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Nell Stevens

@nellstevens

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The Original, 2025. Briefly, a Delicious Life.

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The Good Time is here! Buoyant and odd and ready for summer. Stories written over a decade, and dedicated to the memory my beautiful teacher Leslie. Afloat on August 13th 🎈 by @nellstevens

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3 months ago

👁 Sometimes a copy is mightier than the original. And the things you wish to hide might have other ideas… THE ORIGINAL by @nellstevens is out June 19! 👁

Deftly-plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens’s distinctive intelligence, style and wit, THE ORIGINAL is a novel about the value of authenticity in art and in love, and what it means to be a true original 🖼️🎨

‘A marvellously inventive and perfectly forged novel that poses a mischievous question: what role does likeness play in love? The ghosts of Oscar Wilde and Wilkie Collins stalk these pages, whether they know it or not’ Eleanor Catton, author of Birnam Wood

#TheOriginal #NellStevens #Bookstagram #AmReading #NewBooks by @nellstevens

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2 years ago

Summer, the good time by @nellstevens

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a month ago

Step inside the world around the books we love ➡️

THE BOOK: The Original by @nellstevens. Primarily set in Victorian England, The Original follows Grace, a sharp, unconventional young woman living on her family’s crumbling estate. When a man appears claiming to be her long-lost cousin and heir, Grace is drawn into a mystery that stretches from the English countryside to Rome, Chile and St Helena, forcing her to question everything she knows about identity, truth, art, family and love.

Genre:
Historic fiction • Queer Literature

Themes:
Self invention, art, scandal, love

Described by critics as:
Jane Eyre (Brontë) by way of Patricia Highsmith (Talented Mr. Ripley)

The ghosts of Oscar Wilde and Wilkie Collins stalk its pages

THE LOOK: Victorian silhouettes reinterpreted through the modern lens of @erdem.moralioglu and @jonathan.anderson’s Romanism and @alexandermcqueen’s dark aristocratic edge.

Influencers include:
@alexandermcqueen @schiaparelli @erdem @dior @ysl

THE DESTINATIONS: London, Oxfordshire and Chile

@estellemanor

A sprawling Oxfordshire country estate reimagined as a modern members’ club. Think grand interior design, fireplaces, panelled rooms, a remarkable spa, immaculate gardens and enough hidden corners to disappear with a book for an afternoon. The kind of place where The Original feels perfectly at home.

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@therookeryhotel

A Georgian townhouse hotel tucked away in Clerkenwell. Antique furniture, velvet armchairs, four-poster beds and portraits lining the walls make it feel more like staying in someone’s eccentric London home than a hotel. Quiet, atmospheric and wonderfully old-fashioned.

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@noblerotbar

Part wine bar, part restaurant, part literary institution. Famous for its exceptional wine list and food, seasonal British cooking and walls lined with books and artwork. Equally suited to a long lunch or an evening spent discussing the ending of a novel over a bottle of Burgundy.

@casabluhotel

A small boutique guesthouse overlooking Valparaíso’s colourful hills and Pacific coastline. Individually designed rooms, thoughtful interiors and panoramic terraces make it an ideal base for wandering the city’s labyrinth of murals, sta by @nellstevens

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2 months ago

We spoke with @nellstevens, about her 2026 Nota Bene Prize finalist The Original – an inventive and witty novel about identity, authenticity and the blurred lines between art and truth.

Set in 1899, the story follows Grace as the return of a long-lost cousin disrupts her household, raising unsettling questions about who he really is, and what she is willing to risk to find out.

It was lovely to chat with Nell on inspirations, creativity and hear more about her novel!

The 2026 Nota Bene Prize is decided by readers. Vote for your favourite finalist and help choose this year’s winner. Link in bio! 📚✨

@scribneruk #NotaBenePrize #TheOriginal by @nellstevens

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5 months ago

Somehow almost April and here we all still are by @nellstevens

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6 months ago

We’re thrilled to see THE ORIGINAL is shortlisted for the James Tait Black prize. Congratulations @nellstevens 🧡👀

Pre-order the paperback now! 🖤 by @nellstevens

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7 months ago

Paperbacks! So orange, so portable, so imminently available on April 23rd by @nellstevens

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7 months ago

A paperback is coming in April, oranger than ever before, with 25% off preorders from Waterstones by @nellstevens

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8 months ago

Sat 14 Feb 7pm Nell will talk and answer questions about her wonderful book surrounded by art in the main gallery.
£5 on the door. Wine available. Chipping Norton

#ArtandTalking
#theoriginal
#chippingnorton
#cotswoldsarts
#fountain by @nellstevens

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8 months ago

We had a July by @nellstevens

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a year ago

So grateful for the start The Original has had in the US - to @applebooks and @literaryhub and @goodreads and @electricliterature and all the booksellers who are helping this book find its readers. And to the readers who are finding it. Thank you! by @nellstevens

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a year ago