Up to the Light

‘Utterly compulsive … I could not stop reading’ CHARLOTTE McCONAGHY

‘Mesmerising … I felt the unearthly pull of its power long after I'd finished’ KALIANE BRADLEY

From the acclaimed author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield, comes an extraordinary epic novel following two alpine climbers risking everything in pursuit of what they love.

June, 1994. The infamous Mount Varda has been untouched by mountaineers for decades, since the last expedition ended in terrible tragedy.

Liam Holness and Petal Coulson-Carter, best friends and celebrated climbers, exist outside mountaineering’s privileged circles. When they are invited to join a new expedition on Varda, led by the famous adventurer Jim Callaghan, they are initially sceptical.

But the call of the mountain proves too strong, and soon Liam and Petal are in the French Alps preparing their climb. Joining the team is Bill Franklin, Liam’s oldest rival, whose sweet nature begins to wear down Liam’s proud defenses, while Petal’s head is turned by a climber’s widow in the town. As the expedition looms closer, the climbers are troubled by sleepless nights, sickness and lashing winds in the air.

As they make their ascent, the world below gives way to something stranger. How can Liam and Petal be sure of what is real around them? And will they ever know what happened to those they left behind on the peak?

Moving from the heartstopping expedition to its devastating aftermath a decade later, Up to the Light is a staggeringly beautiful, utterly chilling and deeply moving novel of epic scope. It asks why we are so drawn to danger, and how both love and tragedy can alter the course of our lives forever.

Reviews

Praise for Up to the Light:

‘This book! Up to the Light is so smart and so utterly compulsive, it grabbed me and didn’t let go, it dragged me all the way up to its almost unbearably tense, magnificent climax. I could not stop reading it. I loved it’ Charlotte McConaghy, bestselling author of Wild Dark Shore

‘A mesmerising novel – I felt the unearthly pull of its power long after I'd finished. Up to the Light is filled with an almost unbearably seductive sense of unease; otherworldly horror meshes with the sensuous agony of suppressed desire, with the dark dictatorship of family values, and with the aching truth that we so often struggle to accept that someone else is trying to love us. A miracle of a book’ Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time

Praise for Julia Armfield:

‘Both poet and prophet of the watery and the queer and the channels connecting them … brilliantly audacious’ Guardian

‘A writer worth reading’ Financial Times

‘Armfield’s writing is evocative yet grounded, blending the mythical with the cavalier … Her imagination is vivid’ Observer

‘One of the country’s most original minds’ Hero Magazine

‘Armfield is an era-defining writer’ Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time

‘One of our best contemporary writers' Eliza Clark, author of Penance

‘Armfield writes the kind of books that stick with you for life’ Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth