The Midnight News
The gripping and unforgettable novel as heard on BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime
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- € 4,49
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'A tour de force' IRISH TIMES
'Riveting and moving' NINA STIBBE
'Gripping' THE TIMES
'It had me by the throat' EMMA DONOGHUE
LONDON, 1940. As enemy planes fly over the city, twenty-year-old Charlotte Richmond is trying to make the best of things. She has a dull but steady job at the Ministry of Information, a friend to share gin and secrets with, and an attic room of her own. All she has to do is keep her head down. She knows where her father will send her if she makes a nuisance of herself again.
But amid the chaos of the Blitz, Charlotte's grip on reality starts slipping. Is someone following her in the blackouts, or is her mind playing tricks on her? In a city where nothing is safe, it's hard to know who to trust - until she meets the boy who feeds the birds . . .
'A late-night page-turner that will keep you guessing till the end' JOANNA QUINN
'Glorious' RED
'Exquisite' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'I stayed up late reading and was glad' SARAH MOSS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the arresting latest from Baker (Longbourn), a young typist in WWII-era London deals with overwhelming grief. Charlotte Richmond tries forge a new life apart from her dominating MP father, Sir Charles Richmond; her stepmother, Marion; and their lavish estate. Her older brother, Eddie, dies early in the war, and she sinks deeper into despair when her best friend El is killed in a German bombing raid. Charlotte, who believes she's being followed by someone she calls "the shadow man," suspects El was targeted in the raid, though no one else believes her and she begins questioning her sanity. Her family, long fed up after she refused to be in a debutante ball, has Charlotte committed to an asylum, where she's subjected to insulin shock therapy and overwhelming doses of drugs. Though the plot is never fully resolved, the shadow man makes a consequential appearance at the asylum. Baker vividly portrays the surreal sight of London ravaged by the Blitz and adds psychological depth to Charlotte's internal monologues (addressing El's voice, whom she repeatedly hears after El's death, she thinks, "You're shock. You're grief. You're not El.... If I ignore you, you will go away"). This stands above run-of-the-mill WWII fare. Agents: Anna Stein and Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Assoc.
