From the multi award-winning and award-nominated Claire North comes a gorgeous and fiercely feminist retelling of the classic Greek myth of Penelope. It''s time for the woman of Ithaca to tell their tale . . .>
@2@@20@The electrifying new thriller from the author of the acclaimed @18@The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August@19@.@21@@16@@20@@21@@16@@20@@21@Kepler is like you, but not like you. @3@@2@With a simple touch, Kepler can move into any body, live any life - for a moment, a day or for years. @3@@2@And your life could be next.@3@@2@@20@SOME PEOPLE TOUCH LIVES. OTHERS TAKE THEM. I DO BOTH.@21@@3@@2@'Just extraordinary' Clare Mackintosh, author of @18@I Let You Go@19@@3@@2@'North's talent shines out' @18@Sunday Times@19@@3@@2@'Dazzlingly imaginative' @18@Sunday Mirror@19@@3@@2@'Breathless and brilliantly original' @18@Love Reading@19@@3@@2@'Destined to be one of the biggest thrillers of 2015' Rick O'Shea, radio presenter@3@@2@@20@Discover the mesmerising new novel from one of the most original new voices in modern fiction.@21@@3@@16@@16@@2@@20@Also by Claire North@21@@3@@2@Novels:@16@@18@The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August@19@@16@@18@The Sudden Appearance of Hope @19@(coming May 2016)@3@@2@Digital novellas:@16@@18@The Serpent: Gameshouse Novella 1@19@@16@@18@The Thief: Gameshouse Novella 2 @19@@16@@18@The Master: Gameshouse Novella 3 @19@@3@
*** Featured in the Richard and Judy Book Club in 2014 *** *** Featured in the Waterstones Book Club in 2014*** *** Featured on BBC Radio 2 Book Club in 2014 *** Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.
No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.
Until now.
As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. 'I nearly missed you, Doctor August,' she says. 'I need to send a message.' This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
Claire North is a pseudonym for Catherine Webb, a Carnegie Medal-nominated author whose debut novel was written when she was just fourteen years old. She has fast established herself as one of the most powerful and imaginative voices in modern fiction. Her first book published under the Claire North pen name was The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August , which became a word-of-mouth bestseller and was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. The follow-up, Touch, was described by the Independent as 'little short of a masterpiece'. Her next novel The Sudden Appearance of Hope won the 2017 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and The End of the Day was shortlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times /PFD Young Writer of the Year Award. Her latest novel 84K received widespread critical acclaim and was described by bestselling author Emily St. John Mandel as 'an eerily plausible dystopian masterpiece'. She lives in London.
This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca''s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women - and their goddesses - that will change the course of the world.
On the island of Ithaca, queen Penelope maintains a delicate balance of power. Many years ago, her husband Odysseus sailed to war with Troy and never returned. In his absence, Penelope uses all her cunning to keep the peace - but this is shattered with the arrival of Orestes, King of Mycenae.
Orestes, son of Agamemnon, is mad.Wracked with guilt for putting his own mother to death, he grows ever more unhinged. But a king cannot be seen to be weak.
To keep him safe from the ambitious men of Mycenae, his sister Elektra brings him to Ithaca to recover under the protection of Penelope. But no sooner has Orestes arrived then his uncle Menelaus, the blood-soaked king of Sparta, comes looking for him. Menelaus hungers for Orestes'' throne - and if he can seize it, no one will be safe from his violent whims.
Caught between Sparta and Mycenae, Penelope must protect Ithaca from two mad kings on the edge of war. Her only allies are Elektra, desperate to protect her brother, and Helen of Troy, Menelaus'' wife. Each woman has a secret, and their secrets will shape the world . . .
Praise for the Penelope series:
''Claire North brings a powerful, fresh and unflinching voice to ancient myth - darkly fascinating, raw and breathtaking'' Jennifer Saint, author of Sunday Times bestseller Ariadne ''This is an impassioned plea for the lost, disenfranchised queens of ancient Greece, a love letter to the silenced women of history'' Booklist ''Everything I''ve wanted in a retelling: a vibrant cast, full of suspense, told with a phenomenal narrative voice - this is an absolute masterpiece'' Sarah Bonner, author of Her Perfect Twin
'AN EERILY PLAUSIBLE DYSTOPIAN MASTERPIECE' Emily St. John Mandel, author of STATION ELEVEN 'AN EXTRAORDINARY NOVEL . . . with echoes of The Handmaid's Tale ' Cory Doctorow *CLAIRE NORTH SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES /PFD YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD* From one of the most original new voices in modern fiction comes a startling vision of a world where you can get away with anything . . . Theo Miller knows the value of human life - to the very last penny. Working in the Criminal Audit Office, he assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full. But when his ex-lover is killed, it's different. This is one death he can't let become merely an entry on a balance sheet. Because when the richest in the world are getting away with murder, sometimes the numbers just don't add up. From the award-winning Claire North comes an electrifying and provocative new novel which will resonate with readers around the world. Praise for Claire North: 'Poignant and intensely gripping' Guardian 'Little short of a masterpiece' Independent 'Ambitious, immensely humane and full of philosophical panache' Sunday Times 'One of the fiction highlights of the decade' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club
From the multi award-winning and award-nominated Claire North comes a gorgeous and fiercely feminist retelling of the classic Greek myth of Penelope. It''s time for the woman of Ithaca to tell their tale . . . >
***WINNER OF THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD 2017*** ***CLAIRE NORTH IS SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES / PFD YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD*** My name is Hope Arden. I am the girl the world forgets. It started when I was sixteen years old. A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger. No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit - you will never remember who I am. That makes my life tricky. It also makes me dangerous . . . The Sudden Appearance of Hope is the tale of a girl no one remembers, yet her story will stay with you for ever. Praise for Claire North: 'North's talent shines out' Sunday Times 'Little short of a masterpiece' Independent 'Poignant and intensely gripping' Guardian 'Well-paced, brilliant and balanced' New York Times 'Extraordinary . . . wildly impressive' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, BBC Radio 4 'Terrific, smart and entertaining' Patrick Ness 'Utterly readable, utterly believable and compelling . . . one of the fiction highlights of the decade' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES / PFD YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2017*** 'Funny, ambitious, immensely humane and full of philosophical panache' Sunday Times 'Extraordinary . . . wildly impressive" Lucy Hughes-Hallett, BBC Radio 4 'Wholly original and hauntingly beautiful' Kirkus Sooner or later, death visits everyone. Before that, they meet Charlie. Charlie meets everyone - but only once. Sometimes he is sent as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. Either way, this is going to be the most important meeting of your life. The End of the Day is the stunning new story from Claire North, the voice behind the word-of-mouth bestseller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. 'Reaffirms the passion and ambition that have made North such a consistently intriguing writer' Locus 'Every one of the chapters is shaped with philosophical panache' Guardian 'Compelling . . . keeps the surprises coming until the very end' San Francisco Chronicle
