Blog Tour: A Review of The Heart-Shaped Box by Lucy Kaufman

Posted on February 11, 2026 inBlog Tour, Review

Today I am helping end the Blog Tour for The Heart-Shaped Box by Lucy Kaufman! I am sharing my review for this novella. If you are lucky enough to be in the UK, there is a giveaway going on! This is a page-turning psychological thriller novella about infatuation, revenge and the lengths we will go to for love.

Novella Description:

Victorian, rural Sussex. When headstrong daughter of a rector, Constance Timothy, receives a flurry of gifts in pretty little boxes from the charming, smouldering student doctor Smith Williams, her whole family anticipates a future betrothal.

Yet beneath the exquisite pastel lids and satin bows lie macabre secrets that entice Constance into a private world of obsession and darkness, where morality becomes blurred, loyalties are tested and unthinkable acts are possible.

One secret will shake the genteel world she knows to the core…

The first book of The Carousel of Curiosities series, this haunting novella is perfect for readers of Sarah Waters, Laura Purcell, and Angela Carter.

The Heart-Shaped Box
Series: Carousel of Curiosities #1
Author: Lucy Kaufman
Published: February 3, 2026
Kindle: 87 pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: January 19-29, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Jessica’s Review:

The Heart-Shaped Box is a short novella, just 87 pages, but it pulls you in! At first you think it’s going to have a little romance with Constance receiving gifts from her suitor Smith Williams, but then what the gifts are… The reader realizes that this novella is in fact, is going down a dark path!

The more gifts Constance receives the further into the macabre Constance goes, and she is seemingly enjoying it. As the novella progresses, there are a few unexpected twists and then the reader was left hanging: I need the second in this series as I need to know what happens! Ms. Kaufman, how many novellas will be in this series? When will novella two be released?

In addition to a potential romance this novella has topics that readers who enjoy ‘darker’ novellas will enjoy: Jealousy, the macabre, obsession, and more!

I received a copy to read and review as a part of the blog tour. I enjoyed reading this one! I just wish I had been able to sit down and read it quicker than I did.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

UK Giveaway

If you live in the UK you can enter this giveaway: Subscribe to Lucy Kaufman’s newsletter at www.sepiaink.co.uk by 15^th February 2026 (UK home address only) to win a small heart-shaped box of chocolates!

About the Author:

Lucy Kaufman is an award-winning author, playwright, audio dramatist and poet. 40 of her plays have been performed professionally around the UK and Australia, to critical acclaim. She has lectured in Playwriting and Screenwriting for Pen to Print and Canterbury Christ Church University and is a mentor at The Writing Coach. Originally from London, she now lives by the sea with her husband, sons, dogs and cats.