Set in 18th-century London, Maria McCann’s third novel Ace, King, Knave has everything you’d want in a work of historical fiction, and more. Everything from gin and gambling, to the harsh realities of Georgian life, including the burden of disease (which cared little for class or status), the levels of extreme poverty and the plight of women. We first spoke to Maria on the Faber Podcast in 2010 when she published The Wilding. Her new novel, Ace, King, Knave, finds her making a radical move for a historical novelist - switching centuries - and that is one of many topics up for discussion here.
