THE CABOCHON

A Mother’s Love.

A Lost Child.

A City Built on Secrets.

An unforgettable story of identity, survival and destiny in the shadows of 1720s London.



The Cabochon by Matthew Saxton is a powerful, atmospheric historical novel following two unlikely companions — a lost boy grown into a young man, and a mother who refuses to surrender hope — as they navigate the brutal underworld ruled by the notorious Jonathan Wild.

Bound only by a broken cabochon stone, they are drawn together in a world where the poor disappear, the powerful thrive, and love becomes an act of defiance.

Jack Flint, apprentice locksmith, idolises his famous namesake and aspires to a similar life of freedom and adventure.

In the aftermath of the execution, Jack Flint meets a mysterious gentleman, wealthy and powerful, who not only seduces Jack but sets him off on a quest to bring down Jonathan Wild, the man responsible for Jack Sheppard’s death. Posing as the Thief Taker General of Great Britain, Wild is, in fact, the mastermind behind a huge criminal empire.

In the endeavour to bring Wild down, Jack is thrown together with two women, a grieving mother and a notorious prostitute. Joining forces, this unlikely trio pursue Jonathan Wild through the streets of London. From the palace of the richest man in England to the grim cells of Newgate Prison, through taverns, Turkish baths and molly houses, the hunt is on for Jonathan Wild.

It is a sweeping exploration of:

• Motherhood and separation
  
• Found family and belonging
  
• Injustice and the abuse of power
  
• Humanity amidst unspeakable cruelty
  
• The resilience that binds us across time and circumstance
  
  

Richly researched and vividly immersive, it reveals London at its rawest — a world where the line between lawman and criminal grows dangerously thin.

The Cabochon is Matthew Saxton’s first novel but it comes after a lifetime of writing. His mother was the author Josephine Saxton and with the help of her cast-off Olivetti typewriter, he began writing stories and poems at the age of four. He performed an early poem on BBC Radio Nottingham and published a story in an American college

magazine before starting primary school. This early flowering of creativity went into hibernation, but in later life, he took up poetry again, publishing in various UK magazines.

Matthew’s main work as an author has come through his career as a developmental psychologist. In this capacity, he has published numerous scholarly articles and a book: Child Language: Acquisition and Development, now available in its 2 nd edition from SAGE www.sagepub.com.