# An 'astonishingly layered' novel on how history gets told — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/d2b395b6cb2769e3

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-10-05 15:13 ingested 2026-10-06 02:56

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/10/05/2026/an-exploration-of-how-history-takes-shape)

## retained text



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May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry.
Perry’s novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize (and the only debut on the list), tells the story of a young-ish curator who is trying to understand the world of a medieval monarch who had been reluctant to take the throne. Specializing in mise-en-scène, the curator seeks to evoke strong feelings of the past through her work at an old palace.
This setup allows Perry, a British poet, to explore how history takes shape: “It’s impossible to know anyone’s entire story in the small details and large gaps that make up a life,” Kirkus Reviews writes, adding that the book is “astonishingly layered.” Order May We Feed the King from your local bookstore.
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document fetched 2026-10-06 02:56 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/10/05/2026/an-exploration-of-how-history-takes-shape