About the Book

An electrifying story of passion, connection and transformation from a writer of show-stopping genius Guardian. Dark and brilliant. SARAH MOSS A masterpiece. DAISY JOHNSON Extraordinary. SARAH PERRY Searing . . . Sarah Hall's best work yet. One of the best books of the year. TELEGRAPH Hall has set a bar . . . Finely wrought, intellectually brave and emotionally honest. In the bedroom above her immense studio at Burntcoat, the celebrated sculptor Edith Harkness is making her final preparations. The symptoms are well known: her life will draw to an end in the coming days.

Downstairs, the studio is a crucible glowing with memories and desire. It was here, when the first lockdown came, that she brought Halit. The lover she barely knew. A presence from another culture. A doorway into a new and feverish world.

Sarah Hall makes language shimmer and burn . . . One of the finest writers at work today. DAMON GALGUT

Wonderful . . . The writing goes down smoking hot onto the page. ANDREW MILLER

Transporting . . . A beautiful novel, full of heat and darkness. AVNI DOSHI

I can think of no other British writer whose talent so consistently thrills, surprises and staggers . . . With Burntcoat she has solidified her status as the literary shining light we lesser souls aspire to. BENJAMIN MYERS