Maiden, Mother, Crone is a satirical folk-horror mystery about a local am-dram star

Writer, actor and comedian Rebecca Humphries has signed a book deal for her debut novel.

Maiden, Mother, Crone is described as a satirical folk-horror mystery about a local am-dram star.

When the central character is beaten by her daughter to the ingénue role in the upcoming production of The Crucible, is possessed by the spirit of her own horrible (dead) mother and sets about taking her daughter down.

Rights for the book have been acquired by Fourth Estate, whose editorial director Katie Bowden told trade website The Bookseller: ‘Rebecca is a hugely talented writer of fiction: sharply witty, an astute observer of people and an author with the lightness of touch to shrewdly unpick the rigid expectations placed on women at their different life stages with page-turning, laugh-out-loud brilliance.’

And  Humphries herself said: ‘I wanted to create a piece of modern feminist folklore, darkly comic, camp and frightening. On the surface of things it’s All About Eve in a village hall, but underneath lurks the mother wound and the way the mirror can alter how we love.’

No release date has yet been announced for the novel.

Humphries previously wrote the memoir Why Did You Stay?, based on the very public collapse of her relationship with Seann Walsh after he was pictured kissing his Strictly Come Dancing partner Katya Jones.

After the comic’s snog with the pro dancer hit the tabloids in 2018, the actress issued a public statement accusing him of gaslighting her over his ‘inappropriate, hurtful’ behaviour – and said she hoped her story would help other women who ‘feel worthless and trapped with a man they love’.

 Humphries performed the comedy show Prom Queen at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe and went onto appear in a number of TV shows, including  Ben Wheatley’s Channel 4 comedy-horror series Generation Z, Ten Percent (the British remake of French comedy Call My Agent!,  pictured) playing Carrie Johnson in the Channel 4 docu-drama Partygate and Carol Thatcher in The Crown.

The title Maiden, Mother, Crone has previously been used by a number of other books, including a collection from Joanne Harris.

Published: 20 May 2025