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A 16th-century mystery that once gripped England has returned to Market Harborough in a new work of historical fiction.

The Woman Who Gave Birth to a Cat is inspired by the real story of Agnes Bowker, an unmarried servant who reportedly gave birth to a cat in the town in January 1569.

The case became famous throughout Tudor England. Broadsheets and ballads spread the story far beyond Leicestershire, making it the 16th-century equivalent of ‘going viral’. Church authorities even despatched their own investigator, keen to prevent Catholic factions promoting the event as a divine sign at a time of religious tension.

Several local women testified that they witnessed the birth. A cat was reportedly kept and examined, and a sketch made of the animal at the time has inspired the book’s cover art.

Do you know about the 16th-century Harborough mystery that once gripped England - the woman who gave birth to a cat in? Local author Sarah Fitzgerald brings Harborough’s strangest true story to life.

placeholder image — Do you know about the 16th-century Harborough mystery that once gripped England - the woman who gave birth to a cat in? Local author Sarah Fitzgerald brings Harborough’s strangest true story to life.

Local author Sarah Fitzgerald first encountered the story in the local studies section of Harborough Library while studying for a master’s degree in creative writing at Leicester’s De Montfort University.

“I felt drawn to Agnes, and the mystery of her strange delivery,” says Sarah. “The surviving accounts were written by the men who led the investigation. I wanted to reimagine the story from Agnes’s perspective, using her voice and the voices of the women around her.

“It’s remarkable that at a time when women’s freedoms and choices were curtailed, Agnes found a way to navigate an impossible situation. In doing so, she took control of her own story.”

The novella also explores Tudor beliefs about “monstrous births”, where births we’d now interpret as medical anomalies were viewed as warnings or portents.

The Woman Who Gave Birth to a Cat, by local author Sarah Fitzgerald.

The Woman Who Gave Birth to a Cat is published on Thursday, March 5, with print copies available from Quinn’s in Market Harborough. Quinn’s is hosting a launch event on Thursday, March 12 at 6.30pm. Tickets available from the bookshop.

The book is also available as an e-book on Amazon, and can be preordered ahead of the March 5 publication day.