark, wild, and heartless--a glitteringly crafted adventure where every word is faceted, the finest and sharpest of winter jewels.
- C.J. Lavigne

I gratefully acknowledge the support of the City of Ottawa, which provided a grant to assist in the writing of this book.