Day One
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
*The breathtaking new novel from the bestselling author of Girl A*
‘I couldn’t put this down’ Stacey Halls
What really happened on Day One?
Everyone has their own version of what happened to the school that day:
The survivor, who escaped but is now trapped in a lie.
The newspapers, hellbent on turning a tragedy into a spectacle.
And the outsider, who claims it never really happened at all…
They all want the truth.
But who’s ready to face it?
As events spiral out of control and conspiracies ignite, the true story is revealed. Piece by shocking piece.
*Praise for DAY ONE*
‘A devastating, beautiful novel’ Jennifer Saint
‘Gripping and beautifully written’ Emilia Hart
‘A chilling, thought-provoking read’ Shari Lapena
‘A beautiful writer’ Adele Parks
‘An exceptionally skillful book’ Clare Mackintosh
*What readers are saying about DAY ONE*
‘Abigail Dean has pulled off an incredible feat with this unforgettable, searing but compassionate novel’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A gripping read which kept me trying to figure out the larger picture until the very last page’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘It's technically so impressive, but most importantly it's vital and human, and I will think about it for a long time’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Gripping and insightful’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘As a study of how conspiracies flourish and grow, it is superb. As an examination of loss, it is even better’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Oh my word this is a book you race through, desperate to know what happens next’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘It’s timely, it’s moving, it looks at the untruths we tell ourselves and others in an attempt to understand the real horrors of the world – it’s just brilliant’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A twisty story with genuine depth’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This was an exceptionally well written book, both gripping and evocative’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Gut-wrenching truths are exposed little by little, leading to an agonisingly tender ending’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This novel moved me to tears and broke my heart’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
About the author
Abigail Dean was born in Manchester, and grew up in the Peak District. She graduated from Cambridge with a Double First in English. Formerly a Waterstones bookseller, she spent five years as a lawyer in London, and took summer 2018 off to work on her debut novel, Girl A, ahead of her thirtieth birthday.
Girl A was published in hardback in January 2021 and became an instant Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, also topping the charts in Ireland and Australia. It reached #1 in the UK Kindle charts. The paperback spent eight weeks in the Sunday Times top ten. The novel has been acquired in 36 territories, and television/film rights have sold to Sony. Johan Renck, director of Chernobyl, is attached to work on the television adaptation of Girl A.
Abigail works as a lawyer for Google. She has always loved reading, writing, and talking about books. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @AbigailSDean. Her second novel, Day One, will publish in 2023.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Today’s culture wars mean that tragic events are all too often followed by wild theories that they’re false flag operations which never happened at all. Abigail Dean’s second novel, the follow-up to bestseller Girl A, skilfully weaves a riveting thriller out of this phenomenon. When a lone gunman attacks a primary school in a close-knit Lake District town, teacher’s daughter Martha “Marty” Ward watches the horror unfold and witnesses her mother die trying to protect her pupils. Yet inconsistencies in Marty’s account lead conspiracy theorists to become hellbent on exposing the massacre as a hoax—setting Marty and their ringleader on a collision course. It’s a poignant portrait of family grief, survivors’ guilt and community trauma, while tackling issues including true-crime voyeurism and online trolls. The narrative builds to a crescendo as the truth is gradually laid bare and a populist politician exploits the disaster for his own ends. Dean looks at the dark side of human nature with clear eyes and compassion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dean (Girl A) depicts the fallout from a school shooting in this extraordinary literary thriller. During a primary school play in the coastal English enclave of Stonesmere, a gunman opens fire, killing more than a dozen people, many of them children. The resulting media storm opens up the door for Sandy Hook–style conspiracy theories to take root. Examining the aftereffects of the tragedy on Stonesmere's tight-knit community, Dean zeroes in on two characters: Marty Ward and Trent Casey. Marty is the town's star soccer player and the daughter of Ava Ward, a teacher who was killed in the massacre; Trent is a lonely young man who briefly lived in Stonesmere before leaving to move in with his mother's new husband, and who now falls under the sway of a right-wing media charlatan peddling theories that the tragedy was a politically motivated hoax. What emerges is a complex, gutting portrait of communal grief and crushing isolation, which builds to a moving and unexpected climax. Though Dean's stark prose steers clear of sensationalism, some readers may find the unflinching subject matter hard to stomach. Those willing to take the plunge, however, will be rewarded with an unforgettable triumph.
