• Long, Long Ago, When We Did Not Exist


    Fairy tales: we think of them as simple stories meant for children, moralising tales designed to instruct or entertain – but it was not always this way. Once upon a time, the distinction between fairy tale and other forms of storytelling was much less pronounced than it is today – and, like other forms of

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  • Fantasy Hive Interview with Robert Dinsdale


    Robert Dinsdale has been interviewed by Fantasy Hive, the vibrant UK site celebrating fantasy, science fiction and horror fiction. In her in-depth conversation with Robert, Nils Shukla goes behind the scenes of Once a Monster, exploring how this imaginative retelling of the Minotaur legend came to be and why Victorian London was the perfect setting

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  • Literary Locations of Once A Monster


    Robert Dinsdale has been featured on The Book Trail’s Authors on Location series. In this tour, Robert takes readers deep into the heart of 19th-century London, using the city’s lost rivers as both setting and inspiration. Through evocative prose, he revisits long-buried waterways like the River Fleet and others that once criss-crossed the capital –

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Once a Monster Book Cover

Latest Book

Dinsdale’s latest book, Once a Monster, is something slightly different. More reimagining than retelling, it’s set in Victorian London and owes as much to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist as it does to Greek myth.

What the critics said

A superb novel.

Daily Mail
Little Exiles

Haunting and unforgettable.

Daily Telegraph
The Harrowing

Powerful and atmospheric.

The Telegraph
The Harrowing

Historical writing at its finest.

Essie Fox
Once a Monster

A spellbinding tale.

Waterstones
Paris By Starlight

Beautifully captures the hazy dissonance.

The Guardian
Paris By Starlight