Description

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST 2026

She is a curator, who spends her time dressing the rooms of historic buildings to bring them to life. But in the lush private quarters of a medieval palace, she finds herself so transfixed by the reign of an almost-forgotten King that the edges of her life begin to blur.

He is a reluctant ruler with no hunger for power, rushed to the throne after the untimely deaths of his older brothers. But it isn’t long before whispers begin to fly around the court. And with the growing belief that the King is not fit for the throne comes the idea that another might rule in his stead.

May We Feed the King dances between the lives of a historical subject who risks the future of his kingdom and a woman who turns to the past to hide from her present. Laced with desire and longing, it is a playful, stirring meditation on history and storytelling: on what makes a King ‘Great’, and a life meaningful.

Publisher Review

Perry combines effortless exactitude with canny ambiguity to create a novel that is always as stimulating as it is enchanting. May We Feed the King is a rare achievement, I absolutely loved it — Claire-Louise Bennett Meditative, compelling and intricate as a puzzle box – I found myself turning it over and over, admiring and wrong footed and dazzled — Kiran Millwood Hargrave An artfully told, dizzyingly detailed descent into the murkiness of the past. Perry’s prose is needle-sharp, lush as a feast. A book to devour — Lucy Steeds I loved this book very much, I know I will return to it and anything else Perry writes, there is magic here — Daisy Johnson The historical fiction I have always wanted to read. Surreal and dreamlike… With an eye on the tiny, overlooked details of worlds long gone, this book felt like something hidden come to life – what is real, and what is true, and in the middle of all that, what really matters? — Jessie Burton May We Feed The King floored me with the precision of its emotional insights and eccentric view of history-as-narrative… A sort of perfect snow globe, presenting a decadent world in miniature that surprises us with the depth of its reflections on power, yearning and loneliness — A. K. Blakemore May We Feed the King is exquisite, every detail, object, image, and feeling startlingly precise, illuminated from within. I entered the novel easily, and, once there, the world outside its pages faded blissfully away. It was the only place I wanted to be, the only book I wanted to be reading — Amina Cain An arresting and daringly imaginative meditation on history, duty, masculinity and the stories we are drawn to. In gorgeously measured prose, the novel sets the historical alongside the fabular to conjure a world of intrigue and detail — Daisy Lafarge Funny, sharply sad and full of real love. Majestic — Ben Pester A beautifully crafted novel of mise en scenes. Perry blurs the lines between historical narrative and modern narrator, shining a light on the inescapable and murky unknowability that permeates how we tell stories of past and present — Susannah Dickey